Let's open our Bibles to the book of Romans, chapter 12. And we'll pick up with verse 16, but it would be well if we look at our outline of the twelfth chapter that we gave you last lesson. The first verse was the sacrifice of the believer. And then the second verse, the separation of the believer. And verses 3 through 8 was the service of the believer. And verses 9-16 was the sincerity of the believer. And verses 17-21 is the social life of the believer. And we've taught down verse by verse as far as verse 16. And so we'll pick up with that 16th verse and carry it on and then go into the 13th chapter. And when we get to the 13th chapter, I'll give you a brief outline of the 13th chapter. So as you look at verse 16, It says, Be of the same mind, one toward another. Now, Christians ought to be like-minded, be of the same mind. Paul tells us in the book of Philippians, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. And he said that we ought to be like Christ and be of one mind, one heart. And then he tells us in verse 16, "...mine not high things, but condescend to men of low estate." In other words, let's not always be puffed up and be higher than others, but try to get ourselves on the level of each other. Men of low estate, maybe some are not as knowledgeable as you are, and some are not as mindful of the things of the Lord as you are, but it wouldn't hurt to embrace them and include them and try to lift them up to understand higher things of God and not be proud about it, you know, my not high things. And then it says, Be not wise in your own conceits. So a fellow can be wise, but he doesn't need to be conceited with it and be wise in his own conceits and put the other fellow down. That's what it's talking about. It never does good to put anyone down. It's not a good thing for a Christian to do. And you know, that's true even as far as maybe someone that's your enemy or not in harmony with you. It's not good to put them down. You can speak the truth, and sometimes you do have to rebuke, and that is true that the Bible says, especially in the ministry. But it says, Rebuke with all longsuffering and doctrine. When you do have to rebuke, do it in a teaching way. And with a long-suffering, not to try to get the best of the other fellow, and always try to get even. In fact, the next few verses, it says, Recompense to no man evil for evil. In other words, don't try to just pay back and say, I'm going to get even with you. A lot of people are always wanting to get even. Well, you never get even, because the Lord is able to take care of those things. So we don't need to repay evil for evil. Someone says, well, he did me wrong, so I'm going to do him wrong. I'll do him this way. I'll get even with him. And that's not the right attitude for a Christian to have. And then it says, provide things honest in the sight of all men. That means that a Christian ought to live and get the things that he has, material possessions and money, finances, get it in an honest an upright way, and it tells us to provide. We are to provide, but we're to provide things in an honest way. And it never pays to be dishonest in anything. I notice sometimes when you're trying to be honest, though, people I know that maybe you all have had the same experience, but you go into a store nowadays and they give you the wrong change and you begin to say, wait a minute, you made a mistake. No, I didn't make a mistake. They're too quick to think you're going to try to get to them instead of try to straighten things out. But some are long-suffering enough and open-minded enough that they'll listen to you. And then if they've made a mistake in either direction, they will correct it. But a lot of times I found it in their favor that they'd give me too much money back or something of that nature and want to correct it. And they'd get kind of peeved about it. But if they didn't think that you were going to try to get the best of them, maybe they would look at it a little different. And some do. But, you know, it tells us to be honest. And that's in all things, whatever we do in making a living or providing and in all of our business dealings and in everything that we do, we ought to be honest. If we make an agreement with somebody for certain things, we ought to be willing to live by that agreement, whatever it is. Maybe they got the best of us in the agreement, but still, if we made the agreement, it's our business to keep it. Maybe you came out a little ahead on the deal. That's still right for you to keep the word, keep your agreement or contract. And people used to make agreements for so much, and that's the way it was regardless. So we want to remember that that's the way it ought to be. Then it says in verse 18, "...if it be possible, as much as life in you live peaceably with all men." Paul is talking about living peaceably with others, but now he says, as much as possible, if it be possible. There are some men that will reason and come to peaceful terms almost on anything if they have an open mind and open heart and they can be at peace. But others just have a built-in resistance against trying to be peaceable about things, and it seems that they'd rather be at odds than to be at peace. Well, that's not the right attitude for a Christian. That may be what some men will be, but you can't help if they will not live that way. But you can do everything that is in your power to try to help it to be that way. And then if the other person just absolutely will not be at peace with you and not live peaceably, well, then you can't help that, can you? It's beyond your control. But you can certainly promote it and desire it to be peaceable. That's why it says, Paul says, if it be possible. Because sometimes it's not possible. But now let's go on. It says in verse 19, Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath, for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. In other words, he's saying, you don't try to get even, you don't try to get revenge, but you leave that up to the Lord. Don't give place to wrath, and don't let yourself be brought up into the place of wrath. There weren't that you would want to do the other fellow