Alright, I would invite you to turn in your copy of God's Word, Romans chapter 13, and we're going to get there in just a few minutes. I'm going to take off my jacket. Growing up, whenever I saw a pastor take his jacket off, I thought, oh boy, we're in for it. That's not what's going to happen. Whenever I wear this jacket, I sweat, and I don't like that, and I don't want you all looking at that. Romans chapter 13, we're going to get there in a few seconds. Now, I'm going to give a little bit of an introduction to this that's a little bit off topic, but I saw it as an opportunity. to have a teachable moment. So don't say amen during the introduction because I'm going to go down a trail just for a few moments. You may be tempted to say amen and then realize that it was not quite right. So just listen. This morning's sermon is on immigration. It's on illegal immigration. Now some would, and I'm not saying you, I'm just saying this is a teachable moment in any church, there would be some that would say the pulpit on Sunday morning is not the place to speak on issues like this. What the pastor needs to do is the gospel, the gospel. He needs to hammer home the gospel and that's what he needs to be preaching on, not all of the other things. The only problem with that is this. If you were to go through the Bible and cut out all of the, and you wouldn't do this, but if you were to take out all of the passages in the Bible that are simply the plan of salvation, you would have a whole lot more left over. a whole lot more left over. Because there's a little bit in there, scattered throughout, of what it is to know that we are lost, that we are on our way to a Christless eternity in hell, that there is a God who is holy, who loves us, but must punish us, and a God who loves us so much that he sent his son to pay the sin debt of everybody that will trust in him. That's the gospel. And clearly in Scripture, throughout Scripture, that is illustrated, that is explained, it is throughout Scripture. But if you were to take out all of that, you would have a bunch left over. You know what the rest of it is? How do you think as a Jesus follower? How do you behave as a Jesus follower? I'm telling you that God's Word is so Fascinating and so powerful that whatever it is that we are dealing with whatever it is that we are looking around We should realize that we shouldn't go after you know in our polarized culture right now There is the right and then there is the left and if we're not spending time in God's Word and in fact realizing that God's Word Speaks into these issues then we will think that the truth is either over here or the truth is over here and there's nothing in the middle. One or the other, it's which side are you on? And the Bible actually speaks into both and the Bible addresses the errors in both sides, both sides. Now I said that some may, don't say amen because some would probably say amen at the wrong place. There are those that think that the pulpit is where only the gospel is proclaimed and all of these other issues are not dealt with. First, is what I would just say just a second ago, that the Bible speaks to those issues as it does immigration. We're gonna look at that here in just a few moments. But second of all, those that insist on that, it has been my observation over two decades of ministry that the people that get upset at preaching on, that I preach on things that are beyond the gospel, that build on the foundation of Christ, I don't think I've ever baptized anybody that those people have led to the Lord. because what they, in their mind, they think, this is the place where people get saved, the pastor's supposed to be the one that shares the gospel, he's the one that's supposed to, that's what we pay him to do, and there's no expectation that my job is actually to teach the whole counsel of God's word, the gospel, and then, as the gospel is unpacked, how it is that we are to think, and how it is that we are to live, so that I am equipping the saints for the work of ministry, so that we fan out, and we all share the gospel, right? We all share the gospel. So I just want you to know that as we're looking at immigration, this is not a small thing. If God's word speaks on it, then it is a huge issue. And I'm telling you that you need to see your Bible as such a powerful book written by God himself that no matter what it is that you are going through, no matter what it is that we see going on around us, God's word in some way, shape, or form speaks into that. And we need to dig in to find out what has God said about this. Now, the other thing is I don't want to deal with policies and all sorts of things. That's not my intent this morning. Although, if I was a politician, if I was a politician and I was a Christian, I would realize that God's word even speaks into that. It would inform me into what are good policies and how should we implement those policies. But my purpose this morning is to address two big things because right now we've got and I'm not even going to try to define both sides you know you're watching the news both sides and what both sides their their stance at least their professed stance on immigration is you know what those are so let's just see what God's word has to say about this I want to look at two basic things and then we'll kind of Tidy it up with the final two points. So Romans chapter 13. I hope you've got your Bibles open to that