April 7, 2025 • 55 mins
In this powerful message we unpack Romans 13’s call to submit to governing authorities as part of God’s design. He acknowledges the difficulty of this teaching, especially in unjust systems, but emphasizes that submission reflects trust in God’s sovereignty. Balancing this, he highlights when civil disobedience is biblical—when obedience to authorities conflicts with clear Scripture, as seen in examples like Peter, Daniel, and the Hebrew midwives. Pastor Karl urges the church to wake up from spiritual slumber, cut off the supply lines to sin, and put on Christ daily. With salvation nearer than ever, he challenges listeners to live sober, alert lives, rooted in love—the only debt that grows the more we pay it. Looking ahead, Pastor Karl previews upcoming sermons on Palm Sunday and Easter, encouraging a 13-day devotional journey through the Gospels’ accounts of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
Church. Let me tell you.
Thank you for a few things.
One, thank you for your prayers onJohn Wright's behalf.
Heather's husband,
she's our executive administrator herefor the church in the Maywood Center.
After his triplebypass surgery, he was in ICU
a lot longer than what they were hoping.But he's home.
He's doing well.
And he wanted me specifically to tell you.
Thank you.
(00:23):
I think his words were,if I get them right,
tell the churchthank you for their prayers
and for being the church,as the church is supposed to be,
just in life expressing care to him.
So that's one. So thank you.
But thank you also for your generosity.
I was reminded againthis week of the incredible generosity
that that we as a church have exhibitedto people that we will never meet
(00:46):
in the context of our leadersand our church planters and our church
planting work in, Guatemala and Cubaand even in the mission work
we're going to do in Mexicoat the at all next week.
I got some,
responses from our pastors in Guatemala
telling us you thank you.
(01:08):
For your generous support of them.
They said one pastor said,
tell tell flip side.
Thank you.
Because it is reassuring to knowthat we'll be able to buy
food for our families.
But you think on one hand.
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Oh, that's horrible. On one hand,that's fantastic.
So thank you.
And we have seven pastorsthat are planting churches,
not just holding service,but doing the physical work of, of
of pouring concrete and holdingservices in the open until they get a roof
over themselves and just incrediblemen and women doing incredible work.
(01:51):
So thank you on behalf of them.
And then I got an email from our leadchurch planter
with our network that that we, trainedand support O'Neill in Cuba.
And he said that things in Cubaobviously are, are,
are, are really, really, really dire.
And in Cuba, it's gotten so badthat they truly have
(02:13):
no idea where the next morselis going to come from.
But they, as churches, have decidedthat they will care
for the people in their communitybefore they care for themselves.
And they said itis. There's just miracles.
They don't know how to spendwhere food just shows up.
Nobody has food,but food just shows up that they can feed
the hungry there in real, tangible ways.
(02:35):
And as a result of that,people are coming to faith.
Just like what is going on.
There's got to be a Godthat's doing this and getting baptized in.
And so,
he also
told me, he said that most inCuba are really,
really scared right now,
because many of themhave families in America
that are in fear of deportationfor one reason or another.
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And the way they've left Cuba
is they've sold all their earthlybelongings, traveled to Nicaragua,
and then got, to Mexico and paid coyotesto get them,
across.
Because if you stay in Cuba,they're going to perish
and send so,so many of them are just like,
if they get deported, there's nothing,there's nothing for them to go back to.
(03:24):
And so there's a whole bunch of fear,
and no resources.
But they know that there'sthis little church in America,
that is with them in prayersand with them and finances
and is providingwhatever we can to help them.
And they send their thanks.
And there are amazing men and women there
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who, under this incredibly
oppressive governmental regime
that would love to see the church
eradicated, is working kingdom stuff
so that the island of Cubacan come to faith.
Just incredible people.
And so thank you and thank youfor your generosity, for the work
(04:07):
that we're going to do in Mexico,this whole next week,
real tangible ways for people
using their spiritual gifts of servicein serving
some people in destitute poverty,where we go and have ministered for years
and building housesand ministering through the spirit there.
So thank you very much for your generositythere.
(04:30):
And towards that end,in advance of your generosity,
I told the first service,
I'll tell you, because I want to leave youout of the blessing
that, I'm asking this churchto dig a little bit deeper again
in generosity, to the tune of $7,000 more
so we can complete the work that I thinkGod has called us to do there this year.
(04:51):
And so I invite you to be a partof that blessing with us.
And just by way of
housekeeping, again, I just want to letyou know where we're headed today.
We're going to be in Romans 13.
But the two weeks after thispalm Sunday and Easter Sunday,
I'm going to pause Romans for a momentand we're going to look at Palm Sunday.
(05:11):
And, and I'm going to show youin the Bible
how hundreds of years beforeJesus entered Jerusalem on what we call
Paul Sunday Triumphal entry,that it was prophesied to the very day,
and Jesus, a statementon the Mount of Olives before
he went into Jerusalem in this PalmSunday triumphal entry, was in reference
to a prophecy that was hundreds of yearsbefore, and the people just missed it.
(05:36):
It was so plain and they just missed it.
And it's it'san incredible passage of Scripture
that I want to explain to you next weekas we look at Palm Sunday
and then Easter Sunday, the celebration.
So we're going to pause Romansafter today, and we'll come back to it
after Easter.
But I'm really excited about thisnext two,
two Sundaysto get into Palm Sunday and Easter.
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And just to help us with this, Triciamentioned
on the announcementvideo, we've got a devotional system.
There are 13 chapters through Matthew,Mark, Luke
and John that deal with the crucifixionand the resurrection.
And starting tomorrow,there's 13 days before Easter.
And so I want to invite youinto immersing yourself
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in the account of the crucifixionand the resurrection
through joining us every day, reading onechapter.
There's three chapters in Matthew threeand Mark three in Luke and four, and John
that deal with the crucifixion,the resurrection.
I want to invite you to immerse yourselfin that story from tomorrow
leading up to Easter. Followalong on our socials.
(06:42):
I think it'll be on our on our websiteso you know what chapter we're in as
we go through that.
But don't miss that opportunity.
I want you to dive into it.
And here's one of the reasons why.
In the four gospelsMatthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
there are 89 total chapters,
and of those 89 chapters,
only four chapters dealwith the first 30 years of Jesus's life.
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Do you
realize that four out of 89 dealwith the first 30 years?
That means 85 of the 89 chaptersin the Gospels
deal with the last threeand a half years of his life,
and of that, 29
chapters deal with just the last week.
And so when you look atwhat God wants to communicate,
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what he wants his people to center downto, to focus on
is not just the life of Jesus.
It's this week of the triumphal entry,the week leading up to that
and through that, to theto the crucifixion of the resurrection.
That'sthe majority of what God has to tell us
in His Word about Jesus.
(07:47):
And so if God went throughso much focused attention on that week,
it behooves us
to dive into that weekand immerse ourselves in it.
You understand? I'm saying.
And so follow along with us through this
devotional series of readinga chapter of A day starting tomorrow.
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Don't miss that.
2/5 of the book of Matthew
is dedicated to the crucifixionand resurrection.
3/5 of the book of Markis dedicated to that.
One third of the Book of Lukeis dedicated to that, and one
half of the Gospel of John is dedicated tothat.
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God wants us to pay attention to it,
so don't miss it.
Chapter 13.
In Romans.
As I looked at this chapter,
I thought, oh my goodness, thisthis is one of those, man.
It's it's,
(08:51):
it it really is instructionson how to live right in a world
that's left what's right.
Just let that sink in a little bit.
How to live right in a world that's left.
What's right, Paul?
In, in inwriting the letter to the Romans,
he spent the first two and a halfchapters.
Chapters one, two and most three talkingabout the wrath of God because of our sin.
(09:15):
And then the last part of chapter threethrough chapter eight,
he talked about the grace of God.
And it looks God's grace looks beautifulagainst the backdrop of sin.
And then in verses 910, 11,
he, kind of unpacks for us,
the plan of God
through his through God's peopleand including us in it.
(09:36):
And then chapters 12 through 16,
he unpacks the will of God.
And in chapter 12he says, the will of God is that
we were transformedby the renewing of our minds.
And part of the willof God is that we don't take vengeance,
but we leave room for God to do whatGod does.
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And so at the end of 12,we're told to change our minds
and let God have space to do whatGod does.
Don't take it into our own hands.
And so the natural questionafter that is, well, what do you do
when you're in those situations,scenarios and systems that are unjust?
What's our response?
(10:18):
He just got up and said, change your mind.
How you think about this stuff.
Don't take matters into your own hands.
Well then, Paul,what do I do when I'm in a situation
scenario and system that is horrible.
And so he writes chapter 13.
Chapter 13 is a chapterthat we have to wrestle with.
(10:40):
And we eventually,if we're going to be apprentices
after Jesus, have to submit to it's
the Word of God writtenunder the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
And I don't understand it,
but I believe it.
And as we unpack it,you might not understand it either.
(11:01):
But if we're going to be apprenticesof Jesus, we have to submit to it,
believe it, and obey it.
And so let me just I'm going to readthe chapter.
It's not long.Let me just read the chapter.
Then we'll go back and unpack it.