wrong. But he says, I will replace saith the Lord. Vengeance is mine. So he'll take care of that, and you don't have to worry about it. Then verse 20 says, Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him." Now notice, "...if thine enemy hunger, feed him." And it says, "...if he thirst, give him drink. For in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head." Now then, what's it talking about here? Are you doing this just to get even with the other guy and cause him to feel bad? No. But he's just saying that you can get even with him far better by doing him good than you can by doing him harm. And we're in Romans, chapter 12, verse 20, and it says in verse 21, now, "...be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." So instead of returning evil, notice back in verse 17, it says, "...recompense to no man evil for evil." But here it says, "...be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." We're to recompense good, repay with good instead of trying to repay with evil, and we'll overcome the evil in that way. So let's be large-hearted and forgiving. And I think that if we put these things into practice in our Christian life, we'll be far better off. Now then, in the 13th chapter, I want to give you three things that you'll find in the 13th chapter. From verses 1 through 7, you'll find the believer as a citizen and his relationship to government or to the powers that be. In other words, our relationship to the powers that be or to government, the believer as a citizen. And then in verses, I'll repeat these in a moment, the second portion is the believer as a neighbor, and you'll find that in verses 8 through 10, as a neighbor, verses 8 through 10. And then the last part, and it's just three points in this thirteenth chapter, the believer watching and looking for the return of Christ. And you'll find that in verses 11-14. So I'll give you those again. The believer as a citizen and his relation to government or the powers that be, which is government. And that's verses 1-7, as a citizen. The believer as a neighbor, verses 8-10. The believer watching and looking for the return of Christ, verses 11-13. And that's a good way to look at this chapter. Now, let's notice the believer as a citizen. Let's begin reading with verse 1. It might be better to go verse by verse than to read the whole portion. It says, "...let every soul be subject unto higher powers. For there is no power but of God, and the powers that be are ordained of God." Now, when he says the powers that be, he's referring to government. He's referring to government, whether it's local, or state or nationwide. It's the powers that are in control as a citizen of a country or of a nation, a people or a community. It's the powers that are in control and rule over you. And you know, we're to be subject to those powers that be. Every soul should be subject under the higher powers, it tells us. The Christian man or woman is a good citizen of the country. And what we want to say is that there is not any reason for a Christian to disobey the laws of the land unless those laws are against the laws of God. Now then, of course, the subject of bearing arms would come up under this, were to be subject to a draft and were to go to to protect our nation and our people and protect our freedom. And then we find there are instances that we cannot submit to the powers that be. What would be the exception to the rule? Like in the days of Daniel, remember that the three Hebrew children were told to bow down before this golden image when the sound of the music would come? This statue of gold in the plain of And all of us know the story of the three Hebrew children. They said, We'll not bow down to a golden image, because that is against God's Word, isn't it? God says, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images, thou shalt not bow down to them. And he said, Thou shalt have no other gods before me. And when we're forced to try to bow down to gods or images that are against God, certainly we have a right then to protest it and not do that. And we know the story of the three Hebrew children. They said, We will not bow down to your image that you've made. And they said, If it's God's will, he'll deliver us from the burning fire furnace. They were threatened. to be thrown into the fiery furnace, and they said, if God's will, He will deliver us, but if not, we still will not bow down nor serve. or worshiped image that you've set up. And so, in that instance, it's right for children of God not to obey the powers that be when it contradicts with the laws of God. But that's the only exception. If it's perfectly right for us to obey them, then we should obey them, unless it contradicts the laws of God. that are given. And if you remember in the same book, in the book of Daniel, when Daniel was told himself that he could not pray, that no one could pray, the law went out and a decree was made, no one could pray to any other god except the King. And Daniel, of course, knew that that wasn't right, and his habit was to go in and pray three times a day. And so his window being opened, the Bible says, toward Jerusalem. He went in and he knelt before that window and he prayed three times a day as he did a four time. In other words, Daniel's life was a habit of prayer, and he knew that they were cutting in upon something that was right for him to do, and so he would not submit to that law, which was perfectly right that he not do so. And we find that otherwise, unless it contradicts the things of God, we are to be subject, look in verse 1 again, unto higher powers, for there is no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained of God. Now, verse 2 says, Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God. God has given to mankind laws and government in his providential dealings, as well as in the Old Testament when he set up the laws that were right and wrong, that were for men to obey. In fact, we can find the essence of the laws of man in the commandments that God gave to Moses. And morally so, we're still to go by those laws. Now, we're not justified by them because we're sinners, aren't we? But we're still not to commit