The message I'm going to focus on this morning, really, I probably have spoken directly to this issue maybe 11 or 12 years ago, something like that, in this kind of way. It's kind of a culmination of some of the things I was teaching on the kingdom of God and this age and the age to come. And Brent's sermon last week kind of propelled me to this. And then the fact that this is Independence Day weekend, that we're celebrating on the 4th of July tomorrow, Independence Day, the founding of our nation. And so it's a very patriotic kind of time in America. And so I want to focus our attention on that idea and what Christians ought to think about it. That's going to be the focus today. So before I get into that, as always, I feel a desperate need to pray. for God's guiding grace, his illuminating grace for myself and for all of us. So let's take a moment to do that. Holy Father, I do thank you so much for your great love for us. I thank you for the grace that you've bestowed upon us in Christ Jesus, our Lord. I thank you for the opportunity to sing these wonderful hymns of praise to you. I thank you for the opportunity to partake together of the Lord's Supper. There are many people in this room from many different backgrounds, many different places in society, and many different points of view, and a whole host of things, but what unites us is our love for You, our love for Your Word, our desire to please You, the fact that You, by Your grace, have called us to Yourself and saved us through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And I pray, Lord, that we will always find our unity in Him, not just the peace that was spoken of earlier in the midst of so much chaos around us, that the peace that passes understanding that you alone can give, but also, as he alluded to, peace with the brethren, peace with one another. We know that this is a great miracle, and we ask now also for peace for our country. There's so much division, partly because we've gotten away from actually what were more biblical principles upon which our nation was founded. And that's a sad thing. It was a good thing in your providence that such a nation should exist. And it's a sad thing indeed that it's being destroyed. And so we pray, Lord, as citizens of this country for this country. We pray for a great awakening. We pray that the gospel would flourish and go forward. We pray for an ever increasing open door for the gospel. We pray that you would work in the hearts of those around us to bring them to a saving knowledge of Christ and help us to be faithful in communicating the gospel to them. We ask now that as we look to your word as our ultimate authority for how we should think about our role as citizens in any country, anywhere, at any time, we pray that you would give us wisdom. Fill us with your Holy Spirit, I pray. with humility to accept what you say to us, and with a zeal to live it out. I ask all these things for your glory and for our good, and in the name of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. As I said earlier, since we're celebrating Independence Day tomorrow, which is perhaps our most patriotic holiday, although for me, I think Memorial Day is probably a little bit Tugs on my heartstrings a little bit more, actually. I thought it'd be good to offer some thoughts about the concept of patriotism and what it means for us as Christians. Should Christians be patriotic at all? In any country, anywhere, not just this one, right? Because there are Christians all over the world. Should we be patriotic? And what is patriotism? Anyway, so before we get to the issue and talking about it from the standpoint of scripture, I want to briefly explain my understanding of the term patriotism, and then deal with my understanding of what it means to be a Christian patriot, because I think there is such a thing. I'm going to try to defend that notion. Now, I like the definition. I think it's the most succinct and helpful definition I've found. an online definition from Word Web. It defines patriotism this way. A love of country and a willingness to sacrifice for it. A love of country and a willingness to sacrifice for it. I think that's a very good definition of patriotism. You love your country, but you don't just say you love your country. You are willing to sacrifice for your country because you love your country. I think Wayne Grudem appears to agree with this basic definition when he addresses the matter in his book entitled, Politics According to the Bible. And it's worthy of significant quotation on this point. And in this book, Grudem asks this question. What should the attitude of citizens be toward the nation in which they live? Because any nation can have rulers who are evil. or basically good rulers who still do wrong things from time to time, a Christian view of government would never endorse a kind of blind patriotism, according to which a citizen would never criticize a country or its leaders. In fact, a genuine patriotism, which always seeks to promote the good of the nation, would honestly recognize the government and its leaders when they do things contrary to biblical moral standards. But is patriotism a virtue at all? My conclusion is that the Bible gives support to a genuine kind of patriotism in which citizens love, support, and defend their own country. Biblical support for the idea of patriotism begins with a recognition that God has established nations on the earth. Speaking