Well, good morning. It's good to be here. It's good to see you all here. Going to see our visitors here and hope enjoy the services with us this morning. Well, we made it back safely. We left Thursday morning to move Melinda down to Missouri and made it back last night about nine o'clock. It was a lot smoother ride back home that it was going down there and that you all so just pray for her. Pray for us. Um, And our kids, it's different. Some of y'all understand all of this that we're doing, that we're going through, that when your children move away, it's difficult. But at the same time, you want them to follow the Lord, right? That's what you want. Of course, when we pray that prayer, sometimes we want them to follow the Lord here, wherever we're at. But sometimes the Lord has other plans. My mom made a comment and she's right. And she didn't mean it mean, by no means, she meant it loving and caring. She said, now you're gonna understand what I've been going through. I don't like to think about that too much, you know, but it's the truth. But y'all pray for us and pray for Melinda. So, but also with that, be remembering that on the back table back there, there's a calendar for October and a calendar for November. Now what those are for, they've got some highlighted dates on there, okay? What those are for is for our members to sign up to have your picture taken for our directory next year. So in what we're anticipating, we pray that the Lord save the lost, we pray that the Lord send us more members that he add to us as he sees fit. So this is, I believe he will. So I believe what we need to do is prepare for that. So when it was mentioned to me, and I found it, I found it a long time ago in my office, an old directory from years ago that had pictures with it. I think that's a good idea. We're gonna have new members coming. It's good to have our picture besides our name so they can know who we are. So that and then the. A lot of people aren't going to be here for the work day, which was mentioned. It's been rescheduled to the 28th. But if you were planning on being here this Saturday, come on. I have a list. I have the material all made. You can talk to me. I'll set you up. Now, I'm not going to be here. I'm going to a wedding. So I'm not going to be here. My sister-in-law's getting married, so we're going to be gone that day. But I'll be here on the 28th, Lord willing. So we'll be here then too. And I know that day is the day we're going to go out on visitation. So the work day will start after lunch. Usually we're back here around lunchtime or so for visitation. And so we'll get something to eat, and then we'll have our work day after that. So we can do both in the same day. So, okay. If you will, take your Bibles and turn to Romans chapter 13. Romans chapter 13. We've been going through some things that we believe. And so we're down to the topic that is a touchy subject. It can be a very touchy subject, okay? The topic is what we believe about civil government. And I know you think about our government I don't know how many of you went, you think about our government, right? Because they don't do what we want them to do. They're not following the Lord at all. But understand that we have a responsibility and they have a responsibility, okay? And both of our responsibilities, ours as people, is to follow our government. Okay? But our government's responsibility is to follow the Lord. Now, our responsibility is to follow the Lord also. If we don't follow the Lord, we'll answer for that. If our government does not follow the Lord, guess what? They're not gonna answer for that. They will. Whose job is it to make sure they pay? Not ours. The Lord says, I'll take care of them. I'll do it. So we let him do that. So what do we believe about following our government? Do we follow them? And I've been trying to figure out and trying to think about how to word some of this, how to look at some of this, and when it's okay to not follow them, when it's okay to follow them, and all of this, but you look at the scriptures. We talk a lot, I'm gonna change subject here just a minute, sorry. A lot of thoughts. We talk a lot about our rights. What rights is it that the scripture is concerned about? Is it our rights that our constitution gives us? Or is it our rights that God has given us? That's what the scriptures are more concerned with, is our rights that the scriptures has given to us. And what rights are those? To follow him, to seek him, When the government, I'm getting ahead of myself here, but when the government steps in and says, you can no longer preach in the name of Jesus Christ, are we to say, oh man, no. We're to preach in the name of Jesus Christ. But when the government steps in and they say, look, we're gonna make it very difficult for you to own a firearm. Matter of fact, we're going to try and take those firearms away and they make a law and say, you're going to have to hand in your firearms. What do we do? I don't find anywhere in scripture where it tells us to hold on to our firearms. I know some of you are going to like that very much, but I don't see it in scripture. We're to follow. Who are we to trust the Lord to take care of us? We trust the Lord to take care of us, not. So that's why I'm saying this is a touchy subject for a lot of people. But we're to follow the Lord in those things, trusting him. Our responsibility is to be submissive unto the Lord, just as our children are to be submissive unto their parents while submitting unto the Lord, okay? We are to submit unto the Lord, and how we do that? is by following him and seeking out. The only thing I know to do is go to scriptures. And so what we want to do, I'm going to read this article on civil government, what we believe on civil government. We believe that civil government is of divine appointment