adultery. We're still not to steal. We're still not to murder. It's still wrong to do the things that are stated in that law, and it's morally wrong and sinful. And not only that, we're inviting the judgment of the powers that be that come from the powers that be, as well as the judgment of God when we break the laws of God deliberately in society. And so it's still in effect, and that's the way that we need to remember how that the law of God is still in effect. Now, it is not in effect to justify us in the sight of God, is it? But it is in effect as far as being right and wrong to do such things. We know that men are sinful and that we've broken the laws of God and that Jesus has come so that we may be justified through him who has kept all the law for us. But still, if we go out and commit any of these crimes against our fellow man, we're going to have to suffer the punishment and the judgment for them, aren't we? And that's why it says, "...they that resist," second part of verse 2, "...shall receive to themselves damnation," or condemnation, judgment. That word carries with it judgment. Look at verse 3. For rulers are not a target of good works, but to evil. In other words, the rulers, they're not going to judge you for doing the things that are good, but they certainly will punish you if you do that which is evil. It says, Will thou then not be afraid of the power? God has set the powers there that we might be afraid and we might fear to break the laws of the land. We're talking about the policemen, the judges, the law enforcement, the laws that are on the books that if we break them, we're going to have to pay for our crime. It says, "...do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same." So we can't break the laws of God and the laws of the land without suffering the consequences, can we? Verse 4 says, "...for he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid, for he bears not the sword, The sword in the Bible is of judgment, the sword of judgment. He bears not the sword in vain, for he is a minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. You see, the judgment of our that comes from breaking the laws of the land, that's in the hands of the powers that be, and they are rightly to do so and to execute those powers. When you have a man commit a crime, he is going to have to suffer the consequences of committing that crime. And it tells us here that it is right for him to suffer the consequences. Notice it says in verse 4, He is the minister of God to thee for good. That doesn't mean that the men that are in the government are necessarily a Christian people and ministers in that sense of the word. But in the providence of God, they are in a place, they may not be Christian at all, but they are in a place of authority that God has established. And therefore they are the ministers of God, they are the ministers of God to bring judgment and to execute their office, to fulfill their office and execute judgment upon the one that commits a crime. Therefore, we can honor, and we should honor, all of our law enforcement. We know that there may be in the midst of all of our rulers and governors and senators and congressmen, those that make the laws, those that keep the law, the policemen, etc., there may be many men that are Christians. There may be many that are not Christians. But whoever it is, he is the minister of God to thee for good. If he carries the weight of that office, or that power, he's doing what God has ordained to be done as far as our government is concerned. Now then, in verse 5, "...wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath," in other words, you'll have to suffer the consequences, "...but also for conscience's sake." That in your conscience it's wrong to break the laws that are given for us to live by. Verse 6 says, "...for for this cause pay ye tribute also." Now, then, you're supposed to take care of them monetarily, financially. They are worth their dues. They have to be paid for their God's ministers attending continually upon this very thing. That's why you have to pay your taxes, so we can support these kind of things for our protection and our good, for the protection of our society and the good of everyone. Wouldn't you hate to think Have you ever thought of what it would be to live in a nation where there were no laws laid down for men to live by, and every man would do whatever he wanted to without any threat of punishment or having to go to jail or having to pay for his crime or having to be punished? And all of mankind would be just turned wild loose. The most violent of men would just be turned wild loose upon you. No policeman to police the streets at night. And if a crime was committed, no one to take them into custody and to punish them for it. We'd be living in a sense of terror all the time, wouldn't we? I'm glad that when we go to bed at night, there are policemen. going up and down the streets. They're taking care of your safety and your protection. Maybe not as many as we need, but you still have them. And the criminal, the man that is going to break the law, he knows that if he does, he's going to get caught and get punished for that. And the more we have laws and the more we have those criminals arrested and the more that they suffer the equal punishment for the crime they commit, the less of those will be coming into our houses and robbing us and killing people and doing wrong as they do and committing the crimes that they commit. So we need, certainly, these things, and they have to be paid for. For this cause, pay you tribute also. Verse 7 says, Render therefore to all their due. It says, Tribute to whom tribute is due. Remember, Jesus said to Peter, Go and take up a fish, and he says, Take the piece of money out of his mouth and go and pay pay the taxes with them. And when they ask him a question, was it right to give tribute to Caesar, he says, render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's. But he says, render unto God the things that are God's. Jesus said it's right to pay tribute. It's right for us to pay for those things. Here it says, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. So every man