Let's pray Lord Jesus we come to you and thank you That Lord this book that cult that we are told collects so much dust not among unbelievers but among believers who don't read this book throughout the week who don't study it throughout the week Lord, I pray that you would evermore see that as I strive to preach the whole counsel of God, that as I strive to rightly divide the word of truth, Lord, I pray that those within this congregation who know that your word speaks into it would be joined by those who maybe don't know or maybe haven't really spent so much time digging in to find out what your word has to say about the hot button issues. So Lord, I pray that as we look at this issue on immigration, realizing it's a huge topic and we're only going to be able to touch on a few things this morning. Lord, help us to ultimately hear from you and what it is that you're going to say as we read your word and as I strive to explain it and unpack it. And we pray in Jesus name. Amen, amen. All right, so the first thing that I want us to look at, and this is where Romans 13 comes into place, and we have been continually going to Romans 13 because this is so vital. This is why voting is so important for the Christian. We are told that Christians by and large are the group that doesn't go out to vote. This is why Christians should go out to vote, because we realize that the government in our representative republic that we live in, we realize that the government is installed with men and women who we put into those places, right? And so since the government is what Romans 13, what we're going to see in just a second, since the government is the one who has been installed by God, and since they are the one who writes the laws and expects compliance, and in fact has the sword to demand compliance, It's in our vested interest to be a part of this representative republic and go to the polls and vote to put those people in those places. I'm telling you that in point number one, Christians must desire a nation where good laws are upheld. Christians must desire a nation where good laws are upheld. There are nations where there are plenty of bad laws that are in place. There are plenty of nations where there may be some good laws, They're just not upheld. I think I know one of them. I think you know one of them as well And as we look at this truth, we realize that we should desire as christians to be in a place That's why we should vote to put people in positions of authority, to put good, fair laws in place, and then empower those who are in law enforcement and the judicial branch, empower them to uphold those laws. Let's look at Romans 13, verses one through four, just to remind ourself again of this truth. God, through Paul, says this, let everyone submit to the governing authorities. Friends, let me tell you this one other thing just came to mind. We know that there have been plenty of people who have said, not my president. You've heard people say that. None of you have ever said that. I know that. But you've heard people say that, right? That does not fit into a Christian worldview. It doesn't. It doesn't say, let everyone submit to the good governments. No, it just says, let everyone submit to the government, right? And how many of you know that the government that was installed was the Roman government? And in fact, Caesar would come to see himself as the one to be worshipped. In fact, not so far from the time that Paul wrote this letter to the Roman Christians, Nero would go crazy and begin to burn Christians on light posts. He would put fuel on them and then light them to light his garden, and he blamed them for burning Rome. The default position for Christians, regardless of who is in those positions of authority, is this. Let everyone submit to the governing authorities. The only reason we don't is when government begins to veer from what God has told us to do in his word. And then we obey God rather than man and take the consequences. Let everyone submit to the governing authorities, since there is no authority except from God, so God is the one. We vote, but it's ultimately God who gives us what we deserve. There is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are instituted by God. God doesn't sit back and just wait to see who we vote for and then work through them. No, God is the one who is orchestrating everything. Verse two, so then the one who resists the authority is opposing God's command. You hear this. that when we oppose government, if it is in line with what God has called us to do, when we are opposing government, we are opposing God himself because he is the one who puts them in those positions. The one who resists the authority is opposing God's command and those who oppose it will bring judgment on themselves. Maybe the consequences of the government, maybe jail, fines, May even be God who calls us to judgment. Verse three, for rulers are not a terror for good conduct, but for bad. Even in some of the most evil regimes, if you were a good citizen, even those governments typically will leave you alone. Rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the one who is in authority? Do what's good and you'll have its approval. For it is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid. because it does not carry the sword for no reason. This is saying that God, it is God who has given government the right to not only have those laws, but to have the sword, the power behind those laws to say, you will comply with this or there will be consequences. It's God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid because it does not carry the sword for no reason. For it is God's servant and avenger that brings wrath on the one who does wrong. Let me tell you a little story. 