This is our Confession of Faith, item number 52, and it's entitled Saints Holding Offices and Taking Oaths. Saints Holding Offices and Taking Oaths. It reads thus. Saints holding office and taking oaths, it's lawful for a Christian to be an officer of the civil government. If we are asked to take an oath, it is right for us to affirm the truth without swearing by anything or anyone. I want you to turn with me to Acts chapter 8, verse 27 through 29. And he arose and went. And behold, a man of Ethiopia and eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopian, who had the charge of all her treasure and had come to Jerusalem for the worship, was returning and sitting in his chariot, reading Isaiah the prophet. Then the spirit said unto Philip, go near and join thyself to this chariot. And we all remember what happened with Philip and the eunuch. As they went on their way, Philip had begun at the 53rd chapter of Isaiah and preached unto him Jesus. And they came to a certain water. And he said, see, here's water. What doth hinder me to be baptized? And he said, if thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he said, I believe that Jesus is the Son of God. And he and the eunuch went down into the water and he baptized him and he came up And the eunuch went on his way rejoicing. Now I want us to understand something. This man was right up at the top of the hierarchy of the queen of the Ethiopian. He had a high position in the government. What strikes me is this. Philip didn't say you've got to quit being in charge of the treasury of the queen. He didn't say you've got to give up this job. He didn't say anything. He just let him go on his way. So I assume if he's still living, he's still in the treasury of Candace there in Ethiopia. It is lawful for a child of God to be an officer of the civil government. I want to bring before you that we do have examples of God's children in the old covenant days being employed as high-ranking servants in governments other than Israel. Many of them were in high places in Israel, but some were in high places in other governments. Now, this only gives us a bit of information about the old covenant, and it does not prove what we have asserted. But I want you to notice Nehemiah 1, verse 11. O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant and to the prayer of thy servants who desire to fear thy name and prosper. I pray thee, thy servant to stay, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king's cupbearer." He was like the man who was Pharaoh's butler. He brought the king the wine. He was the king's cupbearer. He was in a high place. I won't read this, but you'll know who I'm talking about. Esther was taken to Persia with Mordecai. And the story went that she was taken in to be with the king. And the king really, really liked Esther. And he chose her to be the queen. Well, she was one of God's children in the old covenant, but she kept her position. And Mordecai was high up. He was an advisor to the king. And no one ever told him to give up his position and probably The most famous ones in the Old Testament, Daniel, right up there with King Nebuchadnezzar and his three partners, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. As he went up, he promoted them to a higher place. So they were high up in the government. But we do have examples of men serving in government who were not forbidden in the New Testament. Won't you please read with me from Luke chapter three, verses 12 through 14. Then came also publicans to be baptized and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? And he said unto them, exact no more than that which is appointed you. And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, and what shall we do? And he said unto them, do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely, and be content with your wages. When I was in the army, I had a number of people that told me that I shouldn't be there, but I disagreed. The soldiers that came to John the Baptist were not told to leave their military service. They were just told to not do violence to people, don't accuse any falsely, and to be content with their wages. So I assume they stayed where they were, as did the publicans, the tax collectors. Look please at Acts chapter 10, verses 1 and 2. There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian Band, a devout man One that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, prayed to God always. What was Cornelius' function? He was a centurion. In modern terms, he'd be like a company commander. He was a commander over a hundred soldiers in the Roman army. After his conversion and baptism, the Apostle Peter definitely did not tell him to get out of the army. He went on with what he had had before and continued on. One of the problems I think that we come up with is this. We get the feeling that a person is in a place where he is apt to slip. Maybe we don't like what he's doing, but I believe this. I believe it bears out in the scripture. If it's honest, if it's honest, it's right. Now, I do not believe that a man can be a Christian bartender. I don't believe that he can run a Christian whiskey store. There's lots of things that are downright corrupt. Maybe there's some politicians, some places in politics that he should have a part in based on what we see today, but there are some honest people. So Cornelius was a centurion. Please look at Romans chapter 16, verse 23. Paul writes, Gaius, mine host, and of the whole church, saluteth you. Erastus, the chamberlain of the city, saluteth you, and Quartus, a brother. Erastus was a chamberlain. This comes from a Greek word that's translated as steward or governor. He was evidently both a servant to a high-ranking official and at the same time a member of the church, which was a coronet. We see no rebuke toward this man, nor any other who serve in such capacities. The big thing is that wherever we may be called to serve, we hope and pray there is a church of the Lord Jesus in which to serve in that place. So it's lawful, biblically, right to serve in places in government. We're gonna consider oath. And every one of you probably are going to be involved in this at some time or other. A person may ask, if God swore with an oath, aren't we to do the same thing? God is God. And he can do any number of things and at the same time command us to do otherwise. His word tells us not. Let me read the scripture about that. Hebrews chapter six, verse 16 through 19. For men verily swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, We might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil. The Lord did not command us to do that. In fact, he commanded us exactly the opposite. Two main scriptures, Matthew chapter five, verse 33 through 37. Part of the Sermon on the Mount. This is our Lord Jesus speaking. Again, you've heard it. You have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oath. But I say unto you, Swear not at all, neither by heaven, for it is God's throne, nor by the earth, for it is his footstool, neither by Jerusalem, for it's the city of the great king. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be yea, yea, nay, nay, for whatsoever's more than these cometh of evil. It seems innocent, but you see little kids playing, and one says to the other, I told you I would do it. He says, well, you didn't mean it. He said something like, I swear, I hope to die, or something like that. That should be corrected. Never to swear by anything at all. You're gonna say sometimes we have to go into a court to witness and they tell us to swear. Thank God that in this land at least they've done away with that. They ask you if you'll tell the truth. And the answer's yes. That's all you need to say. Someone ask you a question. If it's yes, say yes. If it's no, say no. Don't bring something in to add to it. If you do, this scripture teaches us that it comes of evil. I believe it's a hard thing for God's people to come to the place where they can simply say yes and no. That's enough. Well, we have two witnesses. James chapter five, verse 12. In this fifth chapter, James teaches the brethren to be patient. not to grudge against one another. To remember the prophets have spoken in the name of the Lord as an example of suffering affliction. And he said, we count them happy, which endure. And then in verse 12, he said, but above all things, but above all things, my brethren, swear not Neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath, but let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay, lest you fall into condemnation. Israel and the old covenant were instructed to swear by God's name. Some people go back to that, but that has no jurisdiction over us. We're not under the Old Covenant. In Leviticus 19, verse 11 and 12, you shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another. and you shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God, I am the Lord. In Deuteronomy 6, 13, thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. In the New Covenant. You and I are instructed of the Lord Jesus and the Apostle James to swear not at all, not by any oath or anything, but let our answers be yes, yes, or no, no. I pray that we can learn to do that. And I hope next time you are brought to the place where you're apt to swear by something that you remember these scriptures. It's the best. It's the best way. So there's no question that we could serve in some place in government and that you and I are told Not to swear at all. No oaths. That's simple enough. Thank you.