So is what chapter 13, verse onelet every person be subject
to the governing authorities,for there is no authority except from God,
(11:25):
and those that exist have been institutedby God.
Therefore,whoever resists the authorities resists
what God has appointed,and those who resist will incur judgment.
For rulers are not a terrorto good conduct, but to bad.
Would you have no fear of the onewho is in authority?
Then do what is good,and you'll receive his approval.
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For if he is God's servant for your good.
But if you do wrong, be afraid, forhe does not bear the sword in vain.
For he is the servant of God and avenger,who carries out
God's wrath on the wrongdoer.
Therefore, one must be in subjection
not only to avoid God's wrath,but also for the sake of conscience.
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For because of this you also pay taxes,
for the authorities are ministers of God.
My goodness, attending to this very thingpaid to all what is owed them.
Taxes, to whom taxes are owed.
Revenue to whom revenue was owed.
Respect to whom respect is owedand honored.
To whom honor is owed.
Oh, no one anythingexcept to love each other
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for the love,For the one who loves another.
Has fulfilled the law for the commandmentsyou shall not commit adultery.
You shall not murder, you shall not steal,you shall not covet.
And any other commandment
are summed up in this word,you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Love does no wrong to a neighbor.
Therefore loves the fulfilling of the law.
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Besides this, you know the time
that the hourhas come for you to wake from sleep,
for salvation is
nearer to us nowthan when we first believed.
The night is far gone, the day is in hand.
So let us cast off the works of darkness.
And put on the armor of light.
Let us walk properly as in the daytime,not in orgies and drunkenness,
(13:16):
not in sexual immorality and sensuality,not in quarreling and jealousy,
but put on the Lord Jesus Christ,and make no provision
for the flesh to gratify desires.
That's chapter 13.
It ends onwhat feels like a pretty spiritual note
put off the works of darkness, don't
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gratify the natural desires of lustand all that stuff.
It sounds pretty spiritual,but it starts with something
that doesn't sound spiritual, right?
It is the Word of God
written
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
It is spiritual in nature.
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We have to understand this.
That you cannot follow Jesus
without submitting to the authorityover you.
To understand.
You guys like I don't.
(14:24):
I'm not sure.
I mean, I want to say yesbecause I'm in church
and you ask the questionas if this answer is yes, but.
You cannot follow Jesus
without submitting to the authorityover you.
Let every person be subject
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to the governing authorities,
for there's no authority except from God,
and those that exist have been what
they've been put there.
By whom?
Therefore,
whoever resists
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the authorities resist
what God has appointed,
and those who resist will incur judgment
not just from God,but from the authorities.
For rulers
are not a terror to good conduct,but to bad.
At least that's the way it should be.
(15:27):
Would you have no fear of the onewho's in authority?
Then do what's goodand you'll receive his approval,
for he is God's servant,literally minister
for your good.
But if you do wrong, be afraid,
for he does not bear the sword in vain.
The real physical consequences,
(15:49):
for he is the servant of God,an avenger who carries out
God's wrath on the wrongdoer.
Therefore,
man what one must be in subjection,
not only to avoid God's wrath,but also for the sake of conscience.
For because of this,
April 15th.
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For the authorities are ministers of God.
Can you imagine ministers
attending to this very thing to pay to allwhat is owed to them?
You owe taxes. You got to pay them
revenue from revenues owed.
Respect to him. Respect his own honors.
Honor is owed since the Word of Godwritten under the inspiration
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of the Holy Spirit.
When the Bible says,
let every person that's meand you be subject to governing
authorities, that word subject
is in two connotationsone, it's a military word
that means you fall in lineaccording to your rank.
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A private does not give instructionto a sergeant.
A sergeant does not give instructionto a general.
You fall in line according to your rankand in this consciousness
military contest,you and I are lesser rank than the author.
The civil and governmental authorities.
What Paul saying
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so fall in line.
Can I get an amen?
Can I get a amen?
That's not begrudging. Okay.
In in in the nonmilitary world,
it means literally a voluntary attitudeof giving in
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a voluntary attitude of giving in
of cooperating with,
of carrying an undue burden.
See anybody give testimony
of the factthat government is an undue burden.
Amen.
And you gotta get Amen for that.
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And he says submit.
Fall in line under
because there's no authorityexcept from God.
And those in authorityhave been put there.
By God.
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We we we gotta get this
submission to authority
has always been partof the biblical agenda.
The biblical plan.
When when Jesus.
Walked the earth.
He walked the earth under Roman authority.
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Rome was the governing authority.
And the Romans made a lawthat they could command
any citizen or citizen,
Roman or Jew,
that a Roman soldiercould command of that person
to carry their military equipmentup to one mile.
Doesn't matter what your agenda is done,no matter what you have planned.
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They say, carry my gear.You gotta carry them out.
Jesus came.
That was a very oppressive law.
It was very intrusive.
It wasn't fair.
And Jesus said, inlight of that, don't carry it one mile.
Carry it to.
Be subject to the unjust authorities.
(19:27):
Right. Had.
There's no authority except from God
and those whose disobedienceinstituted by God.
Submission has always been part of God'sstandard.
Ephesians six childrensubmit to and obey your parents.
We don't have a problem
with that Bible verse,do we can of get an Amen for that one.
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Parents.
Hey man, you need to preach thata little bit more.
We have a problem with that submission.
Hebrews 13 congregation
submit to and obey your pastors and.
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Yeah.
Thank you.
Don't laugh at us. I'm joking.
That is right.
Some of you're like, okay, whatever.
Civilians submit to the
authoritiesover you of civil government and rule.
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Romans 13.
Young ones, submit and obey your elders.
First Peter five right.
Why? Why is submission such a big deal?
If any authority over that?
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What?
Whoever's under the overauthority has to submit
athletes to your coaches.
You don't get to talk back.
Like it doesn't work.
Yeah.
Uncatchable kidsbecome unemployable adults.
Shut up and do what you're told.
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Students submit to your teachers.
Submit to the principal.
And the school board should just do.
Don't go homebecause you gotta fit it in and upset
and complain to your mom or dad.
So they complain to the teacher.
Complain to the principal,complain to the school board.
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Your job as a studentis to submit to your teachers.
Submit to the rules.
This has always been a part of God'sagenda. Why?
Because we cannot learn submissionto a God
we cannot seeuntil we learn submission to the people.
We can see.
Amen.
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This is why this is so important.
Not in one arena, but in every arena.
And this arena isprobably the most difficult
for American Christians.
Because we see ourselvesas American Christians,
not Christians who live in America.
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And the problem is, when we have
wrapped our Bible in our flag.
So when there are policies and agendas
given to us and imposed upon us by peoplethat we don't respect and don't think
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deserve honor, our American Christianitytells us to revolt
and to boycottand to lobby and to storm the Capitol.
Nobody.
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That every person being willing
submission to the government authoritiesfor there's no authority except from God.
And those who exist have been institutedby God.
Therefore, whoever resists the authoritiesresists what God has appointed,
and those who resist will incur judgment.
And this ain't an easy passage.
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It's not an easy passage.
It's the same thingthat is all through Scripture.
First Timothy two.
First of all, then
I urge that supplications,prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings
be made for all people, for kingsand all who are in high positions.
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Pray for them.
That we may
we may lead peaceful and quiet life,
godly and dignified in every way.
This is goodand it's pleasing in the sight of God
our Savior,who desires all people to be saved
and to come to the knowledge of the truth,live peaceful and quiet lives.
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Not lives of boycott
and parades
and storming capitals.
This has always been God's standard
because until we learn submission to thosewe can't see, we will never learn.
Submission.
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Full submission to the one we cannot.
Listen, I want us to understand this.
Wow. Where is the role of civildisobedience?
Because there is a role.
There is a time for civil disobedience.
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Make no mistake about it.
It's just not usually
for what we would choose to be
civilly disobedient.
It's easy for us to get up in armsfor the things that make us uncomfortable
and seem like it's just not fair.
But but the point, the point is, is.
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Being
a good Christian meansbeing a good citizen,
until being a good citizenmakes you a bad Christian.
Make no mistake about it, being a goodChristian means being a good citizen.
Submit to the authorities that are overyou until being a good citizen
makes you a bad Christian.
And there is a time, perhaps,
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when being a good citizenwould make you a bad Christian.
And in those times you resist,
and those times you disobey.
In acts five,
chapter two, chapter five, verse 29, Peterand the apostles answered
the governing authorities,we must obey God rather than you.
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There is a time,but the context of that is after
Peter had been preaching Jesus in the openand they said, you cannot do that.
And he continued to preach Jesus.
It wasn't about taxes,it wasn't about policy.
And in continuingto preach, he was arrested.
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And upon his release, they warned him,don't do it again.
And he said,
if that is your law that I cannot preachJesus, I have to obey God rather than men.
That's the context of civil disobedience.
When obeying the law
makes me transgress clear Scripture,but it better be clear
(26:53):
there is a time for civil disobedience.
It's the midwives
in the Old Testament, in Exodus,
that the command of the president, Pharaoh
was to kill the Hebrew baby boys,and the midwives feared
God more than Pharaoh and would not killthe baby boys, save them.
