This is a rush transcript.

[00:00:03] And while you're having a see, why don't you grab that Bible and I invite you to open with me to Matthew 28:18-20. And it is so encouraging. It is so good to see so many of you have joined us this morning, my beloved brothers and sisters at Compas H.B. I want to thank you for being a part of this live service we're doing online. And wow, a lot in our lives have changed, including what church might look like on a Sunday morning. Let me tell you one thing that has not changed the mission of Jesus Christ that he has given us to make disciples of all nations. We are called every one of us to be a disciple of Jesus, a learner, a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we are called to make disciples in Jesus name. And I just want to remind you about that. That's why you're still here on planet Earth. This is the reason we have today. This is the reason we are alive. Matthew, 28 verses 18. And Jesus came and said to them, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.

[00:01:39] And so then the main verb there, the main thing is to make disciples. That is the reason for your life. That is the reason for our church. That's why we exist here at Compass H.B. That's why God planted us here in Huntington Beach in the year of our Lord. 2014. And now we've been going for six years is we want to see people get saved in the name of Jesus Christ. Going to get a man from anybody on that. That's what we're here. That's what we're here for.

[00:02:08] And we have been able to see. Let us remind ourselves. We have been able to see many disciples made here at this little church in Huntington Beach. In fact, if we were doing a service, we were all in the room right now.

[00:02:23] This is the moment where I would say, hey, if you have gotten saved over the last six years, you repented of your sins. You put your faith in the gospel of Jesus. If you actually got saved here at Compris H.B, will you stand up right now so we can praise the Lord for making you a disciple?

[00:02:41] And people would be standing up and we would be like, yeah, praise the Lord. Maybe you want to even stand up on line and say, God save me at CompassHB age, me, Jesus save my life, let the glory of the Lord be known. Disciples are being made as we're going and these disciples are being made. Then we're baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And then here's what we're supposed to do with our disciples.

[00:03:08] Look at verse 20. Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. We are supposed to teach here at this church.

[00:03:18] Every church. All of those who are disciples of Jesus. We're supposed to teach through everything that Christ commanded so that you can obey. I just I want to highlight that one part there of the great commission. Teaching everything. Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

[00:03:39] Yes, that's what we're called to do.

[00:03:42] And I just want to say, as the main guy who's preaching here at this church for the last six years.

[00:03:48] I feel like there is an area where Christ has commanded us that I have not done a good enough job of equipping the people here at this church. Those new disciples among us about how we would obey the governing authorities, how we would submit to them in our lives. And so I need to start out today by saying, hey, this is what we're supposed to do, teach you everything Christ commanded. And I need to say I'm sorry for not teaching enough or clear enough about why how we as the people of Jesus need to submit to the governing authorities.

[00:04:25] And so I'm here to apologize.

[00:04:28] And I'm asking you to forgive me for not making this more clear at our church sooner, because now in our time of need, in our time of trial, when when we really are talking about the government more than ever before. I don't think that our church is equipped for the challenge at hand to really know how to think through the government. And so I'm going to say that's on me, my bad. And I'm sorry. And I'm not just saying I'm sorry. I am repenting and I am going to do a sermon right now. I'm in a preach God's word in keeping with that repentance. And I'm going to say, has a church. Let's come together on God's word. What does Christ command us about the government? And I'm going to invite you to turn to our text for today. First, Peter, chapter two versus 13 to 17. If everybody if you've got a Bible, you need to see this. OK. The pastors and I, we have been praying about this and we decided to zoom ahead here in the book of First Peter. We started going through this letter because it was the scattered believers. It was those being tested in their faith. We wanted to encourage our church with hope, with faith, with the future grace that the revelation of Jesus Christ. But this book also addresses the hot topic issue right now.

[00:05:44] And especially it just really got hot, really got interesting even this last week right here at our church, even though we already planned to preach on this this weekend. Wow. This issue really came up. And so we think we need to look at this this command right here. And first, Peter, chapter two, 13 to 17. And we need to have our whole church on the same page of the scripture. And so I hope you will really listen to the word of God. It says will read it with me here. It says, first, Peter to 13, be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good for this is the will of God. That by doing good, you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover up for evil, but living as servants of God.

[00:06:51] Honor everyone, love the Brotherhood, fear God, honor the Emperor case right away.

[00:06:59] Verse 13. Be subject for the Lord's sake as you would submit yourself to Jesus Christ. It's saying here, be subject to every human institution, to the institutions that have been created to the emperor. Or you could translate that word, their king and to the ultimate authority of the government or also to the governors, to those who are sent in the authority of the government. We need to subject ourselves to them straight forward command. This is one of the things that Peter, who was there when when Jesus gave the great commission and said, let's go teach those disciples everything I commanded. Well, here's one of those disciples, Peter. He's writing a letter to Christians. And one of the commands of Jesus Christ is be subject to the governing authorities.

[00:07:52] Now, this word here is a very important word in the Greek language, Hoople toss. So it's going to come up on the screen if you want to try to write it down.

[00:08:00] But it's important for you to know that this is a compound Greek word and who po is a it's a prefix that means under and toxo means to set or to put in place. So what who protocell means is you put yourself in place under you set yourself under. You see the governing authorities as over you and you set yourself underneath them.

[00:08:26] Now this is gonna be a real idea that Peter's gonna run with here. And he's not just gonna talk about the governing authorities and and placing ourselves underneath them. He's gonna go on, look at verse 18, Servants', be subject Hubo Tozzo to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the unjust. He's telling slaves that they need to put themself underneath the authority of their master. And he says some interesting things there. He says, with all respect, which shows us that who potage so does not just mean respect. If it meant just respect. He wouldn't say with all respect on the end of it. So he will bow tie. So it's not just saying you respect the government. It's not just even doing what the government tells you. It's actually a state of mind. It's a way of thinking. It's it's my relationship with the government is that I see myself I set myself underneath the governing authorities. He's saying slaves see herself as underneath masters. Look what he even says here in verse 18, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the unjust. Hey, is your master being evil? Is he expecting too much from you? Still set yourself underneath your Masters Authority. These are bold commands that Peter is making.

[00:09:56] Look at chapter three, verse one. Here's another relationship that he defines with Hubo Tozzo. First Peter three. Verse one.

[00:10:04] Likewise, wives be subject to your own husbands so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be one without a word. By the conduct of their wives when they see you're respectful and pure conduct.

[00:10:22] Here's another relationship where submission is the mission and the wife submits to her husband as as the church submits to Jesus Christ.

[00:10:31] Notice how it even goes to say that even if your husband is not obeying the word, you still set yourself under his authority. So this is a real theme for Peter as he's instructing people in different relationships.

[00:10:51] And on this day, Peter is speaking to all of us, saying you need to bow tie. So you need to set yourself under the governing authority. Let's get that down for point number one here, everybody. Set yourself under the government's authority.

[00:11:10] According to the scripture, according to the apostle Peter, who is teaching the disciples what Christ commanded.

[00:11:17] The government has authority over your life and you need to willingly place yourself underneath the authority of the government. It's there whether you want to acknowledge it or not, you should who protocell. So you should subject yourself to the government's authority. This is not some obscure interpretation. This is a straight forward reading of a command in scripture that is directed to all Christians. In fact, this is not the only passage. I'm not just jump into one passage in Peter, because that's the book we're in that says this. This is a regular command through out the letters that are written to churches in the Greek Bible. And there's a lot of meat on the bones of this command. There's a lot of that it's giving us to think this through as to why we would set ourselves under the government's authority. Turn with me to Romans 13, everybody. Let's get our eyeballs on the Bible here this morning. Romans 13. Chapter one. Maybe this is the first passage that comes to your mind when you think about the government. But this goes deeper than just saying submit to the government. It actually kind of defines and gives you a way to think about the authorities. Look at it here, Romans 13, verse one. Let every person and you could really translate that there. Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. Are you a soul? Do you see yourself as a spiritual being created in the image of God? Do you know that even if your body were to die, you would still live on because you are a soul? Well, here's what souls need to do. See themselves set themselves under governing authorities. Then look at this.