for the interests and good order of human society, and that magistrates are to be prayed for consciously. I cannot say that word. I have listened to this word. consciousnessly, something, honored and obeyed, except only in things opposed to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only Lord and conscience of the prince of the kings of the earth. We further believe that God has ordained three basic institutions, the home, the church, and the state. Every person is subject to these God-ordained institutions, but all, including the authorities themselves, are answerable to God and governed by his word. God has given each institution specific biblical responsibilities and balanced those responsibilities with the understanding that no institution has the right to infringe upon the other. The home, the church, and the state are equal and sovereign in the respective biblically assigned spheres of responsibility under God. And so we understand that civil government is here to help keep order, correct? That's what they're here for. God has appointed them in that. And that's why I'm looking at Romans chapter 13. If you will hear Romans chapter 13, verse one, it says, let every subject, let every soul be subject under the higher powers, for there is no power but of God, the powers that are ordained of God, that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisted the power resisted the ordinance of God, and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. You look at it. He tells us first right here that look, these powers that these governments that are that are set in place. Who put them in power? I know we understand and we look at this and we talk about our elections, how that they are getting Evil? I don't know what the word would be. They're cheating, it seems like, right? It seems that way. But tell me, can they do more than what God says they can do? You think about this. When Satan, when the devil came before God in Job, how close could the devil get to Job unless God said it was OK? He couldn't do anything, could he? He had tried. He knew all about Job. He knew everything there was about him. As a matter of fact, turn over there to Job chapter 1. And we forget this sometimes, that God is in control. Job chapter 1 in verse 6 says, Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them. And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth? a perfect and upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil?" And look at what Job, what Satan says. And Satan answered the Lord and said, Doth Job fear God for naught? Satan knows Job. Satan knows who Job is. Satan has tried to get to Job. And he says here, Doth Job fear God for naught? Hast thou not made an hedge about him? Satan says, I can't get to him. You've protected him. The only reason he serves you is because you've protected him. Says about him and about his house and about all that he hath on every side. Thou hast blessed the work of his hands and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now and touch all that he hath and he will curse thee to thy face. Satan had tried to get to Joe, but he knew there was a hedge about him. So he tried to get to his things, and he couldn't get to them either. He couldn't get to his family. He couldn't get to anything. Why? Because God said you can't. God put a hedge about Job. I believe it's right for us to pray that the Lord build a hedge about us and about our family. I believe we ought to pray that, that the Lord help us. He protect us. He's going to, right? He's going to do that. But we need to pray and ask the Lord to protect us, to protect our church, to protect our family. This world is getting worse and worse and worse. And I understand that, but I also understand that the governments that we have, God sets them in place. He allows them to be put in place. Think, well, yeah, but we don't deserve. What do we deserve? I have a sign in my office above my desk and I put it there in great big bold letters because I want to remember this saying. It says anything above burning in hell is a blessing. What do we really deserve? We think about this. We don't deserve a evil government. Yes, we do. Yeah, we do. to say that we don't deserve that. That's pretty prideful, isn't it? What does the Bible talk about? Pride. What is it comes after pride? A fall. Be careful thinking we don't deserve what we're getting. We do, because a lot of people in churches, a lot of so-called Christians, when they go to that voting booth, Are they voting the will of God? Are they looking at the scriptures to find out what they should vote for? I've heard in, and I'm going to touch some, I've heard people in churches talk about, well, you know what? We got to choose a lesser to evils. And I understand what some of what they're saying, but then they go a little bit farther and they say, yes, he believes in abortion, but he's going to do lower taxes. Which are they voting for? Scripture or pocketbook? Come on, folks. We can't vote our pocketbooks. Who are we trusting in it? Who are we trusting? The whole thing of this is who, what I've seen in this, of this topic of our civil government. You think about when a lot of, most of the Bible was written, Who were they under? Were they under Jewish law? No. Most of the New Testament, Paul, he wrote a Romans. Who was he writing to? The Romans. They were not under their own law. Paul, you think about Daniel. And I've thought, where to go with some of these things? Daniel. Turn over to book of Daniel. Chapter, I think it's chapter one. I think is where I'm going here with this. Daniel chapter one. If I could find Daniel, I ain't going far enough. Daniel chapter one. Yeah, verse one and two. Daniel chapter one. The Book of Daniel. They're in captivity in the Book of Daniel, right? Who put them in captivity? Who put them