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That'show Moses came to be civil disobedience.
They knew that to obeythe law would be to condemn the Scripture.
God's heart.
There is a time,
but only when ittransgresses clear Scripture.
When the Christians in the first central,actually
(27:36):
the fifth or ninth century, we're toldyou may not hold public services.
They still health services.
They did it in the catacombs in Rome.
They didn't shut their doors.
So there is a time
when it transgresses a clear scripture,
but only when it transgressesclear Scripture.
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It's Daniel three.
When the king of Babylon said, I'm
going to build the statueand you have to bow to me.
And three young teenage boys said,we will not bow to you.
Throw us in the furnace if you want to.
We're willing to die in the furnace.
God might save us, might not.
Doesn't matter.
(28:19):
But to bow to
you means I transgress Scripture.
And being a good citizen,make me a bad Christian.
I'm not going to do it.
I had nothing to do with,with like with, with taxes and the
you know what the deal had to dowith the worship of Christ.
Same thing.
Daniel six
and when, when when Daniel was told,you can't,
(28:43):
you can't do this faith thing anymorein public.
Daniel went to his room,opened up the window so everybody could
see him, and prayed as he normally did,and was thrown in the lion's den.
There's a time
for resistance,but only when it transgresses
the clear teaching of Scripture.
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When to be a good citizen.
Don't make me a bad Christian.
I will be a good Christian.
Follow me.
So far it's spirit.
We got to be very careful.
(29:28):
We got to be very careful.
He is God's servant.
If you do wrong, be afraid, forhe does not bear the sword in vain.
This hearkens back to Genesis nine six.
If a man sheds man's blood by man,his blood will be shed.
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Its capital punishment.
And it's in Scripture.
And Paul says, listen, there'sreal consequences for disobedience.
So if you're going to be disobeying it,it better be worth it.
The only thing worthit is to uphold God's Word.
For he is the servant of God, an avenger
who carries outGod's wrath on the wrongdoer.
(30:10):
Therefore, one must be in subjection
not only to avoid God's wrath,but also for conscience.
Say, for because of thisyou also pay taxes, for the authorities
are ministers of God, according to thisvery thing, ministers of God.
Minister Biden.
(30:31):
Deacon Trump is
that word, Minister, that Paul uses
is the Greek word dac and neo,which means deacon.
It's the same word as church leaders.
That's how Paul interprets
God's authoritygiven to man, that they are ministers. Now
(30:52):
to be obeyed.
Is this hard for us?
Yeah.
I guarantee you,
this teaching does not reflectthe attitude
and the actions of our countryin the past decade or so.
(31:14):
Am I right?
And we're told in Timothyto lead peaceful, quiet lives. Why?
Because God wants people to come to him.There is enough.
There is little that's more repulsivethan political right.
Agendas.
That get so wrapped up
in their patriotismthey forget about the person of Christ
(31:37):
and that wrap their Bibles in their flag.
And the problem is, so muchso that Christians have looked
have not looked any differentthan non-Christians when it comes
to the political world these days.
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Because of this, you pay taxes.
What a great.
What a great chapter to study.
Right at the beginning of April, the.
Said when
Paul, when Jesus talkedabout submitting to the authorities,
he was living under the rule of Herod.
(32:26):
Understand Herod was the one
who commanded all the baby boys
in Bethlehem area two yearsand under to be killed.
And Jesus said.
You still have the authorities.
Not in killing babies.
(32:46):
That would be contrary to the word.
But he didn't say lobby and
boycott and protest and.
Garner online support by your posts.
When Paul wrote this to the Christiansin Rome, writing for those Roman
Christians and Hebrew Christians, he said,you are of a different citizenry now,
(33:11):
the one who was in charge in RomanPaul wrote this, that all leaders
are instituted by God and have God'swrath like it was under Caesar.
Nero.
Caesar Nero was so was such a despot
that he would take Christians andhave them arrested and tie them on stakes,
douse him in oil and light them on fireso he could look at his gardens
(33:33):
at night.
And Paul says, be subject to authority
because they are there by God's choosing.
SometimesGod puts people in authority for blessing,
and sometimes God puts people in authorityto bring judgment.
(33:56):
But they're there nonetheless.
Can you imagine,
Paul, under that?
Nero was the one who would have Paularrested and beheaded.
And Paul still said.
Submit.
(34:17):
This is hard.
Look at submission.
Submission is mean surrender
to a sovereign God,
and we don't get to understand
(34:38):
in his sovereignty why he chooses somein leadership and not others.
We just get to submit.
We have to be very careful
not to wrap our Bible in our flag.
We have to be very careful.
We are in a wonderful position in America,
(34:59):
this democratic republic, to vote,and we need to vote
biblically, please,
whenever that time comes to vote.
But we have to understandthat our job as Christians in
Americais not to establish a Christian nation.
Our job is to establishthe Kingdom of God,
(35:20):
and the kingdom of God is differentthan a quote unquote Christian nation.
We think if we get the right peoplein the right places
who believe the right things,that the nation will become Christianized.
That's not how it works.
We have to be very careful
not to settle for a kingdom polity,thinking that
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if the policies are just,people will be just.
That's not how it works.
Our hope is not in a person, in a house.
Our hope is in the person of Christ.
Paid taxes to whom taxes are owed.
Went. Went.
When Paul wrote this, I don't know ifhow familiar with the tax system in Rome.
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You think ours is convoluted and bad.
There was.
There was for everybodyin Rome under the Roman authority.
There was a tribute.
Which is a was a 1 to 3% tax on all
everything you own, every thing you own,
not just income, everything you own.
There was a 1 to 3% tax on it.
If you owned it, you paid taxes on it.
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Right off the bat.
There was a poll tax.
The poll tax was a tax onjust on having the freedom,
the opportunity to breathe Roman air.
You were taxed on the air that you breathe
for man, for the time you're 16till you're 60 women
from the time you're 14 till you're 60.
There was a tax on being able to breatheRoman air.
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Can you imagine?
There was a wheel tax.
Anything you own that has a wheel you pay
taxes on and the tax code went up.
Depending on how many wheels there were,
the more wheels, the more tax
there was a produce taxa 10th of everything
you produce a 10th of it right offthe bat goes to government.
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There was a fish tax,a 10th of every fish that you caught,
every 10th, every first of ten fisheswent to the government.
There was inheritance tax.
Anything that was passed on to youfrom anybody else, 5% right off the top,
there was an import
export tax on anything that left or came
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in, not just like from business,like anything,
those who collectedtaxes on behalf of Rome
were given the authority to not just cutthe responsibility, collect what
Rome said, but the, the the authorityto go beyond that and collect
how much more taxesyou wanted to add on to it, to,
to pad their own pockets.
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It was incredibly unjust,
incredibly oppressive.
That was Rome.
That's that'swhat's in place when Paul's writing this.
It's estimated that in Rome,
half of the population of Romewere slaves.
Some estimates for every Roman citizenthere were three slaves.
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And Paul says he doesn't say revolt.
He didn't say holdparades and boycotts and lobby.
This is unjust.
He didn't say.
What's he say?
I'm sorry.
Maybe you haven't heard a thingI've said so far
(38:38):
that every personbe subject to the governance.
Or what does he say?
Is this hard? Yes.
Thank you.
But this is our problem.
We see ourselves as American Christians,
and as long as we're patriots
before we're apprentices,
(39:00):
we're going to struggle with this.
Pay taxes.
You know, if if Jesus paid it all,I can pay
my taxes.
Nowhere in Scripturedo we see the instruction, nor
the example of church boycotts, lobbying,threats to overthrow the government.
(39:20):
But I don't see it anywhere.
I mean, Jesus is the one who said, listen,
if they ask you to do this andit's unfair, go the extra mile for them.
Have I spent enough time on
the first seven verses?
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No one.
Oh no one anythingexcept a love each other for the love
for, for the one who loves another hasfulfilled the law for the commandments.
You shall not commit adultery.You shall not steal.
You shall not covet any other commandment.
It's all summed up in this one wordyou shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Love does no wrong to a neighbor.
Thereforelove is the fulfilling of the law.
(40:04):
Listen it.
It's it's real simple. Here.
Love is the only debt that growsthe more you pay it.
He says your taxes pay it, sooneryou pay it.
You done, your honor. Givethe person are sinners.
They're not like you're.
The love is the only debt that growsthe more you pay it.
Love is the only debtthat you will never fully pay off.
(40:24):
And the more you pay the love debt,the more that love grows.
You understand? I'm saying
when you're talking about
when he says, oh, knowing anythingexcept two to love one another, he's
not talking about borrowingand lending like a lot of people use this.
First.
You should never, ever, ever, you know,get into a borrower lender situation.
There's there's caveats to that.
Proverbs 22 seven.
(40:46):
It says the borroweralways be slave to the lender.
And so they're like it don't saydon't do what it should say.
Be very careful,
because if you borrow, you're going to bea slave to the one you borrowed from.
So so have some wisdom to this.
But in Matthew five.
In Luke six, Jesus talks about borrowingand lending in the sermon on the Mount.
And he doesn't say, don't do it.