[00:13:05] This is a way that you and I need to learn how to think. For there is no authority except from God and those that exist have been instituted by God.

[00:13:16] Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed. And those who resist will incur judgment.

[00:13:28] For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad, which you have no fear of.

[00:13:33] 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.

[00:13:43] But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he referring to the governing authority, he is the servant of God in Avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.

[00:14:00] Therefore, one must be in subjection not only to avoid God's wrath, but also for the sake of conscience.

[00:14:10] Now, those that was if you're if you're paying attention, if you're keeping track at home here, everybody, that was Docx. Who Paul Torso's in that one passage. All right. That is it tells you to be subject on front upfront and explain to the government is and then it tells you in verse five, you must be in subjection.

[00:14:31] Because if you are not obeying the governing authorities, putting yourself underneath them, you are going to be under the wrath of God. Here's here's how a lot of people are talking. They're talking like, should we obey the government or should we obey God? That is not how this passage teaches you to think. You should think of the government as giving by God. Don't separate them to be two different things. It says very clearly there is no authority except from God. It's been instituted by God. And if you resist the governing authorities, you are actually resisting God and you will be now under his wrath. So don't make up a false dichotomy in your mind if you are separating the government and God change your mind today, according to Romans 13. You gotta see. Government is God given. And so if you've got a handout and you're if you're taking notes at home right now, God bless you. You know what I mean? I love you. All right. And if you're taking notes on your hand out under under point number one about setting ourself under the government's authority, we got to see that government is God given government. There's no such thing as some kind of government that is not from God. And in fact, let's get real specific, because that's what first Peter told us to do. It called out the emperor. It mentioned like they would have all thought of the emperor at that time or the governor. They would've thought of the governor. So maybe in the minds of the people here in first, Peter, we got like the emperor over the whole Roman Empire. And then you got the governor over their region at that time. Well, we can put it in faces and names of people. I mean, we don't really have an emperor. We don't really have a king in America.

[00:16:25] What we really have is three branches of government. I mean, if we really want to get into it, we have a system of checks and balances established by our Constitution.

[00:16:33] But we would say our main guy that we would look to is our president and maybe Congress would think a little differently. The Supreme Court, who we've got the president, we can all think of Donald Trump. We can all think of him as as a governing authority that we would need to see ourselves under. And it's interesting that it uses the word governor in our text at first, Peter, because we have a governor, we can all see him right there, our governor in the state of California, 40 million of US world's fifth biggest economy.

[00:17:04] My home, your home, California, at least for now. Temporary home here in California. Yeah.

[00:17:11] Governor Gavin Newsom, everybody. Governor Gavin Newsom.

[00:17:17] I want you to actually really think about our governor. I want you to think about our governor like he is a soul, like he is a human being before God.

[00:17:29] I want you to think. Have you ever had somebody tell you how to do your job?

[00:17:33] You ever had somebody show up at your job like, baby, you're a mom and you're raising your kids at home and then like somebody shows up and they want to tell you how to be a mom of your kids. You appreciate that.

[00:17:46] You appreciate that. What about if you have a job and you really work hard at your job, you're trying to do it for the Lord, you love your job. And then somebody shows up where you work and they say, you know, this is really how you should do your job.

[00:18:01] Do you appreciate that kind of fee? I'm not talking about, like a mentor or someone offering wise counsel to encourage you, someone who's an authority over you. I'm talking about just somebody out of nowhere telling you what's up?

[00:18:13] Do you realize how many Christian people have decided to tell our governor what's up lately? How many pastors have decided how to tell him how to do his job?

[00:18:25] You know what it says about our governor, Gavin Newsom here and holy scripture this morning. It says, if you want to go back to verse four, it says that he is God's servant for your good. It actually says two times in one verse that he this governing authority, our governor, he is the servant of God. Gavin Newsom is an avenger, it says right here.

[00:18:51] I've seen Gavin Newsom's name and I've seen his likeness on some signs here in Huntington Beach. Have you seen the signs?

[00:18:58] Have you seen what people are saying about our governor? I have not seen a picture of Governor Newsom with the with the caption there on it. Servant of God. I haven't seen that one.

[00:19:12] I haven't seen like somebody make a meme of Gavin Newsom with a Cate behind him, avenger against what is evil, right?

[00:19:20] I haven't seen that.

[00:19:21] That's what the scripture says, that you as a Christian. Someone who can have your mind renewed. Someone who can be illuminated by the Holy Spirit. Someone who can see things from God's perspective and not your own perspective. You are supposed to see our governing authorities as servants of God.

[00:19:39] Do not separate them in your mind. Government over here. God, over here. Romans 13. It says you should be under the governing authorities and they are under God. And you should see as them, as God given. And after it explains to you that the governing authorities come from God and nowhere else. But God. Then it says another who? Paul Tozzo. So make sure you see yourself underneath them.

[00:20:05] I've got a question for every single person that calls Compass, HB, your church. Are you underneath the authority of Governor Newsome?

[00:20:15] Does he get to tell you what to do? Because scripture says he does.

[00:20:22] And so your argument is not with the governor of the state of California. Your argument is with the one who has all authority in heaven and on earth.

[00:20:30] If you're going to go against the governing authorities.

[00:20:35] Scripture is emphatic about this, scripture is explicitly clear, it's a command. It's straightforward how we're supposed to think about the governing authorities, in fact. Go with me to Titus, chapter three, everybody. Let's turn over to Titus, chapter three for another who? So. So Paul wrote Romans 13.

[00:20:55] Now, we got Paul right into Titus and Titus. He is a pastor and he is he's establishing elders on the island of Crete. And so, Paul, he's trying to train up Titus, his disciple, and how to be a pastor, how to lead the church. And here's something that Paul says to Titus and Titus. Chapter three, verse one, in fact, even right before this in chapter two, verse fifteen. Paul, he's trying to pump Titus up.

[00:21:21] He's saying you got to get in front of the people of the church. You've got to get in front of God's people, and you gotta declare these things. You got to exhort them. You got to rebuke them with all authority. Let no one disregard you, Titus. Get in front of the church. Say this. Make sure everybody's listening to you. When you say and here's something you should say. Verse one. Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities.

[00:21:48] Tide is in front of the church.

[00:21:50] Don't let anybody look down on you, don't let anybody disrespect you. And you say that every single one of God's people. Reminder, all you Christians that are supposed to be taught everything Jesus commanded us. Reminder you gotta do both Tirso.

[00:22:07] You got to set yourself under the governing authorities if they have rule or authority that you are underneath them.

[00:22:14] Remind everybody about that.

[00:22:16] And it even goes on. It gives very descriptive here. It says to be obedient. So who Tozzo is more than just doing what the government says? I want to say this again. It's a state of being. It's a way of thinking. I see myself as someone who is underneath the governing authorities. And then because I am underneath their authority. Of course, all be persuaded to do what they say because I see they have authority over my life. So then it says you will be obedient here.

[00:22:50] Now, this is an interesting word here in the Greek will throw it up on the screen.

[00:22:54] This is Pice RKO. So this is another compound word in the Greek because her pipe there pipe, though, would be to persuade and RKO would be to rule. So this is real. I mean, once you know, those two parts persuade and rule. This word makes a lot of sense. The rule of the authorities persuades you and what to do. You might not think that's the thing to do. You might not agree with what the authority is saying. But because you have set yourself under the governing authority, that rule that they have that authority there, the ruler. So that persuades you I should do what they say because they're over me in my life.

[00:23:34] Is that how we think about it here at CompassHB HB?

[00:23:38] Is that our first inclination is our first inclination towards the government that I should do what they tell me to do?

[00:23:48] That's what it's saying here. We should be obedient, we should be ready for every good work they tell us to jump.

[00:23:55] We should be saying how I exactly do you want us to jump? We should be ready to obey with an inclination. Like, we want to do what they say and then I'm just telling you, if you if you don't want to be convicted, you should just you should just turn your device off right now.