in this position is to receive his due respect, isn't he? Whatever office he fills. And we should teach our children, so many are taught nowadays to go around and cry out against the policemen and call them bad names and things, which they should be taught to respect the law enforcement of the land. Now, we know that there are people that do not do right even under that cover and that uniform, but that doesn't give us a right to condemn all, does it? We certainly should respect them for the sake of the office that they fill, just like, say for instance, in the ministry. All preachers are not right either, are they? But still we ought to respect the ministry for the sake of it. So it says, "...custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, and honor to whom honor." We have the believer as a neighbor, and that's verses 8-10. How are we to live toward our neighbor? Look at this quickly. It says, O no man anything but to love one another. In other words, a Christian man is to pay his debts. We are to meet our obligations. Sometimes we get ourselves in a place where it's hard to do, but still, if we can't pay up, we need to show up or give a reason. Now, that doesn't mean we'll always be able to pay. But it means that if we cannot pay, we can make things right until we can. And then when we can pay, then we're still to do it, aren't we? It doesn't make any difference how far back it is. We're to try to keep our word as far as our debts are concerned. Owe no man anything. And so it doesn't mean that you'll never have an indebtedness to anyone, but it means in having an indebtedness, you will strive to pay those debts. as you're able to do so. Because I'm sure that all of us at one time or another have owed other people for other things. And most of us do in this day and age. In fact, a lot of business is done on that basis. You do it by owing other people. But still, you're obligated then to pay. And you know, you don't owe if you get something on terms or payment. You actually owe only that which is due at the particular time. You owe it all, but you owe it on a basis of time, don't you? So if you buy it on time payments, you owe it only as it comes due. But you do owe it all, and eventually all of it has to be paid. But then there are various ways that we are responsible to pay. but to love one another. Here is a debt, look at here, this. Now this is the debt that we are always to owe and we're always to be paying. Look at this again now, very carefully. Owe no man anything but to love one another. This is something you are to owe. And in owing it, you're always to be paying on it. You're always to be loving the brother. See, this is a debt that's never fully paid, is it? Doesn't make any difference. We owe love one to another, and it's something that we're paying all the time in the sense that we keep loving one another, and it's something that we will never overpay and be free from because we'll always be in that same condition of owing one another. For he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. You see that? And how do we know it fulfills the law? For this, thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet, and if there be any other commandment," look at this, "...it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." So it's narrowed down, all of these things. not committing adultery, not killing, not stealing, not bearing false witness. All of these have to do with man's relationship to man. In other words, our dealings with one another. And it says, if we love one another, all of it is fulfilled. We have not committed any of these things and broken these laws against our fellow man, have we, if we love him? If we love him, we certainly would not be guilty of adultery or killing, murder or stealing or bearing false witness or coveting, we would be clear of those things, so it's fulfilled in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Now, then, it doesn't mean by this that we're justified in the sight of God and clear as if we had never committed these sins, because we have. We have been guilty not only of sinning against God and breaking the commandments against God, but we have broken commandments against our fellow man. But by the same token, morally and as a Christian, we should be mindful that this is something we owe, and if we do love one another and love our neighbors as ourselves, we will not be breaking these commandments, will we? It says in verse 10, "...love worketh no ill to his neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." See, the law against our neighbor and for our neighbor? Love works no ill. You could not do any of these things if you love your neighbor. You certainly couldn't. You wouldn't want to steal from him, and you wouldn't want to bear false witness against him, and you wouldn't want to commit adultery or kill, murder, and covet, and all of these things that are named. Now look, in verse 11. We pick up with the third section of this thirteenth chapter, and this is the believer watching and looking for the return of Christ. He says, and that, with that in mind, we might say, and that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. Look at that. We know how we're to live as far as our citizenship is concerned. We know how we're to live as far as our neighbor is concerned. And we know that with that in mind, knowing the time and being mindful of the fact that the Lord could come soon, we're to awake out of sleep. And it says, for now is our salvation, our final, complete salvation, nearer than when we believe. It's closer to us now than the moment we believe. What does it mean, our salvation? You say, well, I thought the Bible teaches that we are already saved. We are. The Bible teaches and speaks of salvation in the past tense, in the present tense, and in the future tense. Who hath saved us? Paul tells Timothy, speaking of the Lord. Who hath saved us? That's past tense, isn't it? And then we speak of being saved. That's a process that's going on now. We're being saved from the powers of sin day by day. We're gradually being saved from those things. But then we shall be saved. Our salvation is nearer, our