He just says, listen,if you're going to get into that situation
(41:08):
as a Christianand as a Christian, you're going to lend.
A Christian lender cannot charge interestfrom a fellow Christian.
To be wise about this.
The he makes provision for lendingas long as is done in wisdom
and not at exorbitant debt for greed,not needs.
(41:30):
The point of this whole thingis the debt of love.
And he says, you pay thatand you keep paying it
because it's the only debtthat you will never completely pay off.
And we owe it to each other.
And honestly, if we think about it,
our love for othersis the measure of our obedience, he says.
When you love others,you fulfill the whole are.
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You want to be obedient?
Then act in loving waystowards each other.
Because when I love you,I'm not going to transgress against you.
And when I transgress against youis because I'm not showing you love.
You understand?
You understand.
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Besides
this, you know the time.
Besides this.
You know the time that the hour has
come for you to wake up
from your sleep.
For salvation is nearer to us nowthan when we first believed.
The night is far gone.
The day is at hand.
(42:36):
So let us cast off the works of darkness.
And put on the armor of light.
Let us walk properly as in the daytime,not in orgies and drunkenness,
not in sexual immorality is to join,not in quarreling and jealousy. Ha!
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ,and make no provision for the flesh,
to gratify its nature.
As he saying, listen,some of you have slept.
(42:57):
Walk your way through faith.
Wake up, wake up!
We've gottenso wrapped up in the periphery.
Things of government and oversight.
Wake up.
You know the time.
(43:18):
It's time to wake up.
We must not sleepwalk through our walk
with Jesus. Yet.
Salvation is nearer now than ever before.
Jesus is closer to coming back todaythan he was yesterday.
(43:39):
Wake up!
It's time to get eyes wide open
and he become sober and serious about this
walk of faith.
Sleep no longer.
(44:01):
The night is far gone.
The day is at hand.
Don't keep hitting the snoozebutton on your faith. And.
Put on Christ.
Put him on.
We have to understand that
every morningyou get dressed spiritually in Christ.
(44:24):
You don't go into battle wearing pajamas.
Do you understand what I'm saying?
Wake up.
Take off your PJs.
Put on Christ.
Get sober serious about this.
(44:44):
He says make no provision for the flesh,to gratify a sense
that word provision, it means literallydon't provide for it anymore.
Don't supply it resources anymore.
Here's what here's what he's saying.
He's saying some of us who call ourselvesChristians
are sleepwalking our way through faith.
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And though we're saved, and thoughwe're forgiven eternally,
we're still feeding the resource line
of sin in our lives.
We're still keepingthose resources flowing.
And he says, make no provisionfor cut that off.
He said, I knowyou like flirting with sin,
(45:28):
and I know you're relying on God'sgoodness, mercy and grace
to give you eternal forgiveness.
But it's time to wake up and to cut offthe supply line and make no provision.
Cut. Don't keep feeding that sinthat you're so comfortable
with that you've ignored for so long.
Make no provision.
(45:50):
Don't supply it with resources anymore.
I'm just going to dabblea little bit in it.
Yeah, make no supply line.
You got $2.
You can only feed one.What are the $2 going to live?
The one you feed.
Wake up.
Don't dabble in this anymore.
(46:14):
The Bible talks about this enemyand then the return of Christ
who says, don't be asleep.
But he shows up.
Some of us have got these supply linesthat we're feeding
minds little sins, just like,
Don't feed it
(46:35):
so that you gratify it anymore.
Here's what he's saying.
Sin doesn't thrive without a supply line.
In my life and your life
and our lives, sin does not survivewithout a supply line.
And so the questionwe have to ask ourselves and come to terms
(46:56):
with in, in, in, in profound honesty iswhat sin am
I still resourcing?
To understand.
(47:16):
And when I get
more concernedor worked up about someone else's sin
than I am repentant about my own.
Sleepwalking?
Yeah.
(47:37):
And so, my dear friends.
Identify
what your resourcing
and how you're resourcing.
The very thing that's workingagainst your freedom in Christ.
And make a plan to cut it off.
And that plan to cut off the supply line
(47:59):
begins with confession and repentance.
And when confessionand repentance are in place,
then we can work the plan.
But it begins with confession
and repentance.
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And so.
It's time to wake up.
And in confession and repentance,
cut off the supply line.
Because you are choosing this day
to wake up.
(48:45):
The alarm clock is sounding.
Don't hit the snooze button anymore.
I want you to pray with me.
Father, thank you for your word.
I thank you that it is alive and active in
(49:10):
willingto, and able to cut us to the very core,
and then to mend us and repair us.
Thank you for your mercy.
Thank you for your grace.
And thank you for the opportunityto repent.
And, father, as we repent,
give us all that your grace allows.
(49:36):
Father, there are some here this morning
that are choosing in this momentto wake up
that Holy Spirit you have convicted.
You have spokenabout the sleepwalk of our lives.
And we realize that the alarms going offand it's time to wake up.
(49:57):
So hear our prayers right now,
friends,I want to invite you in this moment
to choose to answer the alarm and wake up.
And would you, in this moment,
avail yourselfto both confession and repentance?
To say, father, I'm sorry for my sin.
(50:19):
I'm sorry that I have kept the supplying
supply line open.
I have dabbled,
and I've swum in the deep end of sin
for far too long.
I continue to feed that dog in my life
(50:40):
and I want freedom from it.
And so I confess it to you.
Would you just be honest with Godright now?
God, I'm sorry.
I confess it to you and then repent.
Say, God, I,
I will do whatever I can do in my powerto go
the other way, to run from it,to cut off the supply line.
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Give me resources I don't yet have.
I may be free.
Father, would you call us to wake up?
Would we respond and wake up?
(51:24):
Would we choose to cut off the supply lineto sin in our lives?
That we would choose that life no more,
that we would realize?
Jesus, you are closer todaythan you've ever been before,
that you would cause usto live sober and alert,
lives.
That we'd wake up.
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Friends, in this moment, just with your.
Just in this moment of prayer,this moment of between us and God.
I'm going to ask you to do this.
If that's your prayer,if that's your desire,
I want I'm choosing to wake up.
I don't want to sleepone way through this.
I need to cut the supply line.
(52:06):
I want to pray over you specifically.
Would you just simply shift,slip your hand up and keep it up?
I want to be able to pray overyou and I want you to receive this.
Thank you, thank you good.
Thank you, thank you,thank you. Good. Keep them up.
Like just is you and God.But I want you to receive this. Good.
Thank you, thank you.
Good. There you go. Good
good good good.
(52:27):
There. Thank you. Good.
Thank you. Good good good good.
These are commitments.
This is this is biblical and unlisted.
Just just as an act of reset.
Thank you.
As an afterwe just receive this for a moment
with your hand up to God,just receive this.
Thank you
father.
These you thank you
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that your word says that your eyesare range to and fro about the.
Or to see those hearts
who are fully yours, that you may fullyand strongly support them.
These hands, these in this moment
are saying, father, I want to wake upand I want to cut the supply line.
Father, would you do that in themand through them?
(53:11):
Let them walk in a way
that is consistent with the callingthat you have placed on their lives.
Would you empower them andand do them with your Holy Spirit,
that it would come on themand be in them to enable them to walk
in ways that they've never previouslybeen able to walk because of the
the gift of your spirit,because of your mercy and your grace,
(53:32):
that they
not relying on their own ability,but they would rely on your presence
in their lives.
And that in this moment you would in thembreak their supply line,
that they have kept open of sinin their lives,
that you would remove that,that you would break that you,
that you wouldset them free in this moment,
I pray they receive this
(53:52):
in faith by your mercy and grace,and in these that you would do this
powerful, strong work in personaland profound
and intimate ways.
That we would live livesthat are wide awake
slaves.
No more.
You put your hands down.
(54:13):
And, father, thank you that you've heard
our prayers, that you see our heart,
that you are faithful
so we can be faithful.
I pray all these things in your name,Jesus.
Amen.
This a man.
I'm so proud of you.
So proud of you.
This is my ask.
(54:33):
I would I would love David. What?
I mean, we would love to be ableto just to say, hey, let's just pray.
Personally, I was first I praying
with someone down here in the corner,just personally like some personal stuff.
It it's just good to do that.
And so just let us, let us knowhow we can walk with you through this.
We want to be able to do that.
But I also want to encourage you,those little cards that you have there,
(54:53):
but you just take those outand fill those out
and turn those into a little bucket.
Those are those start here
booth or somewhere just so we canwe can know, look, we're with you.
We're in this. We want to resource you,
communicate it.
It's not love you.
You've been so good to go through13 chapters so far.
We got a few more to go,but we're going to pause it
(55:14):
now and get into Palm Sunday and Easter.
Some animal scripture is going toyour minds.
It's going to go in the world.Never seen that before.
It's beautiful.
But make sure that you're with this.
Read these devotions every dayleading up to that.
Good. Yeah, I love you.
I'm proud of you is a freaking goodchurch.
(55:36):
Yeah,
he's got two weeks now to put the hammerdown and invite your huddle.
Palm Sunday and Easter. You got it.
And I. Let's sing. Thank you. Jeff.