in Athens, Paul says that God made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth having determined a lot of periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place. That's in Acts 17.26. I agree with Grudem and his conclusion that he goes on to state, namely that, quote, the existence of many independent nations on earth should be considered a blessing from God, because he's the one who put them there. I would argue that we're especially blessed by God to live in the United States of America. where we enjoy so many freedoms that others around the world can only dream about. Sadly, people abuse those freedoms and see them as a license to all kinds of sin more and more. That's not the fault of the freedoms though, right? It's the fault of getting away from the moral framework upon which they were founded, in which they're supposed to be lived out. But what are the limits or parameters within which we should exercise our patriotism toward our country? I have already said I agree with Wing-Rudem. A blind patriotism in which we are uncritical of our country, no matter what country we live in, is not a good thing, especially not for a Christian. Then what are the limits? This is the issue I want to address this morning. And in order to help us to think in a biblical way about the matter, I'd like to briefly set forth three basic propositions concerning Christian patriotism. The first one is that Christians must be patriotic citizens of their heavenly country. That's where we begin as Christians. Secondly, that Christians must be patriotic citizens of their earthly country. And then thirdly, that Christians must always give priority to their heavenly citizenship. And some of this will be some review from when I talked about the kingdom of God, and this age, and the age to come. But I'm organizing it a little bit differently here with a more focused application. So first of all, Christians must be patriotic citizens of their heavenly country. This is without a doubt the first principle we need to remember when we consider the issue of Christian patriotism, or if there is such a thing. Remember, for example, what the Apostle Paul said to the Philippian believers in Philippians chapter 3, beginning in verse 17. Philippians chapter 3, beginning in verse 17. The Apostle Paul says this, and mind you, he's writing to a city that was founded and made up primarily of ex-Roman soldiers, most of whom were citizens actually of Rome. and many of the believers there would probably have been Roman citizens. So keep that in mind when you hear what Paul has to say here in Romans 3, beginning verse 17. Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ. whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly and whose glory is in their shame. Sounds like our culture, doesn't it? Who set their mind on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven. from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to his glorious body according to the working by which he is able to subdue all things to himself." He says to a population of people there in Philippi who had probably, many of whom had been Roman citizens and been very proud of their Roman citizenship, you citizens first of heaven. As a Christian, your citizenship is in heaven. So we're ultimately citizens of heaven. And if we're ultimately citizens of heaven, and since we're ultimately citizens of heaven, then Paul's point is that our lives should reflect this higher loyalty. We shouldn't be living like the people around us who have their minds, he said, set on earthly things. Because we're ultimately not citizens of this earth. We're ultimately citizens of heaven. That's what we need to be thinking about. determines how we live and what our highest allegiance must be. The author of Hebrews concurs with Paul's assessment here and offers the Old Testament saints as an example of how we must persevere in faith as strangers and pilgrims on this earth. People who are strangers in a land, they're strangers and pilgrims in a land because they're actually citizens of some other place. right? And while the author of Hebrews says, well, we're strangers and pilgrims on this earth because we're actually citizens of another place. Heaven. He says this beginning in Hebrews 11 verse 8, Hebrews 11 verse 8. By faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise, as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God." In other words, the author of Hebrews is telling us, Abraham knew that the ultimate promise to which this land that God had given him pointed was something beyond this earth. We don't know how much Abraham knew, but apparently he knew more. The author of Hebrews is telling us that we might have thought about some eschatological things, perhaps. He goes on to say in verse 11, by faith, Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed. And she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. Therefore, from one man and him as good as dead were many or born, excuse me, as many as the stars of the sky in multitude, innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. These all died in faith, not having received the promises. See, wasn't Abraham already in the land of Canaan? Yeah, but remember, the ultimate promise for Abraham wasn't that. It was a heavenly place, a heavenly city. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly, if they had called the mind that comfrey from which they come out, they would have had opportunity to return, but now they desire a better, that is a heavenly country. So a heavenly city is builder and maker's God, a heavenly country. Therefore, it says, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. Now this city is later revealed to be the heavenly Jerusalem, to which we have come in Christ. and of which we are citizens even now. So when Paul says our citizenship is in heaven, and when the author of Hebrews talks about a heavenly city and a heavenly country, well, ultimately, that's in the new heavens and the new earth. But that heavenly city is the heavenly Jerusalem. Now in Revelation, it says the heavenly Jerusalem will one day come down to earth when we live eternally in the new heavens and the new earth. But it says this in Hebrews 12, beginning in verse 22, But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. That's what Abraham was looking to, ultimately, whether he understood that fully or not. To an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect. You know, Abraham's with God now. Right? Awaiting the resurrection. And it says we've also come to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. And I think when I went over this passage last time we looked at it, I pointed out, which I always seem to feel the need to point out when we get here, that the reason, remember what Abel's blood cried out to God for vengeance from the ground? That's what he said to Cain. Abel's blood is crying out for vengeance. Well, Jesus' blood speaks better things than the blood of Abel because it doesn't cry out for vengeance. As we were reminded this morning, he cries out for grace, mercy. That's what we celebrated when we celebrated the Lord's Supper this morning, that very point. So again, we are thus ultimately citizens of a heavenly country and a heavenly city. And so we must live our lives here on earth as strangers and pilgrims who are just passing through. We should never feel to at home anywhere on this earth. Not really. There should be a kind of restlessness in us as strangers and pilgrims, a longing for that heavenly city, that heavenly country. This means that as we live on this earth, we must live lives that demonstrate our allegiance to our heavenly country, to our heavenly king, the Lord Jesus Christ. It means loving our heavenly country and being willing to sacrifice for it, to use the patriotism term. If we're citizens of a heavenly country, then we should be patriotic citizens of that country, first of all, right? We should love our heavenly country because we love the king of that heavenly country, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and we should be willing to sacrifice for it. We must be patriotic citizens of that country first, even if doing so puts us at odds with those who are merely citizens of this earth. If we keep our focus where it should be and realize that we look forward to a far better place, then we're assured by the author of Hebrews that we'll be able to persevere in faith just as our forefathers did. If we keep trusting God and we keep trusting in his promises, he will keep us. He will enable us to be the kind of patriotic citizens of heaven that our father Abraham was, for example. But this doesn't mean that we cannot and should not be patriotic citizens of our earthly country, which leads to our Second main heading here. Main point number two. Christians must be patriotic citizens of their earthly country. Now, notice I said must be patriotic citizens of their earthly country. Now, a lot of people would immediately say, well, I don't know if I like that. But remember, I'm talking about this in a very specific way. I don't mean a blind nationalism for any person, any Christian in any country. Not even the one I favor, my own, right? No, that's wrong. And you'll see what I mean as we go further through this. How did Jesus acknowledge such a responsibility? When he taught us in Matthew 22, 21, render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. We're citizens of two countries, and there's loyalties we must have to both. Right? The apostles expanded on this principle when they dealt with how we should relate to the earthly governments under which we live. So I want to consider two passages, one from Paul and the other from Peter, in our attempt to understand their teaching on this point. The first passage is a key text from Romans. You all know where I'm headed, if you know your Bibles. Romans 13, verses 1 through 7. In Romans 13, verses 1 through 7, we read this. Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. Now remember that Paul is writing to Roman Christians in the city of Rome, who were very well aware of the fact that Rome was ruling what they thought to be the known world at the time, or a good portion of it. And they also knew that Rome was a very bloodthirsty, criminal, terrible government at times. There were some good things about Roman government, especially if you were a Roman citizen and you had some rights. But this was a government that trampled on what we would think of as the human rights of just about everybody who wasn't a Roman citizen whenever they felt like it. We have to keep that in mind. They kept peace through fear. And probably, the emperor at the time this was written was probably Nero. And anybody who knows anything about church history knows that he was one of the most wicked men ever to lead a nation anywhere on the face of the earth at any time. He was terrible. And yet Paul says this. Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. Ultimately, that judgment's going to be from God if you're disobeying him, but certainly also from the rulers. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil, in the mean that that's God's intention for them. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid. For he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is God's minister and avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore, you must be subject, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience' sake. For because of this, you also pay taxes." And here in Illinois, I know we like to complain about how high the tax rate is, right? But we're supposed to pay our taxes anyway, even if we don't like what they're going to. I mean, Rome wasn't actually doing great things always with taxes, right? Got to pay them. Why? For they are God's ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due, taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. Now, as I understand this passage, there can't be much doubt that Paul sees Christians as having a duty to support their country and its rulers, insofar as it is possible for them to do so under God. In fact, I agree with Rick Phillips when he writes in an article entitled, Thoughts on Christian Patriotism, that July 4 reminds us that God has sovereignly placed us in this land and under this government. I praise God to be an American precisely because of what Independence Day represents. As I have traveled on other continents and had personal interactions with government tyranny and injustice, I have learned once more to bless the sight of an American flag. Yes, Christians should frankly admit and oppose the evils of our nation. And there are many, by the way. But we should not fail to be grateful for the many good things our country does and represents. Moreover, when Romans 13, 1 through 7 commands us to honor and obey civil authorities, Christians should do so from the heart, with love and fervor for the blessings of the land in which God has placed us, and with sincere loyalty to all public servants who are seeking to do good. Yeah, I can go along with that. The apostle Peter, I am sure, would also approve of such sentiments, such as when he writes this in 1 Peter 2, beginning verse 11. It's verses 11 through 17 that I'll be reading. Peter says this, again, it's 1 Peter 2, beginning verse 11. Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims. Notice he's taking up that language. Christians who live on this earth are sojourners and pilgrims. This isn't really our home. That's what he's implying here. He's starting with the fact that our ultimate citizenship is in heaven. That's what this is implying, right? Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation. Therefore, submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king and supreme or to governors as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men, as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king." So we see again that we must not forget that we're ultimately strangers and pilgrims on the earth, but this doesn't mean for Peter or for Paul or for the author of Hebrews or any New Testament writer for that matter, that we're not actually also citizens of an earthly country to which we owe allegiance and obedience. That's true for Christians in Russia or China or Kenya or Brazil For Christians anywhere, we should try to do our best to be good citizens, to do what's best for the country in which God in His sovereignty has placed us. That's what a real patriot is, to love the country that He's put us into love, to love the people in that country that He's put us into love, and to show the love of Christ, and to even love that country and those people to the point of being willing to sacrifice for what's best for that country and those people. That's what Christians should be like anywhere. So when I talk about Christian patriotism when we celebrate our Independence Day and this weekend, I don't mean that only Christians in America should be patriotic. I mean Christians anywhere should be this way. I think this is a principle that goes everywhere, because God appointed all the nations, not just this one. And some Christians say, but our nation is better. Well, there are some nations in the world that didn't kill 60 million babies in the last 49 years. So maybe we're not as better as we think. In the womb, through abortion, thank God the recent Roe v. Wade, it was overturned. But we've got a long way to go to stop that crime in our country, especially in a state like Illinois. or as one of our brethren likes to call it, the People's Republic of Illinois-stan, right? He knows who he is. But he's not far off there, is he? So I'm saying that this is something that should be true of Christians. Christians are supposed to love other people. God puts you in a country, you're supposed to love that country. If God gave you those people of that country around you, you're supposed to love those people. And that means doing what's best for that country and those people to the best of your ability, even if doing so means having to sacrifice greatly of yourself because that's what Christian love does. That's what we should try to do. It means, ultimately, that we should be willing to show the love of Christ to and for our country, even to the point of sacrifice for the good of our country. So