complete, final salvation. That is when it has to do with our whole being, our body. When Christ comes, and the dead in Christ rise, and the living believers are changed, and His coming is nearer than when we believe, Our soul was saved when we believed. Our life is being saved day by day. And finally, our whole being, our body and soul and spirit, everything will be completely brought to salvation, that final conclusion, when the Lord comes. And so it's nearer then than when we believed. So he tells us to be mindful then of the time, knowing the time. The time of the Lord's coming could be any time. And he tells us in verse 12 that it may be nearer than we think because he says, The night is far spent, the day is at hand. The night is nearly gone, the night of this world's darkness, and the day of Christ's coming, the day of Christ's return is at hand. And he says, Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, the darkness of this world, and let us put on the armor of light." In other words, it's encouragement then, isn't it? To look for and watch for the return of Christ. Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. So we need to cut off the works of darkness. What are the works of darkness? The works of Satan, the works of the evil of this world. And as a Christian, we are to put them off. He tells us several things we are to put away, to put off. But he tells us what we are to put on, too. Put on the armor of light. We know we have a Christian armor to wear, and this is armor of light, too. If you read Ephesians chapter 6, you'll find there Paul speaks of the Christian armor, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, the breastplate of righteousness. He goes on to tell us all the parts of the Christian armor and warfare. But here, it's the armor of light, as children of light in this world. We have something besides those symbolical weapons over there. We have, as a Christian, we're to be the light of the world. Jesus says, You're the light of the world. Paul tells the Philippians, he said that they are to do all things without murmurings and disputings. in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world." You see, a Christian, you and I, and we need to learn this for we many times complain and grumble about things which we should not. And if we could learn not to complain, if we could learn not to murmur, and as Paul says, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, they'd see that even though we may have reason to, a lot of times we feel like we have reason to complain, don't we? And we have reason to murmur. But he says, do all things without murmurings and disputing in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation. How are we going to be an influence if we're not a light? He says, "...among whom ye shine as lights in the world." We're going to have to be different and rise above the normal standard and level of ordinary men to show that even though things are bad for us maybe, and we might justify ourselves in complaining to them and murmuring and saying, well, we had this happen and that and the other. But if we're going to rise above that, we have to shine in the midst of them as lights in the world and say, well, in spite of all this, the Lord has been with me, he's been good to me, he's given me life and health and strength and salvation, and even though I have certain things happen, I'm still far better off than I would be had not God blessed me and taken care of me. See, our attitude comes out. And then he says in verse 13, let us walk honestly as in the day. You know, if you have nothing to hide, you can walk in the light. Walk honestly as in the day. If we'll keep our lives as they ought to be, and we have nothing to hide, if we walk, there's a marginal reference for the word honestly here, and it says decently. Let us walk decently. And if we do that, we can walk in the day. We don't have nothing to hide. You know, sometimes you're accused of things that you're not guilty of, and most of us have been from time to time. And if you can truly say, I'm not guilty, I haven't done it, then you're walking decently, you're walking honestly. It's only when that someone can say that we've done certain things and we're guilty of it that it's bad, isn't it? It's actually the truth. But if it's not true, well, then it's walking honestly. And it says, not in rioting and drunkenness, certainly a Christian should not walk in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, that's wickedness and evil, not in strife and envy. These are things not to do. Certainly a Christian is not to do these things. He's not to live that kind of life. He tells us to put off all these things, cast off all these works of darkness. See, it tells us here what we're to put off, and then it says in verse 14 what we're to put on. But put ye on, put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. We are not to make provision for evil things and for wicked things and for fulfilling the lust of the flesh. But we are to put on, rather, the Lord Jesus Christ. How would we put on the Lord Jesus Christ? Put on Him as a new man, as a new creature in Christ Jesus, and put on His life, put his life into our life, and put Christ's life into our living and into our being and into our doing and into our principles, into our practices, into our faith, and put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, live more like him and do like he would have us to do with a full surrendered heart and soul and mind. So you have the believer and the laws of the land, the believer and his neighbor. and then the believer watching and looking for the return of Christ. John says now, 1 John 3, verse 3, he says, And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. And that hope was the hope of the second coming of Christ. He said, if you read 1 John 3, verses 1-3, says, Beloved, now are we the sons of God. It does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. We are waiting for the appearing of Christ. And it says, And every man," here's a continuation, "...that hath this hope in him purify themself, even as he is pure." In other words, put you on the Lord Jesus Christ.