Church. Let me tell you.
Thank you for a few things.
One, thank you for your prayers onJohn Wright's behalf.
Heather's husband,
she's our executive administrator herefor the church in the Maywood Center.
After his triplebypass surgery, he was in ICU
a lot longer than what they were hoping.But he's home.
He's doing well.
And he wanted me specifically to tell you.
Thank you.
(00:23):
I think his words were,if I get them right,
tell the churchthank you for their prayers
and for being the church,as the church is supposed to be,
just in life expressing care to him.
So that's one. So thank you.
But thank you also for your generosity.
I was reminded againthis week of the incredible generosity
that that we as a church have exhibitedto people that we will never meet
(00:46):
in the context of our leadersand our church planters and our church
planting work in, Guatemala and Cubaand even in the mission work
we're going to do in Mexicoat the at all next week.
I got some,
responses from our pastors in Guatemala
telling us you thank you.
(01:08):
For your generous support of them.
They said one pastor said,
tell tell flip side.
Thank you.
Because it is reassuring to knowthat we'll be able to buy
food for our families.
But you think on one hand.
(01:28):
Oh, that's horrible. On one hand,that's fantastic.
So thank you.
And we have seven pastorsthat are planting churches,
not just holding service,but doing the physical work of, of
of pouring concrete and holdingservices in the open until they get a roof
over themselves and just incrediblemen and women doing incredible work.
(01:51):
So thank you on behalf of them.
And then I got an email from our leadchurch planter
with our network that that we, trainedand support O'Neill in Cuba.
And he said that things in Cubaobviously are, are,
are, are really, really, really dire.
And in Cuba, it's gotten so badthat they truly have
(02:13):
no idea where the next morselis going to come from.
But they, as churches, have decidedthat they will care
for the people in their communitybefore they care for themselves.
And they said itis. There's just miracles.
They don't know how to spendwhere food just shows up.
Nobody has food,but food just shows up that they can feed
the hungry there in real, tangible ways.
(02:35):
And as a result of that,people are coming to faith.
Just like what is going on.
There's got to be a Godthat's doing this and getting baptized in.
And so,
he also
told me, he said that most inCuba are really,
really scared right now,
because many of themhave families in America
that are in fear of deportationfor one reason or another.
(03:00):
And the way they've left Cuba
is they've sold all their earthlybelongings, traveled to Nicaragua,
and then got, to Mexico and paid coyotesto get them,
across.
Because if you stay in Cuba,they're going to perish
and send so,so many of them are just like,
if they get deported, there's nothing,there's nothing for them to go back to.
(03:24):
And so there's a whole bunch of fear,
and no resources.
But they know that there'sthis little church in America,
that is with them in prayersand with them and finances
and is providingwhatever we can to help them.
And they send their thanks.
And there are amazing men and women there
(03:46):
who, under this incredibly
oppressive governmental regime
that would love to see the church
eradicated, is working kingdom stuff
so that the island of Cubacan come to faith.
Just incredible people.
And so thank you and thank youfor your generosity, for the work
(04:07):
that we're going to do in Mexico,this whole next week,
real tangible ways for people
using their spiritual gifts of servicein serving
some people in destitute poverty,where we go and have ministered for years
and building housesand ministering through the spirit there.
So thank you very much for your generositythere.
(04:30):
And towards that end,in advance of your generosity,
I told the first service,
I'll tell you, because I want to leave youout of the blessing
that, I'm asking this churchto dig a little bit deeper again
in generosity, to the tune of $7,000 more
so we can complete the work that I thinkGod has called us to do there this year.
(04:51):
And so I invite you to be a partof that blessing with us.
And just by way of
housekeeping, again, I just want to letyou know where we're headed today.
We're going to be in Romans 13.
But the two weeks after thispalm Sunday and Easter Sunday,
I'm going to pause Romans for a momentand we're going to look at Palm Sunday.
(05:11):
And, and I'm going to show youin the Bible
how hundreds of years beforeJesus entered Jerusalem on what we call
Paul Sunday Triumphal entry,that it was prophesied to the very day,
and Jesus, a statementon the Mount of Olives before
he went into Jerusalem in this PalmSunday triumphal entry, was in reference
to a prophecy that was hundreds of yearsbefore, and the people just missed it.
(05:36):
It was so plain and they just missed it.
And it's it'san incredible passage of Scripture
that I want to explain to you next weekas we look at Palm Sunday
and then Easter Sunday, the celebration.
So we're going to pause Romansafter today, and we'll come back to it
after Easter.
But I'm really excited about thisnext two,
two Sundaysto get into Palm Sunday and Easter.
(05:58):
And just to help us with this, Triciamentioned
on the announcementvideo, we've got a devotional system.
There are 13 chapters through Matthew,Mark, Luke
and John that deal with the crucifixionand the resurrection.
And starting tomorrow,there's 13 days before Easter.
And so I want to invite youinto immersing yourself
(06:21):
in the account of the crucifixionand the resurrection
through joining us every day, reading onechapter.
There's three chapters in Matthew threeand Mark three in Luke and four, and John
that deal with the crucifixion,the resurrection.
I want to invite you to immerse yourselfin that story from tomorrow
leading up to Easter. Followalong on our socials.
(06:42):
I think it'll be on our on our websiteso you know what chapter we're in as
we go through that.
But don't miss that opportunity.
I want you to dive into it.
And here's one of the reasons why.
In the four gospelsMatthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
there are 89 total chapters,
and of those 89 chapters,
only four chapters dealwith the first 30 years of Jesus's life.
(07:06):
Do you
realize that four out of 89 dealwith the first 30 years?
That means 85 of the 89 chaptersin the Gospels
deal with the last threeand a half years of his life,
and of that, 29
chapters deal with just the last week.
And so when you look atwhat God wants to communicate,
(07:27):
what he wants his people to center downto, to focus on
is not just the life of Jesus.
It's this week of the triumphal entry,the week leading up to that
and through that, to theto the crucifixion of the resurrection.
That'sthe majority of what God has to tell us
in His Word about Jesus.
(07:47):
And so if God went throughso much focused attention on that week,
it behooves us
to dive into that weekand immerse ourselves in it.
You understand? I'm saying.
And so follow along with us through this
devotional series of readinga chapter of A day starting tomorrow.
(08:09):
Don't miss that.
2/5 of the book of Matthew
is dedicated to the crucifixionand resurrection.
3/5 of the book of Markis dedicated to that.
One third of the Book of Lukeis dedicated to that, and one
half of the Gospel of John is dedicated tothat.
(08:30):
God wants us to pay attention to it,
so don't miss it.
Chapter 13.
In Romans.
As I looked at this chapter,
I thought, oh my goodness, thisthis is one of those, man.
It's it's,
(08:51):
it it really is instructionson how to live right in a world
that's left what's right.
Just let that sink in a little bit.
How to live right in a world that's left.
What's right, Paul?
In, in inwriting the letter to the Romans,
he spent the first two and a halfchapters.
Chapters one, two and most three talkingabout the wrath of God because of our sin.
(09:15):
And then the last part of chapter threethrough chapter eight,
he talked about the grace of God.
And it looks God's grace looks beautifulagainst the backdrop of sin.
And then in verses 910, 11,
he, kind of unpacks for us,
the plan of God
through his through God's peopleand including us in it.
(09:36):
And then chapters 12 through 16,
he unpacks the will of God.
And in chapter 12he says, the will of God is that
we were transformedby the renewing of our minds.
And part of the willof God is that we don't take vengeance,
but we leave room for God to do whatGod does.
(09:57):
And so at the end of 12,we're told to change our minds
and let God have space to do whatGod does.
Don't take it into our own hands.
And so the natural questionafter that is, well, what do you do
when you're in those situations,scenarios and systems that are unjust?
What's our response?
(10:18):
He just got up and said, change your mind.
How you think about this stuff.
Don't take matters into your own hands.
Well then, Paul,what do I do when I'm in a situation
scenario and system that is horrible.
And so he writes chapter 13.
Chapter 13 is a chapterthat we have to wrestle with.
(10:40):
And we eventually,if we're going to be apprentices
after Jesus, have to submit to it's
the Word of God writtenunder the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
And I don't understand it,
but I believe it.
And as we unpack it,you might not understand it either.
(11:01):
But if we're going to be apprenticesof Jesus, we have to submit to it,
believe it, and obey it.
And so let me just I'm going to readthe chapter.
It's not long.Let me just read the chapter.
Then we'll go back and unpack it.
So is what chapter 13, verse onelet every person be subject
to the governing authorities,for there is no authority except from God,
(11:25):
and those that exist have been institutedby God.
Therefore,whoever resists the authorities resists
what God has appointed,and those who resist will incur judgment.
For rulers are not a terrorto good conduct, but to bad.
Would you have no fear of the onewho is in authority?
Then do what is good,and you'll receive his approval.
(11:47):
For if he is God's servant for your good.
But if you do wrong, be afraid, forhe does not bear the sword in vain.
For he is the servant of God and avenger,who carries out
God's wrath on the wrongdoer.
Therefore, one must be in subjection
not only to avoid God's wrath,but also for the sake of conscience.