[00:24:11] Because when I read this next line of scripture, I think most of us here at this church are going to be cut to the heart.

[00:24:20] Look what it says, I just want to read Titus three one to two as a whole here now it says, Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.

[00:24:43] Did you feel it a little bit there when it said speak evil of No one?

[00:24:49] The Greek word there is blast for Mayeux. Does that sound pretty bad to anybody right there to blaspheme? You could. It could be to speak evil of you know, another way you could translate it is to vilify. Have you been speaking about perhaps governing authorities or maybe people who disagree with you in the political parties and the political discussion that's going on right now in the United States of America? Have you spoken in a way to vilify those people?

[00:25:19] Have you spoken about governing authorities or other people participating in the government process? That is the United States of America. Have you spoken of them as if they are the enemy?

[00:25:32] Because here's something saying, don't do that about anybody. Don't vilify anyone in the context of submitting to our rulers in authorities.

[00:25:46] Don't quarrel. You've got to be gentle. And then how about this to show perfect courtesy toward all people? Quick question, quick poll for everybody at the church. Would you say that the discussion going on right now about the government is defined with perfect courtesy?

[00:26:04] That how you would describe it? What you're seeing on Facebook, though, with the news is bringing out.

[00:26:10] Let's get this down for our second dash right here. Show perfect courtesy. When it comes to politics, how about that? How radical would that be right now? People, when politics comes up, when everybody's getting riled up. What should we do, what's right? What's the right thing to do? Hey, everybody wants to get into the discussion. And here you are, just a picture of calm and composure in the midst of the storm, showing perfect courtesy to everyone with all the different opinions and all the different authorities and all the different statements. Here you are. You know what? The ideas you should write down under perfect courtesy. The idea there is this lost concept.

[00:26:47] Meekness is the idea meekness. See politics in America. The last word that would come to your mind is meekness. We would see meekness as weakness today and we want nothing to do with it.

[00:27:01] The political discussion is all about power. It's all about who's right.

[00:27:05] It's all about debunking the other side and proving your side to be the virtuous side.

[00:27:13] And it's saying, no, there should be perfect courtesy towards everybody, no matter who they are, what they're saying, what they believe, we should be approaching them with all of our power.

[00:27:25] Under control. That's the idea.

[00:27:31] See, I think right now it is very hard for many of us in the church to hear what governing authorities are saying, to see what people maybe you're a very conservative Republican who goes to our church and you're thinking you've got biblical ethics and you're thinking you've got some good ideas and you see people who are Democrats, you see people who are liberals. You see people with radically different ideas that you don't see in the pages of scripture.

[00:27:57] It is very difficult for you in that situation to be meek when you want to speak and you want to say that the Lord is on your side. And you're right and they're wrong. And you want to start just kind of speak in your mind and let it be told and you might lose.

[00:28:12] When you're doing that, you're perfect courtesy toward all people.

[00:28:17] No, I'm seeing a lot of pastors, a lot of people who would describe themselves as strong Christians. Leaders in the church. They're having a hard time being meek.

[00:28:26] And here's what's so sad about that, is we have a promise from the one with all authority and on heaven and heaven and on earth. And he said something like, the meek will inherit the earth.

[00:28:38] And yet, where are the meek? In a moment like this.

[00:28:43] Next time you hear the word politics. What if this was the first thing that comes to your mind? Perfect courtesy towards all people. That's how the scripture is teaching you to think you are commanded by God, to Hoople Tozzo to set yourself under the government's authority. End. There's more. Go back to first Peter, chapter two. And look what it says now in verse 15 and 16. And maybe you're like. But. But if we're just being meek and.

[00:29:21] And we're showing perfect courtesy, how are we going to prove our point? How are we going to demand our rights? How are we going to stand up for what is right and good and true? Well, it actually gets right to that here. And first, Peter. Chapter two, verse fifteen. I need everybody to get your eyeballs on this because it says this is the will of God.

[00:29:42] OK.

[00:29:43] There's a lot of people wondering all the time what God's will is for their life.

[00:29:48] What does God want me to do with my life? What kind of job does he want me to do? Who does he want me to be with in a relationship? Where does he want me to live? A lot of people searching for the will of God. What we are studying right now is the will of God. Here's something you can know for sure. God wants you to do. He wants you to submit to the governing authorities.

[00:30:09] Now, look what it says here in verse 15 for this is the will of God. That by doing good, you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.

[00:30:19] So when you're studying this in Greek, when you're reading through it in the Greek language, there's a little bit of debate. There is this phrase for this is the will of God. Is that talking about submitting to the emperor and the governor which was described before? Or is it talking about how we're actually going to silence the ignorance of foolish people, all the people out there saying all kinds of foolish things, how are we going to silence all the foolishness that's going on in the political discussion? Well, you'll notice right there, it says if you want to really change people's minds and silence those who are being foolish, post Meems on Facebook. Does everybody see where it says that? Right there.

[00:31:01] Make fun of people who disagree with you on Facebook and text threads and e mails vilify your political opponents.

[00:31:12] That's not what it says. That's what we do. That's what people in this church do.

[00:31:17] It's not what it says, says, do good.

[00:31:21] That's how you're going to silence the ignorance of the foolish. Make sure you're doing what is right. Make sure you're doing the good thing.

[00:31:29] It does not say, go on, engage in some kind of conversation where everybody gets heated in, nobody's mind gets changed.

[00:31:37] Don't go poke fun, don't go make Jab's.

[00:31:41] Oh, it says you need to make sure you're doing what is good. This is a real concern that Peter has throughout this book that you would conduct yourself in a way that is befitting being one of God's people. This is a real concern that Peter has, that he knows they're scattered. He knows they're tested, but he's not given them any excuses when it comes to their conduct.

[00:32:04] And this this idea of conduct is really the theme of this whole section, all the hoopla, Tassos, come under this idea of how we're supposed to conduct ourselves. OK, so let's just review what we learned last week. If you go back to Chapter one and you look at verse fifteen, we had this idea, as he who called you is holy. You also be holy in all your conduct. We learned this word on a straw. This is a word that Peter likes to use throughout his letter. It's your manner of life. It's your pattern. Big picture.

[00:32:39] How do you conduct yourself? How do you walk? What's your lifestyle like? Well, before God in the secret place of your heart, you need to be set apart. You need to be holy before God. Now, Liquidy says in chapter two versus 11 and twelve. We looked at this last week and this is really what kicks off all the specific commands about who? BOTUS Tozzo. The Government. Who? Potos�. The Masters wives. Who? Potos�. So your husbands. All of those who potencies are set up by this first, Peter, to 11 to 12 beloved.

[00:33:16] I urge you as soldiers and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh. You've got to put off your old unsaved desires. Say no to them which wage war against your soul. Are they coming back up within you, those temptations? Put those passions away. Say no. Resist those temptations. Then here's what you are supposed to do. Verse twelve. Keep or have your conduct, your manner of life, your pattern among the Gentiles. Honorable.

[00:33:49] So that when they we're talking about people who don't know God, people outside the church, when they speak against you as evil doers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

[00:34:07] Not only is he saying that you and I should be conducting ourself in a way in our relationship with our father in heaven who is holy, that we should conduct ourself holy before God, he's saying we should also be thinking about how we conduct ourselves with those who don't know God, with those who are outside the church, with the watching world all around us.

[00:34:31] And we should conduct ourselves in a way that even those who don't believe in our God and in his word, that they would still think the way we live is an honorable way to live, that they would want to say something bad about us.

[00:34:44] But it's really hard to say something bad about us when we're always doing good. That's how we're supposed to silence the ignorance of foolish people.

[00:34:58] That's what it's saying. You got to conduct yourself in a way that is honorable. Is that something you're thinking about in your life?

[00:35:08] I wonder how those who don't know Christ would take the way that we are acting in the church right now, when many people in the church are demanding and even giving ultimatums that we're going to start meeting in church, whether you open it up or not.