14 years ago, I went to Ecuador. and enjoyed that opportunity to go down to the South American country to help out at ministry down there, but also had the chance to go over to the Amazon jungle. We flew over. I took this picture looking out the window of our little seven-seater airplane. Actually, five-seater airplane. And so you can see, and this is only just a glimpse, we were flying for 30 minutes, and this was all it looked like, nothing but trees. The Amazon jungle is massive. Well, it came time for our trip to be over with, and so we were going to make our way back from Ecuador, fly into, I believe it was Panama, and then come back in. And we flew into Orlando International. there was a missionary that was out there in the Amazon jungle and apparently he'd been out there an inability to appreciate laws, right? He'd been out just in the jungle doing missionary work. And so all we were told was, hey, there's a missionary that is wanting to make his way back to the states. He's coming back for furlough. He's coming back for a time of reprieve. And he doesn't have, he doesn't want to pay all of the extra money to transfer his luggage. So team, us, who were there in Ecuador, would you take one of your pieces of luggage and would you claim one of his? Yeah, we'll do that. For a fellow missionary, we don't know him, but we trust you. Yeah, let's do this. And then we were told, check the luggage, make sure everything's okay, make sure you're comfortable with it, because you're going to be the one, when you land in Orlando, to go through customs, and you're responsible for everything in that suitcase. So I looked through mine, didn't want to pry through the guy's stuff. You know, this is awkward. I'm just trying to do the guy a favor. And so I ended up having the piece of luggage, ended up making my way back with the whole team coming back. And so we're there in customs, and all of a sudden, as we're in the customs line, I hear somebody yelled out really loud, the missionary in the jungle had packed inside of a canister a rainbow boa snake. That's not, that's just a picture that I took. That's not the snake. That's a picture that I took of a rainbow and it was live. And when they opened it, it came out onto the table and everybody panicked. I was planning on sleeping there at the airport that night, catching a very early flight the next morning to go back up to Kentucky to be reunited with my family. I didn't get any sleep that night because we were with law enforcement the whole night. Did law enforcement have the right to check that luggage? Absolutely. Did law enforcement have the right to determine what comes into the United States and what is not allowed to come into the United States? Absolutely, the government does. That's what Romans 13 says. In fact, we were told that if you had come through Miami, then maybe it would be a little bit different, but you still didn't claim this. You still didn't claim this as something that was coming in, but you brought it through Orlando, and it wasn't my luggage, it was another guy's luggage, and again, we were up all night, and I got onto the flight the next morning just exhausted. The government had every right to do that, to check that luggage and to make sure that what's coming in is only what's allowed. The government has every right to say who can come into our country, who is allowed, how many are allowed to come in. I believe it is absolutely unjust for a government to have laws on its books that talks about what immigration is to look like and have ports of entry, but to allow Hundreds of thousands if not millions of people into our country Romans 13 called it's not just to us to submit to the government It's a call to the government that hey you are the one who's been given authority by God to come up with laws Immigration laws and all sorts of other laws and you are the one to be the one who enforces it Enforces it and so Christians must desire a nation where good laws are upheld. This is one side of it Let's go to point two Christians must love and help illegal immigrants. I know that this is gonna cause a little hair to come up on some people's necks. Just, if you have a problem with this, then take it up with God. I'm just gonna read some scriptures to you. In scripture, we see that God told the Israelites to welcome and take care of immigrants. Look at Deuteronomy chapter 10, verses 17 through 18. For the Lord your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awe-inspiring God, showing no partiality and taking no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and widows and what? loves the resident alien, giving him, the resident alien, food and clothing. It sounds as if he goes even a little bit farther than the fatherless and the widow. We're told by James, this is religion in undefiled, is to look after the fatherless and the widow. But here we're told he executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and he loves the resident alien. So what's the word resident alien? If you were to look at that word, it's a word that means sojourner. It means a temporary