there? Daniel chapter 1 says in verse 1, In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, came Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. Took it over. Then what does the next verse start with? And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand. They went into captivity by the hand of the Lord. The Lord put them in captivity. He put a pagan government over them. What do we have over us? You could pretty much say a pagan government that's over us. The Lord's put them there. We can complain and we can gripe all day long about the government, but understand God put them there. Understand that we have a responsibility. You say, well, wait a minute, I don't believe what they're doing. I don't either. I don't either, but you know, I came to an understanding a long time ago, and I'm gonna go about this a little different way. When I was a plumber, I had some bosses, I had some foremen that were over me that would tell me, here, you do this. And I'd say, that's not gonna work. And they'd say, I said, do it. OK. I'll do it. I'll put it in that way. You tell me to put it in that way. I'm going to tell you, look, I don't think this is a good idea. I'm not going to tell them no, but I'm going to tell them I don't think this is a good idea. I think this is wrong. I don't think it's going to work the way you think it's going to work. And they said, put it in. Do you know what I did? I smiled and I put it in. And you know what I did later? I come back and changed it. Sometimes I'd have to change it. Sometimes though, I would tell them it's not gonna work and my foreman would say, look, you don't know what you're talking about, put it in. And you know what I found out? I didn't know what I was talking about. He was right and I was wrong. I put it in the way they said to put it in and it worked beautifully. Sometimes we think we understand what we're talking about but we don't. But all we have to do is follow the Lord, and you read through the book of Daniel. It's amazing to me, we talk about our government is not for us. Here in Daniel, let me see, hang on, Daniel, I don't know that I can find it real quick here, but Daniel chapter six, Daniel chapter six, that King Darius put Daniel, he put him over. And these princes didn't like that Daniel was in control. They didn't like it, right? So they, Daniel was preferred, it says in verse three, then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, became an excellent spirit, was because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. So the king, Darius, was thinking about setting Daniel over the whole realm, and his presidents and princes didn't like that. Understand Daniel, he was not from this nation, right? Verse four says, and the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom. So they went out and they looked at Daniel and they said, we're going to find something wrong with him. We're going to accuse him. We're going to find something he's doing that the king cannot set him above us. We're going to find him guilty. How many politicians today would you have to look very deep to find something guilty about them? Let me rephrase that. How many people would you have to look very deep to find something wrong in their life? Let me rephrase that. How deep do you want someone to dive into your life before they find something that's wrong? Do you want people looking very deep in your life? One of the things I figured out as a kid, my dad was a pastor, so guess where we lived. Guess where my family lived? I've lived almost my whole life in a fishbowl. That's where I've lived. You think, well, what do you mean? When you live in a house of glass walls, everything you do is open to everybody, and it's judged by everybody. You say, well, that's not right. It may not be right, it may not be fair, but that's just the way it is. You think about it. That was one of my concerns that I asked the pulpit committee when they were questioning me. They asked me, do you have any questions or concerns? I said, yes, I do. One of the questions I have is, what are you expecting of my kids? Because you have to understand something about my children. I hate to say it, but they're sinners. They are. And if you have expectations, I'll tell you right now, they're not gonna meet them. Not because I don't think my kids want to obey. I don't think that at all, but I know my kids and I know me. You have expectations, I guarantee you, I'm not gonna meet them. Sometimes we put expectations too high for people because of their father. That was on me as a kid. We live in a fishbowl. So Daniel here, his life is in a fishbowl. You may look at me and think, what do you mean a fishbowl? Where can a fish hide? Nowhere. Everything he does. Unless you put some stuff in there he can hide behind, but you'll eventually find him. You look hard enough, you're going to find him in that fishbowl. And that's what it is with a pastor's family. A pastor's life is in a fishbowl. A preacher's family, a preacher's life is in a fishbowl. And Daniel here, his life is in a fishbowl. And they go to him and they're going to look for some things, occasions to find fault. And it says here, but they could find none occasion nor fault. What? In a pagan kingdom where Daniel was living, they could find no fault. For as much as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. Now let me ask you, Daniel is living in a pagan land. He's under captivity in this pagan land. He's been put over charge of this pagan land. And the King Darius thinks about putting him over more charge in this pagan land. So these princes and presidents, they say, well, what we're going to do is we're going to find fault with him. And they can't find any fault with him. So has he turned against his God? No, he has not. He has not turned against his God. He's still serving the Lord. So in