[00:35:23] Governor, how does the world see that to be honorable conduct?

[00:35:31] I've been paying a lot attention to what our president's been saying. I've been paying a lot attention to what our governor has been saying. I've been watching some press conferences and trying to picture myself under the authority of these men that are speaking. And I've I've listened to a lot of Gavin Newsom lately, and I've even gotten on some of the online forums. And I've even tried to be very submissive in my tone and demeanor.

[00:35:57] And I've just tried to say out there, hey, when do you think we'll be able to open up in the churches? Hey, we're praying for you over here, Governor, but we'd love to hear more about the churches. Can you let us know? And if you get into some of these online chat forms, it's kind of an anything goes lawless territory if you've ever been into one of these places.

[00:36:16] And I was in one. And here comes like atheists are forever coming into the conversation out of nowhere. Churches are never essential. There's never a good reason to go to church, just slandering us, speaking evil of us, all kinds of foolishness, just being spewed out there on Facebook.

[00:36:34] And then there's this line at the bottom of this comment. Besides, doesn't their book tell them to obey the government anyways?

[00:36:47] Even those who would speak evil against us know what we are commanded to do.

[00:36:57] And what we do will have an impact on the people around us. It's a dark time. Is your light shining? Are people seeing your good deeds? Are they ready to say something bad about you? But they actually can't. So instead, they have to say something good about you and give glory to God. That's how you're supposed to conduct yourself. It you do actually care what other people think you care about. If your conduct is honorable before the Gentiles, Peter here, that's his big picture heading as he gets into now all of these different commands. And the first one he goes to is being subject to the governing authorities.

[00:37:38] The gentiles are going to determine a lot of what they think about the Christians by what kind of citizens we are in the United States of America if we subject ourselves to the government or not.

[00:37:53] Go over to chapter three, verse 16, and you'll see this idea of conduct continue, this idea that we need to conduct ourselves in a way that is kind of above reproach. That's above any criticism they're going to try to bring after us first. Peter, three, 16 says having a good conscience so that when you are slandered. So let's just make it very clear the whole political discourse in our nation is not going to be a fair fight, so to speak, everybody. Our goal is to show everyone perfect courtesy. They are not going to perhaps do the same. They're coming in slander and they're coming in speaking evil. Don't go to their level. Stay on our level is what the scriptures say. And when they come to try to slander you, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. Here they come.

[00:38:42] And they want to say something bad about you. But when they see you're doing what is good, they can't say something bad about you. They're put to shame and they're slander.

[00:38:53] For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, then for doing evil. Peter is convinced that suffering is coming for us as Christians. He just wants to make sure it's the right kind of suffering. He doesn't want it to be self induced suffering. He wants it to be suffering because we're doing what is right.

[00:39:15] If you're going out on the Internet and you're throwing a lot of inflammatory material out there and you are bothering people online, when they start commenting back at you and saying bad things about you, you're not suffering for doing what is good. You're just bothering people.

[00:39:33] You see, this is Peter's concern.

[00:39:35] I understand these people are being persecuted. These people are being scattered. These people are being tested. They're spread out. He's writing a letter to try to encourage them. I understand your suffering.

[00:39:47] But let me ask you, how are you conducting yourself among the gentiles? Are you really suffering because you're doing what is good?

[00:39:55] This is his concern. This is what he wants the people to think about.

[00:40:02] Now, it hit this next line if you want to go back to chapter two, verse 16. I want to read this. And it's amazing to me how relevant this is, not only when Peter wrote this passage, not only did he talk about governors and that specifically is whose authority were submitting to as a church right now.

[00:40:20] But he also talks about look at verse 16 of First Peter to live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover up for evil, but living as servants of God. Does that not sound like it would be written to us here on Memorial Day weekend in the United States of America year 2020? I mean, is this the land of the free? Is that how we identify ourselves as like free people, people who have inalienable rights? People protected by a constitution. People who are free?

[00:40:55] You know, Memorial Day weekend is a great time for us to remember that freedom isn't free. It's a great time for us to remember that there are many who gave their lives so that we could enjoy freedom in the United States of America. And that's what this Memorial Day weekend is supposed to be about, is remembering the fallen soldiers. Greater love has no one than this than to lay down one's life for your friends. People have laid down their life so that you could be free. In America.

[00:41:28] And a lot of times we feel like a double blessing of our freedom as Christians in America because we're not only free as American citizens, but we are free as Christian people. We are free in Christ. And you hear people talk about their liberties. As a Christian and the freedom that they have in Christ, will Memorial Day weekend might be a good time to remember that the reason you are free in Christ is because he died for your sins.

[00:41:56] He shed his precious blood.

[00:41:59] Yes, the he who the sun sets free is free indeed. Can I get any men from anybody on that? And the deed that made us free was the death of Jesus for you and me.

[00:42:12] And he's saying here, hey, watch out, because what people like to do is use freedom as an excuse, as a covering, as, hey. Nothing to see here.

[00:42:26] Let me hide up that really up to evil, really. I'm up to no good. But really, I'm up to doing what I want to do and I'm really making this about me. But I'm saying that I'm free. And so my freedom becomes a cover up for evil.

[00:42:43] See, that's that's incredibly perceptive. That's the Holy Spirit speaking straight to us. Hey, all of you who think you're free to do whatever you want. Watch yourself, because people have long been using freedom as a cover up for evil. Now, I've been talking to a lot of people about what's going on right now.

[00:43:02] I've been talking to a lot of people have strong opinions about what we should be doing as a church if we should be open and assembly and gathering together as a church or not. And a lot of people are expressing those things in conversations and they're being respectful as they talk to me. But they have some strong things that they want to say.

[00:43:23] And I hear a lot of people saying, what about our rights? What about what about the freedoms that we enjoy? What about what the Constitution says? What about what the scripture says? What about us getting what we deserve as Christians in America? A lot of people demanding our rights. Very few people saying what is right.

[00:43:43] Big difference.

[00:43:45] Peter's saying the question you should be asking yourself is, are you doing what is right?

[00:43:51] Are you doing what is good? Don't make it about your rights. Make it about what is right.

[00:43:59] Point number two. Let's get it down like this. This is for you. You need to care more about what is right than your rights. You need to care more about what is right then your rights. I would love to hear more brothers and sisters at this church saying yes. But is it the right thing to do? Yeah, but is that really submitting to the government?

[00:44:19] Yeah. Is that really what our authorities are telling us to do? I would love to hear a lot more when we're looking up. Explicit command in scripture after another.

[00:44:31] I'd love to hear a lot more of us referring to the clear commands of scripture than demanding our own rights as American citizens. Be careful in your own heart. It might be selfishness under the name of freedom.

[00:44:45] That's what Peter's saying here. Hey, you're free, live free. But watch out because you might be using your freedom as a covering for evil. You're not here to live for yourself. You're here to live as a servant of God. Can I get a man from anybody on this right now?

[00:45:04] OK. This is not the point of your life is not to demand your rights. The point of your life is to give your life away, to follow Jesus Christ.

[00:45:14] To lay down your rights for the glory of God and the good of others. That's what it means to be a Christian.

[00:45:22] In fact, what you got freed from as a Christian was yourself. That's what you got freed from from your slavery to sin, from being in bondage to your own will.

[00:45:33] You got delivered out of that. You're free from yourself. You can tell yourself no. You can tell your sin. Goodbye.

[00:45:41] Don't say, well, I'm free and go back and start making it about you again.

[00:45:46] That's not the point of freedom.

[00:45:49] And this isn't the only place the scripture says this, please turn with me to Galatians, chapter five, verse 13, everybody a few pages over to the left here in our Greek Bible. Galatians, chapter five, verse 13. Paul's right in here. And you could see Peter and Paul. They have a lot of the same thoughts, a lot of the same concerns under the same inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Look what he says.

[00:46:13] Galatians, five 13 for you were called the Freedom Brothers. Yes, we're free as Americans. We're free. And Christ, who rha only? Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Watch out.