somebody that has come into the country that does not have the rights of someone who lives there. That's what this word is. And this word says he loves the resident alien, giving him food and clothing. I'm telling you, it is so easy to get angry. And in fact, I believe that in some way, both sides of the political spectrum are playing on fear and anger right now. They're manipulating through fear and anger. One of the things that I love to do on weekday mornings whenever I go to the gym is I listen to a podcast by a liberal media news source, a mainline liberal media news source, and I listen to supposedly a conservative news source. And oftentimes, as I have listened for months to both sides, oftentimes, They sometimes tell the same stories, but you can tell which side is going to leave out which bit of information to fit in with their narrative. Both sides are guilty of that, I'm telling you. It's to move and manipulate and to cause people to kind of fit into these nice and neat boxes. And one of the things is that people are angry right now. using terms of derision just for the whole group of people that are here illegally. Now, I'm telling you, we're not talking about those that are here illegally who are terrorists. My goodness. Goodness, we need to pray that every single one of them are found and punished or sent out or something in some way to keep them out. And the gangs and those that would come in and break laws, those are not the ones that we are primarily talking about. But I'm just telling you that within our culture right now, on one side, there is this thing of just be angry at not the issue, but even the people, the people. As a child, I grew up in South Korea, two years in South Korea. So I lived with that and I developed a love for that culture. I developed, as a child, a love for the food. Then we came over and my dad pastored a small church in western Kentucky way out in the country for just a few years. And then we went down to the east side of Houston, Texas. And so east side of Houston, Texas, There were some other white people that I had as friends, but I had a lot of friends that were black. I had a lot of friends that were Latin American. I had a lot of friends that were Asian. It's just kind of the culture, and we understand that here in Florida. And so as I... lived with that, I began to think, okay, you know what, everybody else has got a problem with prejudice. I don't. I don't. Except for one of the groups was Iranians. I grew up, I was born in 70 and I remember the late 1970s watching the news as those hostages were horrifically treated by the Iranians over there in Iran. And I watched as the Ayatollah was moved out and then others were put in that spewed hate toward us. And so in my heart, I had just a prejudice toward him, maybe even a hatred. But what did it matter? I was never going to meet one, so it didn't matter, right? Never going to meet somebody from Iran. One of the things that Kim and I did at the last church that I pastored is our sons were in Murray State University, and it's just a mile and a half down the road from us. So one of the things that we did is we loved having meals. Kim, just her love language is cooking Southern-style food, and that's why it's hard to lose weight. That's her love language. She loves doing that. Plus, we realized that, hey, if you cook food, the boys will come back home from college right down the road and they may bring their friends and so we will have, you know, quite a few college students. And so we enjoyed Sunday afternoons just having a lot of college students come into our home. There was one occasion where one of the college students asked if he could bring another student and her name was Nazdeen. found out she's Iranian. She was given a pass, you know, she was given the passport and, you know, the papers to come over on a temporary visa so that she could go to school and So all of a sudden it hit me, Matt, you know, do you really dislike these people or do you love them as Jesus has called you to love them? And I'm telling you, and I've got a picture of us sitting around the table enjoying Kim's food Thanksgiving back in 2018. Nazdeem is sitting right beside Kim there at the table. Nazdeem was such a crazy blessing to our family. I shared the gospel with her. She did not receive the gospel. She even shared and said, hey, Matt, if I was to receive Jesus as Savior, that means that I am saying that I will not spend eternity with my family ever, ever. I said, yes, that's what that means. And she just could not do that. But we made it abundantly clear to her, Nazdim, our relationship with you is not rooted in whether or not you receive Jesus. We're going to love you regardless. And so whenever, back in the spring, late spring of 2019, we met with her. She came over to the house and we said, you know what, we're going to I've been called to Pastor Church in Central Florida, Polk City First Baptist Church, and tears began to come out of her eyes, and we realized that, man, we really did love this young lady. Really did love this young lady. I'm telling you, it's easy to hate a group until you know somebody in the group. Be very careful about that. Be very careful of allowing others to cause you to just hate the group of illegal immigrants who have come in, the illegal immigrants who have come in because you don't know any of them. I would encourage you that spend some time getting to know