when our country does something wicked, like make abortion illegal, which is one of the most abominable things our nation has ever done, for which it deserves the judgment of God, Loving our nation then means saying no to that. It means saying that God says that's a sin, that it's an abomination before God. We should speak out against it. We should pray against it. We should protest against it, because we're allowed to as citizens of the United States. We should try to elect presidents that change the Supreme Court or people that change the laws. We should try to do all those things. And we have, but we're not done. But that's love. That's patriotism when we do that. Those on the other side think it isn't, because they're foolish. They don't know God. But it is patriotic to do that. It's Christian patriotism is what it is. And any Christian who says otherwise doesn't know the word of God and has been deceived. We need to pray for that person. And the best thing we can do for him or her is to show them the truth of God's word on the point. So I use that as an example because it recently was big in the news, and thank God for her. at least one step in the right direction in conquering that sin in our nation. See, all of this doesn't make us worse citizens of our country, does it? It makes us better citizens. Christians should be the best citizens of all in any country in which they live. They should be the ones most motivated to do the very best for their country. But what is determined as best, as I've already indicated, is told to us in God's Word. And that might not seem best to the country that we're in. One more example. We don't believe that gay marriage is a good thing. We think it's wicked. We think it goes against the teaching of scripture and the ordinance of God. He established that marriage should be between one man and one woman. Jesus reaffirmed this in Matthew 19 and cited Genesis on the matter. And so if we're going to be good patriotic citizens, what are we going to do? We're going to say gay marriage is a sin, and it's bad for our country. And we should try to promote what's best for our country, which is to get away from that wickedness and back to what God has ordained to be true marriage. So strengthening the family, once again, as our nation seeks to rip it apart. Now, many in our country will think we're not patriotic when we do that. They'll think we're wicked. So they're wrong. We do the right thing anyway, because we know what's ultimately best, and because we love our country, and we want what's best for our country. That's what real patriotism is. Just to turn a blind eye to the sins of our country confronts them. Just as we were reminded this morning that when you love a brother in Christ, as Dave reminded us, what are you going to do? If there's sin, you're going to help them. You're going to confront it. That's true of our country as well and the people in it. And so we've seen, I hope, that we must be patriotic citizens of both our heavenly and our earthly countries. But this does not mean that they should have an equal claim on our devotion and our allegiance, which is our third and final principle. Main point number three, Christians must always give priority to their heavenly citizenship. As we seek to be good citizens of our earthly country, never should allegiance to that earthly country supersede our allegiance to Jesus Christ, our King, and our heavenly citizenship. We've already recalled that Jesus taught us to render, therefore, to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. But now we must also remember that he taught us to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. The kingdom of God always has to be first. This means then that when there's a conflict between allegiance to our heavenly country and allegiance to our earthly country, our heavenly country must always take priority. And this means that civil disobedience is not only permissible, but at times it is even necessary for the Christian. We've got some history of that in our country. Think of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement and the civil disobedience there. They were calling upon Christians from a Christian standpoint to be patriotic Christian citizens when they did that. And they were right. That they should have practiced that civil disobedience. But there are examples in the scriptures. Those are the ones we really care about, right? Consider the example of the apostles in this regard. In the book of Acts, we're told of their response to the governing authorities when they were commanded to stop preaching the gospel. Their response is very instructive. The first is in Acts 4, beginning verse 18. It's Acts 4, 18 through 20, actually. Again, it's Acts 4, beginning verse 18. And they called them and commanded them, the apostles here, not to speak at all nor to teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. Well, just to make that statement is to settle the issue, right? For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. In other words, we're going to keep preaching and teaching in the name of Jesus, because we're gonna obey God. So they refused to obey this command of the governing authorities when it was in conflict with the command of God, just as they did also later under similar circumstances when they were brought back before the authorities in Acts chapter five. Acts chapter five, beginning in verse 27, we're told that