[00:46:29] Freedom often leads to people indulging in their own sinful desires, looking for their own personal preferences, wanting to disobey the government so they can do what they are already biased to do. Rather than putting themselves under the government and being persuaded to do what the ruling authorities tell you to do, watch out.

[00:46:51] Freedom is often an excuse for the flesh. In fact, use your freedom, here's a great concept.

[00:46:59] Use your freedom to, through love, serve one another. What if you are free to not live for your rights, but to serve others, to lift them up, to place them is more important than yourself.

[00:47:13] What if someone was free to do anything they want and what they wanted to do was bless other people, live for others? That's what it's saying here. You're free. You could do anything you want. You know what you should do? Care for God's people. Care for the lost. Serve people don't make it about you. You're able to do that.

[00:47:37] Verse 14. Here's something we really need to think about for the whole law. You want to talk about authority, law, what we're supposed to do, the whole laws fulfilled. In one word, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

[00:47:51] Maybe many of us need to take a moment today and we need to think that we should ask not what our country can do for us, but what we could do for our country in a time like this. Well, we could do for our neighbors in a time like this.

[00:48:08] In fact, here is a strong warning here, Galatians 515, look at it, if you bite and devour one another. Watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

[00:48:19] I mean, this is written to a church, the one in others here would be fellow Christians, brothers and sisters. I mean, this might be referring to a you Odia and centerpiece situation where you're seeing what somebody else at the church is doing during the Corona virus, and you're like, have you seen what so-and-so is doing?

[00:48:36] And you're just starting to take a little bite out of so-and-so or you're not liking what the pastors are doing and you're having a little bite of pastor for lunch or your fellowship group leader said something that you didn't really appreciate. So we're doing a little barbecue fellowship group leader here on Memorial Day, IRA. You know what happens if we bite at one another here in the church? We're gonna eat each other up, it says.

[00:48:58] We're going to consume one another.

[00:49:01] We're going to start to divide rather than coming together on God's word, uniting as the church, trying to have conduct honorable in front of all of the looking world around us. No, let's start picking out what each other are doing. And watch out. You start Biton, you start devourer, and you might eat each other up, he says.

[00:49:19] All in the name of freedom and your own rights.

[00:49:26] Yeah, there are some people. Everything you're saying about our rights might be true.

[00:49:34] Well, let me tell you, brother and sister, you got to get more concerned with if you're doing good. Then what your rights are. We need to all be making sure that we are doing what is right. Please don't use your freedom to divide our church and demand things for yourself. We got two explicit warnings about that on Memorial Day weekend to the land of the free.

[00:50:03] Something we need to really take to heart.

[00:50:08] So go back with me first, Peter, chapter two. And look at our last verse here, because I can tell you from having a lot of these conversations, I can tell you where this conversation goes every single time. We can do the Bible study on Hupert so we can look up the verses that are addressing specifically how we're supposed to put ourselves under the governing authorities. And the first place that this conversation goes, it seems like the people don't even want to stick around for the study.

[00:50:35] They just want to jump straight to the follow up Q&A. And the first question everybody wants to get to is Yabo. When can we disobey the government? I know you're trying to preach on obeying the government, but let's get to the real issue. Wink win. When can we have civil disobedience? When can we just disobey because the government is evil or they're telling us to do something wrong?

[00:50:56] Like it's like a. Okay. You want to talk about obeying. Well, when can we disobey.

[00:51:01] Look how Peter ends the discussion here before he moves on to slaves and masters and wives and husbands. This is verse 17. He says, honor everyone. He gets back to that idea of perfect courtesy, meekness toward all people. Love the Brotherhood. Don't divide the church, reach out, unite, come together, fear God, put him in the highest authority in heaven and on earth and then honor the emperor.

[00:51:28] Lasting sounding off about the government. Final thing I want to say, honor the emperor.

[00:51:36] That's what he has to say.

[00:51:39] I mean, there is no in this passage, enrollment's 13 and Titus three in all the passages that explicitly command you how to think about the government. There is no. But if the government starts to do this, then it's anything goes. You never get to that passage.

[00:51:58] It's not their.

[00:51:59] Sign off, honor the emperor.

[00:52:04] Now, this is really fascinating. We need to get inside the mind of Peter, we know it's Peter who wrote this. There was a time that a lot of us are familiar with when Peter actually did civil disobedience.

[00:52:17] In fact, Peter is the one everybody's quoting when they say, hey, we must obey God rather than men. They're quoting Peter when he disobeyed in Acts Chapter four.

[00:52:28] So let's all turn there, because there are examples in the scripture of times where people disobeyed and a lot of times it was when they were on trial. And a lot of times it even cost them their lives or they had to do it under the threat of death. And here in Acts Chapter four, it's an amazing scene because Peter and John have healed a man and now they have been put on trial for healing a man.

[00:52:57] And they are asked in front of the religious leaders of the Jews here and asks for their ask, hey, and by whose name did you heal this guy? And Peter says, this is the same court that killed Jesus, that falsely accused him, that brought him to the Roman governor. Pilot Peter is now in front of that same court and he says, all tell you whose name we we heal this guy. And in fact, I'll tell you and I'll tell the entire nation of Israel we healed this guy in one name, the name of Jesus, the name that you killed, who rose from the dead, the name that you rejected and has become the cornerstone. The one name given among men under heaven by which anybody can be saved. We healed him in Jesus name. That's what he says straight in the face of the authorities who killed Jesus.

[00:53:49] And the authorities, they don't know what to say to Peter because he's a fisherman from Galilee.

[00:53:54] And he's speaking in a way that is blow in that blow in their minds. They just can't even believe that he is speaking in such a way. And the authorities really, they don't know what to do with Peter and John in this situation. Look at verse 16. This is Act four, verse 16 saying, what shall we do with these men? For that, a noticeable look, notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. We can't deny it. Everybody knows they just did a good deed to heal a man. The whole city is talking about it. We can't deny they have silenced the ignorance of these foolish critics.

[00:54:38] By doing good. These authorities are ready to slander them, but they can't because they're out here loving people. They're out here helping people.

[00:54:49] And I say in verse 17. But in order that it may spread no further among the people. Let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name. All right, guys, listen up. We know that you're saying Jesus rose from the dead. We know that you healed this guy. We know everybody in Jerusalem knows that you real this guy in the name of Jesus. Well, that's enough of this Jesus talk. No more talking about Jesus. We're shutting it all down right now. And Peter and John answered them.

[00:55:16] Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.

[00:55:28] So there came a moment and this moment happened in Peter's life before he wrote First Peter, so we really need to think this through together.

[00:55:36] Peter has had a moment where he he had to say to the governing authorities, hey, we you can decide whether it's right for us to obey God or obey you. He understands the dynamic of civil disobedience.

[00:55:50] And then later, when he's writing to a bunch of Christians who are being persecuted, who are suffering, he does not bring up with them civil disobedience. His concern is not if they're going to know when to disobey. His concern is, are they going to disobey? Are they even going to obey at all in the first place?

[00:56:09] That's his concern.

[00:56:12] Are they going to be disobedient to the governing authorities or will they even start out by obeying them?

[00:56:19] That's what he's concerned about.

[00:56:22] Hey, let me just say very clearly to you, if the only place you want to go in the conversation about submitting to the government is when can we disobey the government? You need to ask yourself if you're really submitted to them at all.

[00:56:36] If that's the first place you want to go in the conversation, I strongly question whether or not you are submitted to them in the first place.

[00:56:45] Peter is writing to people who would be thinking about civil disobedience, and he is reinforcing the command for obedience, for setting yourself under the government's authority.

[00:57:00] He's redirecting their mind away from the. But what if conversation. To the. Absolutely. For sure. You have been commanded by Jesus conversation. Make sure your mind goes there today if you come away from this sermon. And that's still what you're thinking about, redirect your mind, brother and sister. That is not where God is telling you to set your mind in his explicit commands in scripture.