verse five says, then said these men, we shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. Only way we can find him, we're gonna have to make something up. We're gonna have to put a new law in place that it finds him against his God. That's how we're gonna have to do it. You think about some of these men, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. What was it that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said? And y'all forgive me, because I don't have none of these scriptures written down here, and I'm trying to find them here. But Daniel, in chapter 3. in Chapter 3. So and you understand you remember the story here in Daniel Chapter 6 where they go against Daniel. They can't tell King Darius and nobody can ask anything of anybody else, but you. For an a certain amount of time. And talking Darius and setting it up and signing it with the law of the Medes in the Persian that will not change King Darius couldn't change it once he set into motion. He couldn't change it. And what was it Daniel did? It says over there in chapter six, when he heard the law had been signed, he went to his room with his windows being opened and prayed. The thing was, he wasn't supposed to pray. But Daniel prayed. The government could come up and they can tell us you cannot pray. Yet we can. My grandpa always said, Grandpa and some other men that I know that were in the military, they said, you know, there's a lot of atheists went into the military. They said, I didn't meet one of those foxholes. They're praying to somebody. They're praying. They believe in a higher power. But we know who that higher power is, right? Not just a higher power. And I love in the Bible how that you read in 1st Samuel. kings. What I'm thinking about is Saul, where he was king and then Samuel came up and Saul had not obeyed and he was going to rip the kingdom from his hands, God was, and Saul prayed and asked that he would be able to still worship your God. Think of the emphasis of that. Saul asks Samuel, can you ask God that I can, so I can still worship your God, worship thy God? And then you read some other people and David, he doesn't worship Samuel's God. He doesn't worship the prophet's gods, but he worships my God. It's personal to David. It's personal to him. And we know who our God is, and we serve our God. But here in Daniel chapter three, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, how that King Nebuchadnezzar made this huge statue, this huge, you're gonna bow down to this statue, and you're gonna worship this statue, and you hear all this music, and everything going on, and you're gonna bow down, you're gonna worship this statue. And then he hears that these three young men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that they didn't. I heard a message one time that you think about this. He said, King Nebuchadnezzar said that when you hear all this different music that you bow down and you worship this statue. How obvious would it be that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not bow down? Everybody else is laying down. They're bowed down on the ground and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are standing up here. It'd be pretty obvious, wouldn't it? When the government comes in and tells us that we cannot worship anymore, those churches that are gonna stand for the Lord are gonna stand out like a sore thumb. They will. And I think about, and a lot of thoughts go into this, in my mind anyway, that when Peter and John were told not to preach anymore in the name of Christ, and they went back to their own company, they were threatened, they went back to their own company, they went back to the church, Told the church all that was said. And it amazes me that what they prayed. Was not to change their hearts, don't they didn't pray that the Lord would would change their leaders hearts. Not that they would change the council. But they prayed for boldness. Give us boldness that we may speak your word. Think about that. What would you pray? What would be in your heart? If the government told us we could no longer worship. When Sunday morning rolled around. What would you do? Think about it. What would you expect me to do? Is it any different than what you would do? And a lot of times we put we say, well, yes, but the kids. The children. You think back, was there anybody else in the scriptures that said the children? We can't do this because of the children. Y'all just looking at me. How about in numbers? When they were going to go into the promised land. or an exodus. I'm with the Israelites. Let me say it that way. City given a book the Israelites when they were going to go into the promised land. Why did they not go in? What was it their excuse they used? We're going to go in there and our wives and our Children are going to be prey. We can't go in. We have to protect our families. They lost. They died. The Lord said, look, if you just trust me, I'll take care of your families. We look at a civil government, when do we obey, when do we not obey? And this is still something that I struggle with sometimes about it. But I do know that when they tell me I can't preach, they have no right. They have no, they may be the government, they may be the government of the United States. The president himself has no right to tell me I cannot preach God's word. Because God himself has told me I need to preach God's word. So here, Nebuchadnezzar makes this statue and he calls Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in and tells them, I'll give you one more chance. In verse 15, you hear all these things that you bow down. If you don't bow down, I'll cast you in the burning, fiery furnace. That's it. But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in verse 16, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, We are not careful