when they had brought them, they set them before the council, and the high priest asked them, saying, did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood on us. That's because in part of their preaching, they were preaching that they had crucified the Lord, their own Messiah, and they were calling them to account for it. And they didn't like it. But Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men. So basically, it's not only did we not stop before, but preached even more. We're going to continue that. Of course, we could add other scriptural examples of civil disobedience going back into the Old Testament, such as the Hebrew midwives in ancient Egypt. I told about them in Exodus 1. and they refused to murder the male babies. Or Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah in ancient Babylon, otherwise known as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 3. Or Daniel in Persia, Daniel 6. In each case, these believers disobeyed the earthly governing authorities, but they disobeyed only at those points where these authorities required them to disobey God. So when there was a conflict between what God demanded and what they were being asked of by the earthly authorities that God had put over them, they obeyed God first. And they're held up as an example to us of that and the rightness of that. And so we're not surprised at all to see the apostles did the same thing. Kirby Anderson, president of Probe Ministries, cites such examples in an online article entitled Civil Disobedience. And he makes the following helpful observations. He writes this. Notice that in each of these examples, there are at least two common elements. First, there was a direct specific conflict between God's law and man's law. Pharaoh commanded the Hebrew midwives to kill male Hebrew babies. Nebuchadnezzar commanded his subjects to bow before the golden image. King Darius ruled that no one could pray. And that was in the case of Daniel in Persia. And in the New Testament, the high priest and the council forbade the apostles from proclaiming the gospel. Second, in choosing to obey God's higher law, believers paid the normal consequence for disobedience. Although most of those previously cited escaped the consequences through supernatural intervention, we know from biblical and secular history that others paid for their disobedience with their lives. And you remember what? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, as most people know them, said, God's able to save us, but even if he doesn't, we're still not gonna do what you say. So they were willing to die to obey God, and we might have to be willing to do the same someday. There are Christians around the world who are willing to do the same and are dying for Christ, even as I speak, for whom we should pray that God would enable them to die well full of faith to the very end, being the witness for Christ that they desire to be to the very end, and not giving in to the very end. Like so many who have gone before us have done, they've been faithful, and we should be faithful. We may be called to carry out such civil disobedience in the near future. In some ways, maybe we already are. as the 2009 Manhattan Declaration, subtitled A Call of Christian Conscience, asserts in its final paragraph, it says this, because we honor justice and the common good, we will not comply with any edict that purports to compel our institutions to participate in abortions, embryo destructive research, assisted suicide and euthanasia, or any other anti-life act, nor will we bend to any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriage or the equivalent, or refrain from proclaiming the truth as we know it about morality and immorality and marriage and family. We will fully and ungrudgingly render to Caesar what is Caesar's. But under no circumstances will we render to Caesar what is God's. Although I personally couldn't sign that Manhattan Declaration because of the way it led to confusion about the nature of the gospel. They weren't as strong on the gospel as they were on these issues. I certainly agree with those concluding sentiments. They're right. They're scriptural in that. And I would even argue further that if we truly love the country in which God has providentially placed us, as I said before, then civil disobedience in such cases is actually a patriotic thing to do. whether our other fellow citizens recognize that or not. As Christians, we know that it is, if we really love our country and are willing to sacrifice for it. Of course, in all of this as Christians, our ultimate goal is to share the gospel and to lead everyone to be citizens of heaven with us. And so we've come to the conclusion of this brief survey of scripture on the matter of Christian patriotism, as I've called it. And I'd like to conclude by reminding you all once again of that definition, that patriotism is a love for one's country and a willingness to sacrifice for it. But I hope you see that being a patriotic citizen doesn't mean that we're required to love everything about our country. I hope I've made that clear. There are some things about the United States of America that we ought to despise. And there are things about the United States of America that are worthy of our love, particularly since, at least initially, this country was actually founded on a Christian worldview. And the principles, the founding documents of our country stem from, largely at least, from