[00:57:30] And I know one of the strong objections is, well, what if our government's doing what is wrong? What if our governments disobeying its own constitution? What if our government has flipped to the dark side completely? And we're now just this corrupt, evil governing system?

[00:57:45] What if our governor in the state of California has a secret agenda for the evil of the church? What if all of these situations.

[00:57:57] Honor. The emperor. And submit. To the governor.

[00:58:06] Two times he said emperor or king? In our passage.

[00:58:10] Now, this is not in the scripture, it doesn't explicitly say this in the text.

[00:58:15] But if you start doing reading about first, Peter, if you start doing reading about the history of the Roman Empire, it is largely believed by many Bible scholars that the emperor, when he writes this, the Roman Empire that everybody would be thinking about, just like we might think of Donald Trump or we might think of Gavin Newsom. Well, the person that everyone would be thinking about when Peter writes, this is Nero. Have you ever heard of the Roman Emperor Nero? Do you know anything about him? You want to talk about corrupt governing authorities. You want to talk about being twisted for evil. I mean, that's Nero. I mean, you read stuff about Nero and people are using words to describe him like maniacal. I mean, one of the main stories that has to do with Emperor Nero and Christians is that Emperor Nero burned down the city of Rome.

[00:59:11] He burned down the homes of his own town, of his own people, because apparently he has this lust, this strong desire, this passion towards building and towards being this ruler who's building all these great things. So he wants to, like, restart building the city of Rome. So he's going to burn it down. And they're trying to put out the fire and he's got people supposedly relighting the fire. Supposedly, he is literally sitting there watching the city burn like it's entertainment for him, like he's excited about the possibility of rebuilding the city from the ground up and people get suspicious. People are wondering where this fire keeps coming from. And they want to say that maybe Nero is the one actually behind the fire. And what Nero does is he blames the fire that burned down the city of Rome at this time of the Roman Empire, their main city getting burned down. He says the Christians are lighting the fire. You know, those Christians that say there's going to be a fiery judgment guy, they're burning the city of Rome.

[01:00:16] And it kicks off a level of persecution on Christian people.

[01:00:22] They would like Christians on fire for amusement.

[01:00:29] I mean, this is why people are scattered, this is why people people are moving not for a new job or to be closer to their family. They're fleeing for their lives as Christians.

[01:00:40] This is the emperor. That Peter is referring to. When he writes this.

[01:00:48] Like, you don't think Peter understands the cost of who protocell?

[01:00:53] You don't think Paul understands when he doubles down on who protocell what he's saying? The emperor killed according to the tradition of the church, the emperor killed both of these guys.

[01:01:06] You know, Peter had to say about the government last line he wanted to leave you with about the government honor the emperor of Fastforward Emperor Kill's Peter.

[01:01:19] You got to understand Peter knew what he was writing to us. He knew the questions. That would come to our mind. He experienced it more than we have. And he purposely chose not to answer those questions, but the focus you. On what God is commanding you to do as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

[01:01:43] So if you're going to let your mind go wherever you want, you need to learn from Peter under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, who is telling your mind what to think?

[01:01:54] And you need to honor the emperor. You need to honor the governor.

[01:02:00] If there's gonna come a day where we need to disobey the government of the United States and we need to say that we are being persecuted. Do you realize what a radical statement that would be? I mean, if you want to really start comparing the church in America to places like China or places like I rant, you realize what a radical statement you're making. There is possibly no better place to be a part of the church of Jesus Christ on planet Earth than the United States of America.

[01:02:29] Do you realize that this church, the freedoms that this church has enjoyed in six years to assemble, to meet together the tax benefits that this church has received from the government of the United States? They like authenticity that we have gotten. We are recognized as an institution within our government and they offer us as vantages as citizens. And now, after nine weeks of them suspending our rights, we're ready to just overthrow the government.

[01:03:01] You need to rethink that.

[01:03:05] Honor the emperor and the governors that he sends. You need to see yourself under the governing authorities. And maybe you don't see yourself as under anybody.

[01:03:18] Hey, well, God is telling you that he has put the government for you to be under, OK?

[01:03:25] And there is a certain group of people who especially has a hard time seeing themselves as under other people's authority. Right.

[01:03:32] Let's just look at the three categories we have. And first, Peter. We have wives. A lot of the ladies are familiar with the idea of submission because they have to submit to their husbands even if they have a lame husband who's disobedient to the word of God. They are called to set themself underneath their husband.

[01:03:49] See if you if you go to work and you have a boss at work. I mean, we don't have we're not slaves to masters, but we understand in the workplace there is a boss. And you better put yourself underneath the authority of the boss if you want to keep that job. A lot of people who are working for other people who are authorities over them. They understand that idea of submission.

[01:04:11] But let me just say to some of my brothers who are maybe the boss at their work or you work for yourself, you might, brother, have started thinking that you don't need to submit to anyone. Well, let me tell you today that God is saying you do need to submit.

[01:04:25] And if you don't identify yourself that way, if you don't see the government as over you, you need to change your mind right now.

[01:04:34] Now, let's get nitty gritty. Let's talk about what just happened right here on Friday. Let's let's talk about America this weekend, Memorial Day, weekend 2020. How would you and I submit to the governing authorities on this very weekend in America?

[01:04:52] Because I saw people at our church get fired up about the government in a way I haven't seen in a long time, because our president on Friday went in front of our nation and he said that churches are essential.

[01:05:05] Did that help anybody else up out there?

[01:05:08] I mean, people were fired up about what that what the president said.

[01:05:13] Now, I think we all knew churches were essential before the president said it, but it was still good to hear him say it. I don't know if you felt that same way. I know some of you did. Right.

[01:05:23] You got fired up. Well, I want to I want to now listen to exactly what our president said, and I want us all to think it through together like we are under the governing authorities.

[01:05:36] What is he saying? How would we then seek to be ready to obey? How would we be persuaded by what he is saying? We've got a clip of President Trump, what he said on Friday. Let's roll that clip right now.

[01:05:53] Thank you very much.

[01:05:54] At my direction, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is issuing guidance for communities of faith. I want to thank Dr. Redfield and the CDC for their work on this matter and all the other work they've been doing over the past, what now seems like a long period of time. Today, I'm identifying houses of worship, churches, synagogues and mosques as essential places that provide essential services. Some governors have deemed liquor stores and abortion clinics as essential, but have left our churches and other houses of worship style. Right. So I'm correcting this injustice and calling houses of worship essential. I call upon governors to allow our churches and places of worship to open right now.

[01:06:55] Open right now. I'm feeling that.

[01:07:00] I mean, if you're like, hey, I hear what you're saying about the government, but I really want to assemble as a church. Hey, let me ask. We've got we've got just a smattering of worship and tech people here. Does anybody want to assemble as a church here in the room? Oh, I am sure you would much rather be here. Many of you than where you are right now.

[01:07:18] We all want to assemble, OK? When he says that that strikes a chord with all of us. Yes, please. I want to go to church with God's people to assemble. To gather together. Yes. But if you listen to what he was saying, like it has authority, like, OK, what would we then do based on what the president says? You'll notice that he is not calling all churches open. He is specifically saying he's calling the governors to open the churches. Look, let's now actually play more of the quote of what he says and let's pay very close attention to what our president says about our governors in all 50 of our states. That's Governor Newsome for us here in California. Listen to what the president said specifically about the governors.

[01:08:07] Some governors have deemed liquor stores and abortion clinics as essential, but have left our churches and other houses of worship style. Right. So I'm correcting this injustice and calling houses of worship essential. I call upon governors to allow our churches and places of worship to open right now. The governors need to do the right thing and allow these very important, essential places of faith to open right now for this weekend. If they don't do it, I will override the governors in America. We need more prayer, not less.

[01:08:50] More prayer, not less. That's what I'm talking about.

[01:08:54] I mean, it is definitely encouraging to hear the president of the United States saying we need churches open now. We need more prayer now. A man to that. But clearly he is saying the governors are the ones who need to open the churches.