to answer in this matter. Basically, we don't have to take a powwow and figure out what we're gonna do. We're just gonna tell you. Here it is, we're not worried about this at all. Verse 17, if it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace. Do you believe that God can deliver us from a government that goes against Him? Amen. God can deliver us, can't He? He can spare us, He can spare our families, He can spare our lives. But look at what they say. They go on here and say, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O King. Look, understand. They say that He is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from thine hand, O king. I love verse 17. The courage to stand there and say that he is able to deliver us from whatever you're threatening, whatever punishment you're saying you're going to give to us. God is able to deliver us from that, but he will deliver us out of your hand. He will. But what about those next three words? You've seen those next three words. Those make my heart skip a little bit. But if not. What? You just said that He will deliver us out of your hands, O King. But if not? Look, He is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of your hands, O King. But if not? But if He doesn't deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, but if not, be it known unto thee, O King, we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image that thou hast set up. What are they saying? They're saying, look, God's going to deliver us out of your hands. We don't have to worry about what you do us. God's got us. We're trusting him in it. Whether we go in a burning, fiery furnace and we live through it, whether he changes your heart and we don't have to go into it all, or whether you throw us into it and we die in a burning, fiery furnace, we're going to be with him and you're not stopping us. That's what they're saying. You think about this. We read these things. Now, we read this, right? And we read this, and it's encouraging. You read these accounts of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, of Daniel going in the lion's den, right? And you think about this. The courage, the bravery, all of this just, it makes your little hairs on the back of your neck stand up. It's like, why? But I want you to think about something. These books were not written yet. They weren't written. They didn't know what was coming next. They didn't know that there was going to be somebody in the burning fiery furnace with them. As far as they were concerned, when they were getting thrown in, they were dying. Think about that. They had no idea. We don't know what tomorrow holds. We don't know what today holds. I know what we're looking at here is of our civil government, and what I want you to get across, what I want to understand, and what I see in this, yes, we don't trust our government. We don't. We don't, because they say they're out to help us, but they're not. Politicians anymore are not out to help us. They're out to help themselves. But God is out to help me. God is there for me. He always has been. He always will be. I can trust Him. I can lean upon Him. He will never leave me nor forsake me. Does that mean I will never have to go through any issues? Does that mean I will never have to go through any problems? Does that mean no one will ever tell me I cannot worship the Lord? No, that's not what that means. But what it means is even through that, He's gonna be with me. He's gonna give me courage. He's gonna help me stand. I have a lot of scriptures to go to, and I haven't covered none of them, but one. God sets up these authorities that we have. We have a responsibility to follow them, but we can never, ever follow a government that tells us to go against God. We can never do that. God is always the one that we follow. Look in Acts. Acts chapter 4. Acts chapter, sorry. Acts chapter 3, I think 3, Acts chapter 4, Acts chapter 4, sorry, and verse 16, here Peter and John Well, here in Acts chapter 3, just so you know what's going on, Acts chapter 3, Peter and John are going up to pray, and they heal this man. Peter says, silver and gold have I none, but that what I have thee, I give unto thee in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Rise up and walk. The man gets up and walk, and then Peter and John begin to preach to the people, because they think they did it. They said, no, Jesus Christ did it. And then they were taken by the council, and they're all trying to figure out what happened, but they can't. They can't say it didn't happen because the guy that they healed has been lame for 40 years. So they can't discount it some way. So they have to go along with it. They don't know what to do. So they tell Peter and John not to preach in this, and I'm trying to find the scripture, but it's eluding me here. I know it's right here, but they say, See, in verse 10 says, Be it known unto you all and to all the people of Israel by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom he crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him that this man stand before you whole. This is a stone which is which has said it not even of you builders, which has become the head of the corner. Neither is a salvation in any other, for there is none other name given among men whereby we must be saved. They preach the gospel to them. that's not the verses I was looking at somewhere in here in this account that Peter tells them that you decide whether it's right for us to serve you or to serve God you decide to listen to which one and it's always right to listen to the Lord and I can't find it's right there somewhere in chapter 4 chapter 5 it's somewhere in those chapters there that Peter tells him you decide whether we should listen to God or whether we should listen to you. Verse 19 of verse 4, chapter 4. Yes, that's it. That's