(12:08):
For because of this you also pay taxes,
for the authorities are ministers of God.
My goodness, attending to this very thingpaid to all what is owed them.
Taxes, to whom taxes are owed.
Revenue to whom revenue was owed.
Respect to whom respect is owedand honored.
To whom honor is owed.
Oh, no one anythingexcept to love each other
(12:30):
for the love,For the one who loves another.
Has fulfilled the law for the commandmentsyou shall not commit adultery.
You shall not murder, you shall not steal,you shall not covet.
And any other commandment
are summed up in this word,you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Love does no wrong to a neighbor.
Therefore loves the fulfilling of the law.
(12:52):
Besides this, you know the time
that the hourhas come for you to wake from sleep,
for salvation is
nearer to us nowthan when we first believed.
The night is far gone, the day is in hand.
So let us cast off the works of darkness.
And put on the armor of light.
Let us walk properly as in the daytime,not in orgies and drunkenness,
(13:16):
not in sexual immorality and sensuality,not in quarreling and jealousy,
but put on the Lord Jesus Christ,and make no provision
for the flesh to gratify desires.
That's chapter 13.
It ends onwhat feels like a pretty spiritual note
put off the works of darkness, don't
(13:36):
gratify the natural desires of lustand all that stuff.
It sounds pretty spiritual,but it starts with something
that doesn't sound spiritual, right?
It is the Word of God
written
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
It is spiritual in nature.
(14:00):
We have to understand this.
That you cannot follow Jesus
without submitting to the authorityover you.
To understand.
You guys like I don't.
(14:24):
I'm not sure.
I mean, I want to say yesbecause I'm in church
and you ask the questionas if this answer is yes, but.
You cannot follow Jesus
without submitting to the authorityover you.
Let every person be subject
(14:45):
to the governing authorities,
for there's no authority except from God,
and those that exist have been what
they've been put there.
By whom?
Therefore,
whoever resists
(15:06):
the authorities resist
what God has appointed,
and those who resist will incur judgment
not just from God,but from the authorities.
For rulers
are not a terror to good conduct,but to bad.
At least that's the way it should be.
(15:27):
Would you have no fear of the onewho's in authority?
Then do what's goodand you'll receive his approval,
for he is God's servant,literally minister
for your good.
But if you do wrong, be afraid,
for he does not bear the sword in vain.
The real physical consequences,
(15:49):
for he is the servant of God,an avenger who carries out
God's wrath on the wrongdoer.
Therefore,
man what one must be in subjection,
not only to avoid God's wrath,but also for the sake of conscience.
For because of this,
April 15th.
(16:11):
For the authorities are ministers of God.
Can you imagine ministers
attending to this very thing to pay to allwhat is owed to them?
You owe taxes. You got to pay them
revenue from revenues owed.
Respect to him. Respect his own honors.
Honor is owed since the Word of Godwritten under the inspiration
(16:32):
of the Holy Spirit.
When the Bible says,
let every person that's meand you be subject to governing
authorities, that word subject
is in two connotationsone, it's a military word
that means you fall in lineaccording to your rank.
(16:53):
A private does not give instructionto a sergeant.
A sergeant does not give instructionto a general.
You fall in line according to your rankand in this consciousness
military contest,you and I are lesser rank than the author.
The civil and governmental authorities.
What Paul saying
(17:15):
so fall in line.
Can I get an amen?
Can I get a amen?
That's not begrudging. Okay.
In in in the nonmilitary world,
it means literally a voluntary attitudeof giving in
(17:36):
a voluntary attitude of giving in
of cooperating with,
of carrying an undue burden.
See anybody give testimony
of the factthat government is an undue burden.
Amen.
And you gotta get Amen for that.
(17:56):
And he says submit.
Fall in line under
because there's no authorityexcept from God.
And those in authorityhave been put there.
By God.
(18:18):
We we we gotta get this
submission to authority
has always been partof the biblical agenda.
The biblical plan.
When when Jesus.
Walked the earth.
He walked the earth under Roman authority.
(18:41):
Rome was the governing authority.
And the Romans made a lawthat they could command
any citizen or citizen,
Roman or Jew,
that a Roman soldiercould command of that person
to carry their military equipmentup to one mile.
Doesn't matter what your agenda is done,no matter what you have planned.
(19:02):
They say, carry my gear.You gotta carry them out.
Jesus came.
That was a very oppressive law.
It was very intrusive.
It wasn't fair.
And Jesus said, inlight of that, don't carry it one mile.
Carry it to.
Be subject to the unjust authorities.
(19:27):
Right. Had.
There's no authority except from God
and those whose disobedienceinstituted by God.
Submission has always been part of God'sstandard.
Ephesians six childrensubmit to and obey your parents.
We don't have a problem
with that Bible verse,do we can of get an Amen for that one.
(19:50):
Parents.
Hey man, you need to preach thata little bit more.
We have a problem with that submission.
Hebrews 13 congregation
submit to and obey your pastors and.
(20:10):
Yeah.
Thank you.
Don't laugh at us. I'm joking.
That is right.
Some of you're like, okay, whatever.
Civilians submit to the
authoritiesover you of civil government and rule.
(20:31):
Romans 13.
Young ones, submit and obey your elders.
First Peter five right.
Why? Why is submission such a big deal?
If any authority over that?
(20:52):
What?
Whoever's under the overauthority has to submit
athletes to your coaches.
You don't get to talk back.
Like it doesn't work.
Yeah.
Uncatchable kidsbecome unemployable adults.
Shut up and do what you're told.
(21:21):
Students submit to your teachers.
Submit to the principal.
And the school board should just do.
Don't go homebecause you gotta fit it in and upset
and complain to your mom or dad.
So they complain to the teacher.
Complain to the principal,complain to the school board.
(21:43):
Your job as a studentis to submit to your teachers.
Submit to the rules.
This has always been a part of God'sagenda. Why?
Because we cannot learn submissionto a God
we cannot seeuntil we learn submission to the people.
We can see.
Amen.
(22:05):
This is why this is so important.
Not in one arena, but in every arena.
And this arena isprobably the most difficult
for American Christians.
Because we see ourselvesas American Christians,
not Christians who live in America.
(22:28):
And the problem is, when we have
wrapped our Bible in our flag.
So when there are policies and agendas
given to us and imposed upon us by peoplethat we don't respect and don't think
(22:48):
deserve honor, our American Christianitytells us to revolt
and to boycottand to lobby and to storm the Capitol.
Nobody.
(23:11):
That every person being willing
submission to the government authoritiesfor there's no authority except from God.
And those who exist have been institutedby God.
Therefore, whoever resists the authoritiesresists what God has appointed,
and those who resist will incur judgment.
And this ain't an easy passage.
(23:37):
It's not an easy passage.
It's the same thingthat is all through Scripture.
First Timothy two.
First of all, then
I urge that supplications,prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings
be made for all people, for kingsand all who are in high positions.
(23:58):
Pray for them.
That we may
we may lead peaceful and quiet life,
godly and dignified in every way.
This is goodand it's pleasing in the sight of God
our Savior,who desires all people to be saved
and to come to the knowledge of the truth,live peaceful and quiet lives.
(24:24):
Not lives of boycott
and parades
and storming capitals.
This has always been God's standard
because until we learn submission to thosewe can't see, we will never learn.
Submission.
(24:44):
Full submission to the one we cannot.
Listen, I want us to understand this.
Wow. Where is the role of civildisobedience?
Because there is a role.
There is a time for civil disobedience.
(25:06):
Make no mistake about it.
It's just not usually
for what we would choose to be
civilly disobedient.
It's easy for us to get up in armsfor the things that make us uncomfortable
and seem like it's just not fair.
But but the point, the point is, is.
(25:28):
Being
a good Christian meansbeing a good citizen,
until being a good citizenmakes you a bad Christian.
Make no mistake about it, being a goodChristian means being a good citizen.
Submit to the authorities that are overyou until being a good citizen
makes you a bad Christian.
And there is a time, perhaps,
(25:48):
when being a good citizenwould make you a bad Christian.
And in those times you resist,
and those times you disobey.
In acts five,
chapter two, chapter five, verse 29, Peterand the apostles answered
the governing authorities,we must obey God rather than you.
(26:12):
There is a time,but the context of that is after
Peter had been preaching Jesus in the openand they said, you cannot do that.
And he continued to preach Jesus.
It wasn't about taxes,it wasn't about policy.
And in continuingto preach, he was arrested.
(26:33):
And upon his release, they warned him,don't do it again.
And he said,
if that is your law that I cannot preachJesus, I have to obey God rather than men.
That's the context of civil disobedience.
When obeying the law
makes me transgress clear Scripture,but it better be clear
(26:53):
there is a time for civil disobedience.
It's the midwives
in the Old Testament, in Exodus,
that the command of the president, Pharaoh
was to kill the Hebrew baby boys,and the midwives feared
God more than Pharaoh and would not killthe baby boys, save them.
(27:15):
That'show Moses came to be civil disobedience.
They knew that to obeythe law would be to condemn the Scripture.
God's heart.
There is a time,
but only when ittransgresses clear Scripture.