someone rather than being manipulated by anger. So some would say, well, she came in legally. We're talking about illegal. Well, let me tell you another story. In 2018, I also went to Ecuador. Not Ecuador. In 2018, I went to Guatemala. We went down there. I did some pastor training. I worked with a team. And also here, you see me up there in front with my translator. Got a vacation Bible school there in one of the cities in Guatemala. And we did some other things down there. But one of the conversations I had with the translator that you see there beside me, and I'm not going to mention his name, he didn't do anything wrong, but I'll not mention his name, is I said, we're having an issue with illegal immigration. Back in 2018, it was an issue. I said, we're having an issue with, you know, caravans of people coming north. And I said, so, and I called him by name, what do you think about this? And he kind of put his eyes down just for a few moments and then told me, he said, I've thought about getting in one of those caravans. and making my way north. He said, one of the things that you don't understand up north is that down here there's money under the table, lots of money that has to go under the table in order for us to get in legally. We have to, in order to get paperwork, we've got to put money under the table, and even then there's no guarantee. And the money that people make up there in a harvest is more than they probably would make down here. And so many of the people that have come here not justifying breaking of the laws, this is what I'm saying, is we need to hold both of these intentions, is yes, the government is to come up with the laws and is to enforce the laws, but we also love people. and understand that not everybody fits into the same thing. We want those that have ill intent, get them out or punish them to the full extent of the law. But realize that many of these people that have come here want the same thing we want. We want happiness. We want to take care of our families. We want to be able to take care of what belongs to us. And many of those people are coming here because of that. We balance both. This is what I'm saying, we balance both. We want the government to say, there is a border, respect that border, and create an environment where there is less and less incentive for people to come because of the less incentive or more consequences so that when people come, they are coming through the door and not over a fence. We want to work toward this. But as far as the actual individual people, we are commanded to love them, to care for them, to realize that they are people created in the image of God. And even if they're hungry or thirsty, like God says, He loves the resident alien. He loves the person who has come in who does not belong in that area and does not have rights in that area. He gives them food and water. God loves people just like that. We are to balance both. So that's what point three is work for justice and kindness Work for justice and kindness what I'm calling you to see is God's Word holds to both sides to some extent a call for strong government and enforcement of the immigration laws, but also to love people to love people Micah chapter 6 verse 8 Mankind he has told each of you what is good and what is what it is the Lord requires of you to act justly and to love Faithfulness this word faithfulness. We'll talk about that in just a second and to walk humbly with your God and so act justly So the law do the right thing hold people that break the law accountable act justly but to love faithfulness. This word faithfulness, in your translation, may be the word mercy. It's translated a lot of different ways. But this is a beautiful Hebrew word. It's the Hebrew word hesed, and it is the word that speaks of the kind of love that God has for us. It's a covenantal love, a love that you cannot make him stop loving you. It's a covenantal love. God says, I will love you regardless of what you do. to do justly, and to love this kind of covenantal love. It's the balance of these two. Christians are not to say one side or the other, although I tend to lean much more on one side than on the other. But in truth, the two sides are not defined by the two political parties. The two sides are defined by God's word, justice Love and mercy, right? This is what we are called to do Justice we want good laws and we want people to obey those laws But there are people who are going to break the laws and they're no less of a person created in the image of God Because they do now again, we're not talking about the ones who do the horrific things even then were commanded to love but we pray that God's full wrath of the law would come down upon them, those who do horrendous things here in our land or would threaten to do great harm. But a vast majority of people are here just to try to get a better life. And so we are to pray that the government would deal with these things and would do what is right for this nation while also realizing that we are to love everybody. Love everybody. Number four, the gospel is ultimately on the line. The gospel is ultimately on the line. We've seen where we should relate to illegal immigration with law and grace, both, both. Not to hate, not to be angry, but to say, government, you have a job and we're going to vote in people who are going to do the job of securing our borders and keeping us safe, and only allowing those