it. Thank you, Brother Larry. It says, but Peter and John answered and said unto them, whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. Look, we have to say, and he goes on, so when they heard to further threaten them, let them go, finding nothing how they may punish them because of the people, for all the men glorified God for that which was done. For the man was above, 40 years old, of whom the miracle of healing was showed. I mean, Peter and John looked at them, they're telling him, do not preach in the name of Christ. Look, you judge. You judge whether it's right for us to follow you or follow God. I mean, what are the men gonna say? Governments think they're more powerful than what God is. But don't forget, don't forget. Who sets up kings? Who does that? God sets up kings. He is the one that puts kings in place. Daniel chapter 2 is where that's at. Daniel chapter 2 and verse 21. Daniel 2 and verse 21. We'll read verse 19, 20, and 21. Here he says, Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in the night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are his. And he changeth the times and the seasons. He removeth kings. He setteth up kings. He giveth wisdom unto the wise and knowledge of them that know understanding. He revealeth the deep and secret things. He knoweth what is in the darkness. and the light dwelleth with him. He sets up kings, he removes kings. And you think about that phrase in verse 22, he knoweth what is in the darkness. Those things, what is in the darkness? Good does not reside in the darkness. You know, as a plumber, I had an occasion to, my boss called me one day and he said, hey, I got a job for you. I think you'll be okay with this job because it's, we're taking out a bar and we're building a daycare in the place, so we gotta remove everything. I said, I'm good with that. So, but we turned all the lights on in this bar and I had to go out and get my halogen bulbs because I couldn't see nothing. It's dark in there. Lights are very dim. Look, things in the darkness are not where we ought to be. But you think about it. He says here that God knows what's in the darkness. It may sneak up upon us, but it's not sneaking up on God. God knows. He sees it. The Bible even tells us that even the dark places are light to Him. Look, who are we trusting in? Okay, in this study, and I didn't follow nothing of my notes, but who are we gonna trust in? Look, next year, we're gonna vote this year on some issues. People running for mayor of Warren. Who are we gonna vote for? Who are you gonna vote for? I'm not telling you who to vote for. What I will tell you, read the scriptures. Are they standing for their scriptures? Are they standing for the Word of God? We vote the Word of God. That's what we ought to vote for. And we ought to pray for our leaders. And I didn't cover those scriptures, but we ought to pray for our leaders. Why? What we ought to pray is that Lord lead them. That the Lord move them where he wants them to go. That the Lord is in control of them. He is, right? He moves them. God's in control, just as in Job. Satan couldn't touch Job. He came back to him again. Job came back to the Lord, and the Lord said, where have you been? He said the same thing, going to and fro up and down on the earth. And he said, do you consider my servant Job? And he said, well, yeah, but he won't do anything. He hasn't cursed you because you still have a hedge about his life, but let me touch him skin for skin. And God said, you can touch him, but save his life. You think about this job is sitting there with sores all on him, his right. He's scrubbing his skin with a broken pot and his wife comes out and says, why don't you just curse God and die? And what is it, Job says, so I'm not receive evil. Also, I've received this good for so long. I'm I'm paraphrasing that, of course, but. Job says, I can't do that. God's been so good to me. I love the book of Job because you read in that and Job does come to a place that he kind of begins to complain. And then I love it when God starts talking. Where were you, Job? Where were you when I formed the mountains? Tell me, answer me. Where were you? Job never, he never got an answer for why all this happened to him. So why is the book of Job even in there? There's some things we'll go through, we'll never have an answer for why. But the whole point of it all is trust the Lord. And that's what God's telling Job in chapter. What is it? Chapter 42, where he begins to talk 36 somewhere in there, where God begins to talk to Job and tells Job, where were you? If you can give me an answer, answer right now or be quiet one or the other. And when Job talks again. He basically says, Lord, I'm sorry. You have the right and I have not. Our responsibility in all of this is number one, serve the Lord. Serve him first and foremost at all times. We follow our government as far as we can as they don't infringe on our worshiping him. When they begin to tell us we can't do that, we stop listening. Because our first and foremost is to worship the Lord. It's being preached the gospel to be a witness. I know, and I hope this makes sense. I'll answer any questions if I confuse any issues or anything with that, but I'll try. It gets to be a touchy subject on our governments because our governments are not following the Lord. But understand, they will answer. Our leaders will answer to God for that. And that's not our responsibility to make them pay. God says vengeance is mine, I will repay, sayeth the Lord. We just serve him, otherwise we're going to be in that same line with them. We don't want to be there. So if you're here today and you're lost, you need the Lord Jesus Christ. Repent and believe on him and he will save you. And our musicians, our song leader will come. If you will go ahead and stand and we'll have a song of