When the Christians in the first central,actually
(27:36):
the fifth or ninth century, we're toldyou may not hold public services.
They still health services.
They did it in the catacombs in Rome.
They didn't shut their doors.
So there is a time
when it transgresses a clear scripture,
but only when it transgressesclear Scripture.
(27:57):
It's Daniel three.
When the king of Babylon said, I'm
going to build the statueand you have to bow to me.
And three young teenage boys said,we will not bow to you.
Throw us in the furnace if you want to.
We're willing to die in the furnace.
God might save us, might not.
Doesn't matter.
(28:19):
But to bow to
you means I transgress Scripture.
And being a good citizen,make me a bad Christian.
I'm not going to do it.
I had nothing to do with,with like with, with taxes and the
you know what the deal had to dowith the worship of Christ.
Same thing.
Daniel six
and when, when when Daniel was told,you can't,
(28:43):
you can't do this faith thing anymorein public.
Daniel went to his room,opened up the window so everybody could
see him, and prayed as he normally did,and was thrown in the lion's den.
There's a time
for resistance,but only when it transgresses
the clear teaching of Scripture.
(29:06):
When to be a good citizen.
Don't make me a bad Christian.
I will be a good Christian.
Follow me.
So far it's spirit.
We got to be very careful.
(29:28):
We got to be very careful.
He is God's servant.
If you do wrong, be afraid, forhe does not bear the sword in vain.
This hearkens back to Genesis nine six.
If a man sheds man's blood by man,his blood will be shed.
(29:48):
Its capital punishment.
And it's in Scripture.
And Paul says, listen, there'sreal consequences for disobedience.
So if you're going to be disobeying it,it better be worth it.
The only thing worthit is to uphold God's Word.
For he is the servant of God, an avenger
who carries outGod's wrath on the wrongdoer.
(30:10):
Therefore, one must be in subjection
not only to avoid God's wrath,but also for conscience.
Say, for because of thisyou also pay taxes, for the authorities
are ministers of God, according to thisvery thing, ministers of God.
Minister Biden.
(30:31):
Deacon Trump is
that word, Minister, that Paul uses
is the Greek word dac and neo,which means deacon.
It's the same word as church leaders.
That's how Paul interprets
God's authoritygiven to man, that they are ministers. Now
(30:52):
to be obeyed.
Is this hard for us?
Yeah.
I guarantee you,
this teaching does not reflectthe attitude
and the actions of our countryin the past decade or so.
(31:14):
Am I right?
And we're told in Timothyto lead peaceful, quiet lives. Why?
Because God wants people to come to him.There is enough.
There is little that's more repulsivethan political right.
Agendas.
That get so wrapped up
in their patriotismthey forget about the person of Christ
(31:37):
and that wrap their Bibles in their flag.
And the problem is, so muchso that Christians have looked
have not looked any differentthan non-Christians when it comes
to the political world these days.
(32:03):
Because of this, you pay taxes.
What a great.
What a great chapter to study.
Right at the beginning of April, the.
Said when
Paul, when Jesus talkedabout submitting to the authorities,
he was living under the rule of Herod.
(32:26):
Understand Herod was the one
who commanded all the baby boys
in Bethlehem area two yearsand under to be killed.
And Jesus said.
You still have the authorities.
Not in killing babies.
(32:46):
That would be contrary to the word.
But he didn't say lobby and
boycott and protest and.
Garner online support by your posts.
When Paul wrote this to the Christiansin Rome, writing for those Roman
Christians and Hebrew Christians, he said,you are of a different citizenry now,
(33:11):
the one who was in charge in RomanPaul wrote this, that all leaders
are instituted by God and have God'swrath like it was under Caesar.
Nero.
Caesar Nero was so was such a despot
that he would take Christians andhave them arrested and tie them on stakes,
douse him in oil and light them on fireso he could look at his gardens
(33:33):
at night.
And Paul says, be subject to authority
because they are there by God's choosing.
SometimesGod puts people in authority for blessing,
and sometimes God puts people in authorityto bring judgment.
(33:56):
But they're there nonetheless.
Can you imagine,
Paul, under that?
Nero was the one who would have Paularrested and beheaded.
And Paul still said.
Submit.
(34:17):
This is hard.
Look at submission.
Submission is mean surrender
to a sovereign God,
and we don't get to understand
(34:38):
in his sovereignty why he chooses somein leadership and not others.
We just get to submit.
We have to be very careful
not to wrap our Bible in our flag.
We have to be very careful.
We are in a wonderful position in America,
(34:59):
this democratic republic, to vote,and we need to vote
biblically, please,
whenever that time comes to vote.
But we have to understandthat our job as Christians in
Americais not to establish a Christian nation.
Our job is to establishthe Kingdom of God,
(35:20):
and the kingdom of God is differentthan a quote unquote Christian nation.
We think if we get the right peoplein the right places
who believe the right things,that the nation will become Christianized.
That's not how it works.
We have to be very careful
not to settle for a kingdom polity,thinking that
(35:42):
if the policies are just,people will be just.
That's not how it works.
Our hope is not in a person, in a house.
Our hope is in the person of Christ.
Paid taxes to whom taxes are owed.
Went. Went.
When Paul wrote this, I don't know ifhow familiar with the tax system in Rome.
(36:07):
You think ours is convoluted and bad.
There was.
There was for everybodyin Rome under the Roman authority.
There was a tribute.
Which is a was a 1 to 3% tax on all
everything you own, every thing you own,
not just income, everything you own.
There was a 1 to 3% tax on it.
If you owned it, you paid taxes on it.
(36:29):
Right off the bat.
There was a poll tax.
The poll tax was a tax onjust on having the freedom,
the opportunity to breathe Roman air.
You were taxed on the air that you breathe
for man, for the time you're 16till you're 60 women
from the time you're 14 till you're 60.
There was a tax on being able to breatheRoman air.
(36:50):
Can you imagine?
There was a wheel tax.
Anything you own that has a wheel you pay
taxes on and the tax code went up.
Depending on how many wheels there were,
the more wheels, the more tax
there was a produce taxa 10th of everything
you produce a 10th of it right offthe bat goes to government.
(37:12):
There was a fish tax,a 10th of every fish that you caught,
every 10th, every first of ten fisheswent to the government.
There was inheritance tax.
Anything that was passed on to youfrom anybody else, 5% right off the top,
there was an import
export tax on anything that left or came
(37:33):
in, not just like from business,like anything,
those who collectedtaxes on behalf of Rome
were given the authority to not just cutthe responsibility, collect what
Rome said, but the, the the authorityto go beyond that and collect
how much more taxesyou wanted to add on to it, to,
to pad their own pockets.
(37:55):
It was incredibly unjust,
incredibly oppressive.
That was Rome.
That's that'swhat's in place when Paul's writing this.
It's estimated that in Rome,
half of the population of Romewere slaves.
Some estimates for every Roman citizenthere were three slaves.
(38:16):
And Paul says he doesn't say revolt.
He didn't say holdparades and boycotts and lobby.
This is unjust.
He didn't say.
What's he say?
I'm sorry.
Maybe you haven't heard a thingI've said so far
(38:38):
that every personbe subject to the governance.
Or what does he say?
Is this hard? Yes.
Thank you.
But this is our problem.
We see ourselves as American Christians,
and as long as we're patriots
before we're apprentices,
(39:00):
we're going to struggle with this.
Pay taxes.
You know, if if Jesus paid it all,I can pay
my taxes.
Nowhere in Scripturedo we see the instruction, nor
the example of church boycotts, lobbying,threats to overthrow the government.
(39:20):
But I don't see it anywhere.
I mean, Jesus is the one who said, listen,
if they ask you to do this andit's unfair, go the extra mile for them.
Have I spent enough time on
the first seven verses?
(39:42):
No one.
Oh no one anythingexcept a love each other for the love
for, for the one who loves another hasfulfilled the law for the commandments.
You shall not commit adultery.You shall not steal.
You shall not covet any other commandment.
It's all summed up in this one wordyou shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Love does no wrong to a neighbor.
Thereforelove is the fulfilling of the law.
(40:04):
Listen it.
It's it's real simple. Here.
Love is the only debt that growsthe more you pay it.
He says your taxes pay it, sooneryou pay it.
You done, your honor. Givethe person are sinners.
They're not like you're.
The love is the only debt that growsthe more you pay it.
Love is the only debtthat you will never fully pay off.
(40:24):
And the more you pay the love debt,the more that love grows.
You understand? I'm saying
when you're talking about
when he says, oh, knowing anythingexcept two to love one another, he's
not talking about borrowingand lending like a lot of people use this.
First.
You should never, ever, ever, you know,get into a borrower lender situation.
There's there's caveats to that.
Proverbs 22 seven.
(40:46):
It says the borroweralways be slave to the lender.
And so they're like it don't saydon't do what it should say.
Be very careful,
because if you borrow, you're going to bea slave to the one you borrowed from.
So so have some wisdom to this.
But in Matthew five.
In Luke six, Jesus talks about borrowingand lending in the sermon on the Mount.
And he doesn't say, don't do it.
He just says, listen,if you're going to get into that situation
(41:08):
as a Christianand as a Christian, you're going to lend.