good people in, and they come in the right way, and only so many that our nation is able to handle. But we're not gonna be reckless in our anger and hatred and disdain of those who have violated that. We are going to continue to reach out in love. Look at Deuteronomy 10, verse 19. You were also to love the resident alien. Listen to this. This is a why. This is the answer to why. Why are we to love the resident alien? God is talking to the people of Israel since you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt. Why was Israel supposed to treat with kindness those who came within its borders? God said, you're to treat them with kindness because you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt. What's God saying? God is saying, remember your history, Israel? that there was a famine here in the land of Canaan, and I had exalted Joseph up to second in command in Egypt, and because of the famine, the long story short, his family ended up coming to Egypt, and they were being taken care of. They weren't Egyptians, they were just resident aliens there in that place. They didn't get paperwork, it wasn't even used at that time. They came into Egypt, and they were taken care of. But given enough years, 400 years, They're being treated like slaves. Treated like slaves. And God said, you remember what happened when you were resident aliens? You ended up getting treated like slaves, and I loved you so much, I pulled you out from that, and I gave judgment on that nation that treated you like slaves. God said, that's why you are to treat those who are resident aliens with kindness, law and kindness within your borders. It's a gospel issue. Because Egypt and this whole picture of Israel coming out of Egypt is a picture of salvation. Egypt, if you look at the broad picture of this, Egypt represents a place of sin and Israel who was there that God called them out represents someone who was lost and in bondage to sin. And so God reached out and called Israel to himself and God killed sin there at the Red Sea and God brought Israel to himself to call his own peculiar people his people and that's a picture of salvation. We were in bondage to sin. We were in a place that we did not belong. And God called us out of that and saved us. And now we are no longer in that place, but now we belong to him. And so as the Israelites were to see this picture, so we also as Christians are to be this way as well. I know that there's a huge issue. I know that there are boatloads of questions that would arise. It's not our purpose to look at all of those things. I just want us to see that in regard to this issue, Christians are not to let one side or the other call us to there, and we assume there's only two ways of looking at this. No, there's actually a third way, and the third way is here. We ought to be people who call for a government to have good, fair laws, immigration laws, and then comply with those laws. But also, we realize that we are to be characterized by love and kindness and grace. Love and kindness and grace. We balance both. We balance both. This morning, as we tie this up, are you saved? Has God called you out of Egypt? Are you somebody that knows that you know that you are saved and that you belong to him? If you are not, might I ask you, might I plead with you to give your heart to Jesus, to ask him to forgive you of your sin, Forgive you of your sin and trust in Him. Stop trusting in yourself to make you right in God's eyes, to supposedly make yourself right, and realize that none of us is righteous. No, not one. And so you're trusting in Him, trusting in Jesus to make you right. And if You have been saved, but you've never gone public. You've never been baptized. Show publicly what's happened in your heart. Might I ask you, during this time, as we have an invitation here in just a few moments, make your way forward and tell me about it. Let's talk about how it is that you can go public with your faith. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, we come to you, and Lord, we thank you that Your word speaks to things and Lord I know that there are boatloads of questions that this has opened up and that's good and Lord I pray that we as people who have even more questions Would go again to your word to find the answers to those questions on this issue and on others Lord help us to see that if we are to be people of the word We're actually to study the word and find out what it says and believe it Lord I pray that And as we go, what I believe to be, further and further into a darker culture, not only nationally but worldwide, Lord, it's going to get not easier but harder to be a Jesus follower. Lord, I pray that now, while it is not yet so difficult, Lord, I pray that you and your grace would give us the ability to dig into your word, to find out what it says, and to believe that and not be pulled to any number of sides that are vying for our votes and our attention and our allegiance. Lord, help us to ultimately express our allegiance to you and to your truth. Lord, help us to truly be people of the word. Lord, I pray that now as we go into this time of response, however it is that you are moving among us, Lord, I pray that right now that if there is a decision that needs to be made publicly, Lord, I pray that you would give those individuals the courage to come forward and to speak to me about what it is that you are doing in their life right now, I pray.