[01:09:12] And I just clearly the reason the president said this on Friday is because in many states across America, this particularly more Memorial Day weekend is the weekend in a lot of states that churches got opened.

[01:09:25] A lot of churches are meeting for the first time right now. So he's saying what's happening in many places. And he's calling out the governors who are not allowing that to happen in their state, that those governors need to open it. Now, this is he says this. And very shortly after the governor of California is giving a press conference, will Gavin Newsom respond to the president? Will he open up churches right now, as he's been called to do? Here's what Governor Newsom said in response on Monday of this last week.

[01:10:02] I made a comment that was picked up by many, but perhaps not as many as I had hoped that we were working with Faith Community to advance the efforts to begin to put out guidelines, processes and procedures to keep the public health and safety of congregants and parishioners. We've been working throughout diverse. Well, interfaith community and within the diversity of our faith based leadership. All up and down the state, working on the differentiation, the large mega churches versus more neighborhood style churches, the different styles of pews and sanitation protocols and synagogues versus working with other faiths. We've been working on those sectoral guidelines and we are just days away at the latest. On Monday, we will put out those guidelines. So I want folks to know that I've made that abundantly clear in the last week. But not everybody has picked up on it. But it's so important that folks understand that we deeply respect and admire the faith, devotion and the cause that unites millions and millions of Californians, people of faith and community. And at a time of so much anxiety and uncertainty. Faith and that devotion to something higher and better and bigger than yourself becomes even more pronounced and more profound and more important. I grew up in a Catholic family, went to Catholic schools. I went to University of Santa Clara, Santa Clara University. And I often reflect on how impactful the Jesuits were in terms of my upbringing, Father Cause and so many others that were so well defined, so much of my life. And it's just an expression of my deep respect, admiration for people of faith. And I want folks to know we are working to move those guidelines forward and we expect those guidelines to come out on Monday. By the way, just for full disclosure, we didn't wait for the CDC guidelines. As many of you know, CDC guidelines haven't even been made public in any meaningful way yet. But we do look forward. We are told that they're coming out today to take a look at those guidelines and see if there's things in there that we hadn't already considered over the course of the last few weeks.

[01:12:29] So you can see there that our governor here in California did not immediately say that churches were open this weekend based on what our president said, deeming churches essential. He said, hey, I've already been saying we've got guidelines coming out. He says the guidelines will be out on Monday. I don't know if he said they'll be out by Monday on the latest. So I don't know if he's put them out while we're preaching here on Sunday morning. I don't know if you remember that Monday was Memorial Day. So maybe he actually means Tuesday. But he says guidelines are coming out that'll give places of worship direction. Now, will those guidelines say we can immediately go back to meeting? I don't know what the guidelines are going to say, but I know our governor is telling us that there are guidelines coming. And I know what my attitude should be is that I should be ready to place myself underneath those guidelines of the governor. Now, he also refers to what we've all heard a lot about by now, which is CDC guidelines, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. In fact, that's how President Trump began his briefing, was saying, I've directed the CDC to have guidelines for houses of worship. Now, here's our governor saying we're working on guidelines and the CDC guidelines aren't even out yet for houses of worship. Now, you need to know that we have a system of checks and balances. And if you feel like, well, Gavin Newsom is wrong to say this.

[01:13:57] Well, that might be your opinion, that he's wrong not to open the churches, but he has the authority to do it. And it was challenged in the 9th Circuit Court on Friday night and the 9th Circuit Court declared that Gavin Newsom, as our governor, does have the authority to keep churches closed right now.

[01:14:17] So we may not like it, but right now, the government in the state of California is saying churches should not be open. And they're also saying that when churches are open, there's going to be a lot of guidelines. In fact, after President Trump spoke, after Governor Newsom spoke, we were looking at the CDC Web site.

[01:14:38] And then later on that day, in fact, let's pull up the CDC Web site. Let's look at it all here together. Let's scroll down. You can see there on May 22nd, they released guidelines for houses of worship. And you click on that and you get some more language. And then here they are. You get it. The link here, you hit it. These are the interim guidelines for houses of worship. And I've got them all printed up here, pages of ideas of how we should, if we are going to open up church, how we should do it in a safe and responsible way for everybody. And when you start going through the guidelines, what's one of the first things the CDC says is they say, hey, before you do anything, make sure you're checking with your local and state officials about what you're even allowed to do in the first place. So if we're really trying to put ourselves under the governing authorities, we got the president calling on the governors. We got the governors saying, hey, we're guidelines are still come in. We're not open yet. And we got both of them saying that whenever we do open, there's going to be a whole lot of guidelines that we're going to have to go through.

[01:15:45] So what's going to happen next when the governor puts out his guidelines? Is he going to say we can open for church next Sunday?

[01:15:53] And if the governor doesn't say if we can open for church next Sunday, is the president going to come and override our governor and give us the authority to do church next Sunday? Well, I don't know if the president has authority to get us into church, but I know somebody who doesn't have authority to open up church.

[01:16:11] And that's this guy right here. I don't have any authority to open up church. I have to submit myself under the governing authorities.

[01:16:21] And you do, too.

[01:16:23] You, me, every single one of us at Compass H.B, we are commanded. To place ourself. Under our governors authority. That's what we're all commanded to do.

[01:16:37] And this process is working out in every state. And you can see how it's playing out in different churches. And I just want to try to right now, since we're so hyped up about opening up and since we want to get back together so much, I want us to all take a moment together as a church. Can we think through for a second? What's it going to be like when we are able to assemble again here at Compas H.B? In fact, let's talk about an example. My brother Ben Blakey may be you know, he's a pastor out there in the Boise, Idaho area. CompassHB Bible Church, Treasure Valley.

[01:17:11] They actually got to open up weeks ago, their governor in Idaho. He made it one of the first priorities in their reopening to open up the churches. And in fact, my brother Ben. He was one of the first churches to legally open up in the state of Idaho when the governor said that they could do it. A lot of churches didn't even want to do it because they were afraid of doing it. But he went for it and they opened up and they assembled and they worship the Lord and they heard from the word. Now, let's just think this through, okay?

[01:17:43] When they assembled, there were guidelines that came from the governor. There were guidelines that came from the CDC about how they could assemble. And we've all heard this so many times now over the corona virus crisis when we're going to get guidelines. What's the first thing they're going to say?

[01:17:59] You can go out. You can assemble. But do it with what? What are they going to say? Social distancing.

[01:18:06] That's what they're going to say.

[01:18:09] And so Rub�n had to actually write up a plan that he could send to the church, that he could send local governing authorities, that he a plan. Here's how we're going to bring people in and out of the building while keeping them socially distant. Here's how we're going to seat them. So we actually practice social distancing. Now, can we think this through for a second? Because when we're able to reassemble here at this church, there's some people here at this church.

[01:18:36] They really love one another. There's people here at this church that treat one another like a family. We're huggers here at CompassHB H.B. You know what I'm talking about? You ever had somebody come and give you a big ol hug here at the church? Right. I know some people when they come back in this building, their whole game is going to be on. Right. There's going to be high fives. There's gonna be handshakes. I mean, we we love each other so much around here. You might see a brother in Christ and he's got snot coming out of his nose. He's like coughing up something while he's talking to you. But you're still gonna go at least elbows in with your bro because he's your bro and you love him.

[01:19:10] Am I talking to anybody? Do you know what you're saying? OK, so let me ask you when we get to reassemble.

[01:19:16] Are you going to practice social distancing like the government recommends? Or are you gonna say, I'm free to do whatever I want?

[01:19:25] And maybe you're going to do what a lot of us are doing is you're going to look at your brother and and they're going to kind of size you up and you're gonna size them up and we're gonna give each other the eye, like, are you cool with this, Michael, with this? Are we gonna do this right now? What are we gonna do? Are we going to come in for the hug? And here's the thing you've got to start thinking about right now, even if you're okay with hugging and your brother's okay with hugging. What about the person that's next to you?