A Christian lender cannot charge interestfrom a fellow Christian.
To be wise about this.
The he makes provision for lendingas long as is done in wisdom
and not at exorbitant debt for greed,not needs.
(41:30):
The point of this whole thingis the debt of love.
And he says, you pay thatand you keep paying it
because it's the only debtthat you will never completely pay off.
And we owe it to each other.
And honestly, if we think about it,
our love for othersis the measure of our obedience, he says.
When you love others,you fulfill the whole are.
(41:52):
You want to be obedient?
Then act in loving waystowards each other.
Because when I love you,I'm not going to transgress against you.
And when I transgress against youis because I'm not showing you love.
You understand?
You understand.
(42:15):
Besides
this, you know the time.
Besides this.
You know the time that the hour has
come for you to wake up
from your sleep.
For salvation is nearer to us nowthan when we first believed.
The night is far gone.
The day is at hand.
(42:36):
So let us cast off the works of darkness.
And put on the armor of light.
Let us walk properly as in the daytime,not in orgies and drunkenness,
not in sexual immorality is to join,not in quarreling and jealousy. Ha!
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ,and make no provision for the flesh,
to gratify its nature.
As he saying, listen,some of you have slept.
(42:57):
Walk your way through faith.
Wake up, wake up!
We've gottenso wrapped up in the periphery.
Things of government and oversight.
Wake up.
You know the time.
(43:18):
It's time to wake up.
We must not sleepwalk through our walk
with Jesus. Yet.
Salvation is nearer now than ever before.
Jesus is closer to coming back todaythan he was yesterday.
(43:39):
Wake up!
It's time to get eyes wide open
and he become sober and serious about this
walk of faith.
Sleep no longer.
(44:01):
The night is far gone.
The day is at hand.
Don't keep hitting the snoozebutton on your faith. And.
Put on Christ.
Put him on.
We have to understand that
every morningyou get dressed spiritually in Christ.
(44:24):
You don't go into battle wearing pajamas.
Do you understand what I'm saying?
Wake up.
Take off your PJs.
Put on Christ.
Get sober serious about this.
(44:44):
He says make no provision for the flesh,to gratify a sense
that word provision, it means literallydon't provide for it anymore.
Don't supply it resources anymore.
Here's what here's what he's saying.
He's saying some of us who call ourselvesChristians
are sleepwalking our way through faith.
(45:06):
And though we're saved, and thoughwe're forgiven eternally,
we're still feeding the resource line
of sin in our lives.
We're still keepingthose resources flowing.
And he says, make no provisionfor cut that off.
He said, I knowyou like flirting with sin,
(45:28):
and I know you're relying on God'sgoodness, mercy and grace
to give you eternal forgiveness.
But it's time to wake up and to cut offthe supply line and make no provision.
Cut. Don't keep feeding that sinthat you're so comfortable
with that you've ignored for so long.
Make no provision.
(45:50):
Don't supply it with resources anymore.
I'm just going to dabblea little bit in it.
Yeah, make no supply line.
You got $2.
You can only feed one.What are the $2 going to live?
The one you feed.
Wake up.
Don't dabble in this anymore.
(46:14):
The Bible talks about this enemyand then the return of Christ
who says, don't be asleep.
But he shows up.
Some of us have got these supply linesthat we're feeding
minds little sins, just like,
Don't feed it
(46:35):
so that you gratify it anymore.
Here's what he's saying.
Sin doesn't thrive without a supply line.
In my life and your life
and our lives, sin does not survivewithout a supply line.
And so the questionwe have to ask ourselves and come to terms
(46:56):
with in, in, in, in profound honesty iswhat sin am
I still resourcing?
To understand.
(47:16):
And when I get
more concernedor worked up about someone else's sin
than I am repentant about my own.
Sleepwalking?
Yeah.
(47:37):
And so, my dear friends.
Identify
what your resourcing
and how you're resourcing.
The very thing that's workingagainst your freedom in Christ.
And make a plan to cut it off.
And that plan to cut off the supply line
(47:59):
begins with confession and repentance.
And when confessionand repentance are in place,
then we can work the plan.
But it begins with confession
and repentance.
(48:20):
And so.
It's time to wake up.
And in confession and repentance,
cut off the supply line.
Because you are choosing this day
to wake up.
(48:45):
The alarm clock is sounding.
Don't hit the snooze button anymore.
I want you to pray with me.
Father, thank you for your word.
I thank you that it is alive and active in
(49:10):
willingto, and able to cut us to the very core,
and then to mend us and repair us.
Thank you for your mercy.
Thank you for your grace.
And thank you for the opportunityto repent.
And, father, as we repent,
give us all that your grace allows.
(49:36):
Father, there are some here this morning
that are choosing in this momentto wake up
that Holy Spirit you have convicted.
You have spokenabout the sleepwalk of our lives.
And we realize that the alarms going offand it's time to wake up.
(49:57):
So hear our prayers right now,
friends,I want to invite you in this moment
to choose to answer the alarm and wake up.
And would you, in this moment,
avail yourselfto both confession and repentance?
To say, father, I'm sorry for my sin.
(50:19):
I'm sorry that I have kept the supplying
supply line open.
I have dabbled,
and I've swum in the deep end of sin
for far too long.
I continue to feed that dog in my life
(50:40):
and I want freedom from it.
And so I confess it to you.
Would you just be honest with Godright now?
God, I'm sorry.
I confess it to you and then repent.
Say, God, I,
I will do whatever I can do in my powerto go
the other way, to run from it,to cut off the supply line.
(51:03):
Give me resources I don't yet have.
I may be free.
Father, would you call us to wake up?
Would we respond and wake up?
(51:24):
Would we choose to cut off the supply lineto sin in our lives?
That we would choose that life no more,
that we would realize?
Jesus, you are closer todaythan you've ever been before,
that you would cause usto live sober and alert,
lives.
That we'd wake up.
(51:46):
Friends, in this moment, just with your.
Just in this moment of prayer,this moment of between us and God.
I'm going to ask you to do this.
If that's your prayer,if that's your desire,
I want I'm choosing to wake up.
I don't want to sleepone way through this.
I need to cut the supply line.
(52:06):
I want to pray over you specifically.
Would you just simply shift,slip your hand up and keep it up?
I want to be able to pray overyou and I want you to receive this.
Thank you, thank you good.
Thank you, thank you,thank you. Good. Keep them up.
Like just is you and God.But I want you to receive this. Good.
Thank you, thank you.
Good. There you go. Good
good good good.
(52:27):
There. Thank you. Good.
Thank you. Good good good good.
These are commitments.
This is this is biblical and unlisted.
Just just as an act of reset.
Thank you.
As an afterwe just receive this for a moment
with your hand up to God,just receive this.
Thank you
father.
These you thank you
(52:50):
that your word says that your eyesare range to and fro about the.
Or to see those hearts
who are fully yours, that you may fullyand strongly support them.
These hands, these in this moment
are saying, father, I want to wake upand I want to cut the supply line.
Father, would you do that in themand through them?
(53:11):
Let them walk in a way
that is consistent with the callingthat you have placed on their lives.
Would you empower them andand do them with your Holy Spirit,
that it would come on themand be in them to enable them to walk
in ways that they've never previouslybeen able to walk because of the
the gift of your spirit,because of your mercy and your grace,
(53:32):
that they
not relying on their own ability,but they would rely on your presence
in their lives.
And that in this moment you would in thembreak their supply line,
that they have kept open of sinin their lives,
that you would remove that,that you would break that you,
that you wouldset them free in this moment,
I pray they receive this
(53:52):
in faith by your mercy and grace,and in these that you would do this
powerful, strong work in personaland profound
and intimate ways.
That we would live livesthat are wide awake
slaves.
No more.
You put your hands down.
(54:13):
And, father, thank you that you've heard
our prayers, that you see our heart,
that you are faithful
so we can be faithful.
I pray all these things in your name,Jesus.
Amen.
This a man.
I'm so proud of you.
So proud of you.
This is my ask.
(54:33):
I would I would love David. What?
I mean, we would love to be ableto just to say, hey, let's just pray.
Personally, I was first I praying
with someone down here in the corner,just personally like some personal stuff.
It it's just good to do that.
And so just let us, let us knowhow we can walk with you through this.
We want to be able to do that.
But I also want to encourage you,those little cards that you have there,
(54:53):
but you just take those outand fill those out
and turn those into a little bucket.
Those are those start here
booth or somewhere just so we canwe can know, look, we're with you.
We're in this. We want to resource you,
communicate it.
It's not love you.
You've been so good to go through13 chapters so far.
We got a few more to go,but we're going to pause it
(55:14):
now and get into Palm Sunday and Easter.
Some animal scripture is going toyour minds.
It's going to go in the world.Never seen that before.
It's beautiful.
But make sure that you're with this.
Read these devotions every dayleading up to that.
Good. Yeah, I love you.
I'm proud of you is a freaking goodchurch.
(55:36):
Yeah,
he's got two weeks now to put the hammerdown and invite your huddle.
Palm Sunday and Easter. You got it.
And I. Let's sing. Thank you. Jeff.
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