that Christian worldview. We're blessed to have that. But things haven't always stuck to that, right? As people went further and further away from that same worldview, they began to do all kinds of things that the people that founded this country never imagined would happen, in the abuse of the Constitution and the abuse of our laws, and in the moral decadence that has become a part of all Western culture now. So there are things that we ought to love about our country and about our system of government, I would argue. But there's plenty to hate that we should hate. And I've named a couple of big ones this morning. So I want to be very clear about that. As I said from the beginning, we're not talking about a blind patriotism here. But we love our country in spite of its many sins. And any Christian in any country in the world can say that. If you grew up in India as a Christian, you should have been saying, I love my country in spite of its sins. no matter where you grew up. I hope you can also see that being a patriotic citizen means more than just saying that we love our country. There's a lot of people that say that, and they don't mean it. Being a patriotic citizen, and I would argue being a good citizen according to scripture, because that's what we care about, means being willing to act in a self-sacrificial way for the love of your country and your fellow citizens. Now, some Christians have done this by joining the military. There are some veterans here. I became a Christian in the military. So I was a patriotic person. I joined the military partly because I was a patriotic person and I wanted to serve my country, but I had no idea what real patriotism was until I became a Christian. And God saved me while I was in the service. Some men joined the military while they were Christians. Others became Christians many years later. That represents a willingness to sacrifice for your country, to be sure. But there's all kinds of ways. You don't have to have served in the military to be a good patriotic citizen. There's all kinds of ways that you can demonstrate your love for your country beyond serving in the defense of it. And I've listed some of those. Sometimes it means protesting and taking a stand. Sometimes it means being willing to speak up. It makes a difference in how you vote. There are crisis pregnancy centers and pregnancy resources in our state because Christians are self-sacrificially doing something. to help stem the tide of abortion, for example. There's all kinds of ways that we can demonstrate our love for our country, but the most important way of all, because none of the rest of that stuff matters at the end of the day, if we're not communicating the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. The most loving thing we can do for our country is to proclaim the gospel clearly, lovingly, without excuse, without shame, saying with Paul, I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe. That's the most thing that we, that's the greatest thing we can do. And we should be willing to do that even if it means sacrifice, even if it means being persecuted and attacked. I often hear Christians say, well, we don't really experience persecution here. And I often think, When Christians say that to me, you probably think that because you never share the gospel. That probably says more about how you don't ever say anything than it does about whether or not we experience. Because I'll tell you what, Christians who speak up in our culture lose lots of friends. And family turn away from them. And that's persecution. By the way, as someone who's been beaten quite a few times in my life, and someone who's also had people betray me and turn away from me, some of whom did so when I became a Christian. I can tell you, I would rather take a beating than have somebody I thought loved me reject me and feel that betrayal. That's the kind of persecution most Christians can expect now. But it's going to get worse, I think. And then the true test of whether or not we're patriotic citizens will come. Because for us, being a patriotic citizen means being a faithful Christian. Let's pray. Holy Father, it's my hope that I've been able to bring scripture to bear on a very important topic, especially this time of year. I probably redefined what people thought patriotism even ought to mean this morning for some people. I've tried to say, let's look at this issue from a Christian point of view, from the standpoint of scripture, which is our ultimate authority. And Lord, we want to please you first in all things. Help us, Lord, not to be the kind of people that think patriotism means excusing the bad things that our culture, our country does, because it doesn't. It means the opposite. Help us to be Christians willing to speak the truth in love always and to share the love of Christ with those around us. Help us not to be ashamed of the gospel. Help us to be good strangers and pilgrims on this earth. Good citizens of our earthly country because we are citizens ultimately of a heavenly country and that makes us the best citizens of any earthly country we're in. There are no better citizens anywhere. than Christians, whose first allegiance is to you. And help us never to forget that, I pray. I pray all these things for your glory and for our good, and in the name of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, amen. I just want to thank you all once again for your kind attention.