[01:19:47] Here's a thought that you need to start thinking about is there are dear brothers and sisters who are a highly committed participants in our compass, HP family. And they are scared of gathering together again as a church. They are concerned about getting Cauvin one night. There are people here at this church who have expressed that. Let me just tell you that when my brother Ben, when their church was able to assemble in Idaho, only 40 percent of the church showed up that first day, 40 percent. Less than half the people decided to assemble.

[01:20:20] Because many of them were concerned about people there at the church who perhaps would get too close to them and perhaps not respect the government's guideline of social distancing. And there are people like that here at our church. And if you feel that way. We want you to know we have your back. We're praying for you. And here's what we're gonna do if you go to our Web site right now. You're going to see churches are essential. On our Web site.

[01:20:46] And one of the things that you can sign up for on our Web site is if you are high risk, if you're 65 or older, if you have some kind of preexisting health condition that makes you high risk for something like Kofod one nine if you sign up for that. What we're going to do is on Sunday mornings, this parking lot, right. That we use out here, the Pacific sales parking lot. It's going to be only for high risk people. And we're going to have this section that you can park in. And then this store in the front of the auditorium right over here on the side of the stage that we've never used before. We're going to open up that door so you can walk straight from the parking lot right in through the door. And then here in the front of the auditorium will be a high risk section where nobody else is going to come in. So you can come from your car right in worship with us. Praise the Lord with us. Hear the word assembled all together. And then you can leave as quickly as you want without interacting and way with other people in any kind of close way. Keeping distance the whole time. Right back out to the parking lot to your car, if that's something you're interested in. Go on our Web site. Sign up for high risk. We want to take care of you. We want you to be able to assemble. But we are going to make sure that we conduct ourselves in a submitting to the government's safe kind of way.

[01:22:02] Here at Compris HP, you know, another guideline. Another thing the government's really saying is they're really concerned about kids ministry. In fact, their guidelines for the kids are very strict. Now, I haven't heard of a lot of kids getting sick. I understand people who are high risk, but I have not heard a lot of one to 17 year olds getting sick with Cauvin one nine. And yet, if we're going to try to submit to the governing authorities there, their guidelines on what we can do in kids ministry are very specific and restrictive. In fact, a lot of the churches let's talk about another church that I know about, my dad's church out there in San Antonio, Texas, opening up today, their first service today. I mean, they had to plan for this service for weeks. They had to write up a proposal of how they would do social distancing at their church. Here's the hand sanitizer.

[01:22:58] Here's all the things we're going to offer people. And they had to send that off to the local governing official who passed it, to the lawyer who passed it, to the health operator who all said, you've got to make sure you're following the governor's guidelines. They just had their service. I don't even know how it went. They just had their first service where they're able to assemble in a long time. And they had to have their whole plan, like the whole state of Texas, the whole state of Kentucky, like whole states of churches, are opening up. And my dad says to me he doesn't know one church that's doing kids ministry as they open up.

[01:23:31] Because the guidelines are very restrictive.

[01:23:36] So that's something that I mean, imagine if there's a lot of people who are high risk, who are scared to be around other people because they don't want to get Cauvin one nine. And then there's a lot of families who would usually have their kids in the kids ministry. But there's no kids ministry that's going to make it difficult for us when we're able to assemble.

[01:23:54] So what we're going to do is we're gonna take the fellowship hall and we're gonna make it a family room and we're gonna have the sermon pumping in there with the worship and TV's where families can be a part of the service together. And we are going to work with all of the guidelines to open up as many kids ministry classes as we can when the class size is going to have to be very limited. We're going to have to be very careful how we do it. But if you go to churches are essential on the front page of our Web site and you're like, well, hey, I want to get back to reassembling, I would be OK with checking my kids in a church where you can sign up for that and we'll keep getting you more information as we're able to figure out how to do kids ministry in this situation. But that's what it's going to be like.

[01:24:39] The glorious day is going to come. We're gonna have the governing authorities permission to reassemble here at the church. The checks and balances will all work. Our rights will be restored. Here we are assembling.

[01:24:52] Are you going to walk in here like you're free to do whatever you want?

[01:24:57] Or are you going to walk in here like we're still going to submit to the governing authorities? And I'm actually here to make sure that everybody else here feels safe to be here, not just me.

[01:25:07] What kind of church are we going to be? At Compas H.B, where we're about to find out.

[01:25:15] When they say that we are able to reassemble, that will be a day of of great rejoicing. But let's make sure we have the right perspective. And how we're going to do it. Submitting to the governing authorities and putting the needs of our brothers and sisters as more important than ourself and and to be honest, I don't know what the governor's going to say in the guidelines.

[01:25:36] I don't know what President Trump is going to do in response, but I know where I'm going to be right there underneath the governing authorities. And when I pray that church will assemble. I'm not hoping Gavin Newsom is going to let us assemble. I'm not hoping President Trump's going to show up and let us assemble. No, I am going straight to the one who has all authority in heaven and on earth.

[01:25:59] I'm going straight to the one who appoints governments, who has the Kings heart like water in his hand, who can direct to sovereign overall thinks the ruler, the Lord.

[01:26:10] I'm going straight to God and I'm waiting on him for us to assemble. I'm praying that he's the one who will open up the churches. Yeah, we can get involved in the process.

[01:26:22] We can let our local officials, our state officials, our federal officials know that we want to do church in a safe and responsible way. But you know who we can really pour our hearts out to, who we can speak to, the one who can actually do something about it. You want to see something to happen in the government. Let's start praying for our governing authorities.

[01:26:43] Let's lead them into the presence of the Lord, let's intercede on their behalf.

[01:26:49] Let's look to the Lord and see what he is going to do, because I guarantee you the Lord will come through.

[01:26:57] Can I get a man from anybody on that? Oh, the Lord wants us to assemble and we're going to wait on him. We're gonna pray to him.

[01:27:05] And we're gonna see what he does. And we pray for us right now about this, we everybody please pray with me. Oh, father in heaven. Father, I just want to confess that I feel like I should have preached on this a long time ago. Made this more clear to everybody what we've been commanded as DISCIPLE'S. I pray you'll forgive me for that, and I just pray for everybody that heard this message today that we could make sure that what we're saying, what we're thinking about our governing authorities fits with what you just said to us. God, speak to us by the power of your spirit.

[01:27:42] Convict those who are speaking evil of others, convict those who are using their freedom for evil, convict those who are not submissive.

[01:27:53] To our authorities in the government, convict those who act like Gavin Newsom is not the boss of them. When you have said that he is. God, I pray for those who are really trying to submit that you will encourage them to keep going, keep waiting.

[01:28:11] God help us to see that strength, real strength.

[01:28:15] Is not in demanding our rights, real strength, the real faith is not trying to take power or take control or do something in the situation. Help us to see that weakness is not weakness in waiting on you. That's when we find our strength renewed.

[01:28:32] Waiting on you, that's when we have power. In Jesus name.

[01:28:37] Submitting to the governing authorities. That's when we're doing your will or pleasing you. When we're doing good, that silences the ignorance of the foolish or doing what is right so that people have to glorify you on the day of visitation. Oh God. I prayed that it would be said of all of us at CompassHB H.B that we are conducting ourselves in a way that is honorable among the Gentiles, that we are submitting to our governing authorities, that we're not demanding our rights, but we're sticking up for what is right and that we will honor the emperor unto death.

[01:29:14] God, please let us be the people that you're commanding us to be. Let the world see real faith, what real Christian meekness is, let them see that were the ones who will inherit the earth, that Jesus is the one with all authority.

[01:29:28] God.

[01:29:28] Even now, let us remember what was said from Jesus to pilot the Roman governor, that you would have no authority if it wasn't given to you from above. Let us hear what Jesus said. That he has all authority in heaven and on earth. And let us wait for you today. Let us pour out our hearts to you. Let us cast your cares up to you. Let us humble ourselves that you mindless stuff lift us up.

[01:29:59] God, let us wait for you. Let us wait for you on your word. We will rely. We pray this in Jesus name. A man.