So again, today's scripture reading is from Romans 13, verses one and two. This is the word of God. Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. Would you please pray with me? Our Father, we're so grateful for the ministry of the church, we're so grateful for the Lord Jesus Christ, and our hope is in Him fully and only, and we're so thankful for that. We live in confusing times, Father. We need the clarity of your word this morning as much as ever, and we need the power Holy Spirit which we pray for in Jesus' name to convict us where we need to be convicted, to repent where we need to repent, to be comforted where we need to be comforted, and to be transformed into the image of the Lord Jesus for His name's sake. Amen. Please be seated. If you paid attention to surveys about religious affiliation in America over the last several years, you've noticed a sharp increase in the nuns, the N-O-N-E-S, those who say they have no religious affiliation whatsoever. Another thing you may have noticed during this same period, especially recently, is that the political debate in America has intensified. This is not a coincidence, because national politics in many ways has replaced religion. We used to have spirited debates in this country about theological topics, but today, even within the church, unfortunately, it seems the most intense debates are political, and even some of the most passionate conferences or conventions are also political. One so-called church doesn't care if you deny the Trinity, but don't support a candidate that will cut funding to their favorite program. Another so-called church isn't concerned if Jesus was resurrected physically or not, but any talk about limiting their American right to bear arms is heresy. As one writer says, Despite the decline of religious belief, American faith, as it turns out, is as fervent as ever. It's just that what was once religious belief has now been channeled into political belief. How are we as Christians to engage in these matters? As we've seen in Romans, those of us who are in Christ have been justified by God through the blood of Christ. We now live as exiles, sojourners, according to a new Lord and Master. But how do we live as citizens of heaven while also dwelling as citizens of our own country? Today we come to chapter 13 of Romans where Paul tells us our obligation in these matters. And your outline, as was mentioned, reflects these. Our obligation to earthly government, our obligation to others, and our obligation to ourselves. So let's look again at the Lord's Word. In verse one, submit to the government. I'll read from one through verse seven. Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment, for rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain, for he is the servant of God, an avenger, who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore, one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath, but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them, taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. At the end of the previous chapter 12, we read that as if possible, As far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God. That leads right into Paul's instruction here that every person is to be subject to the governing authorities. People have struggled over the centuries with interpreting this passage, not because of how unclear it is, but because of how clear it is. Everyone must be subject to, submit to, subordinate yourselves to the governing authorities because those authorities have been established by God. Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that God is sovereign over every nation and he appoints whom he wishes. And he's not only appointed them, but entrusted them to an important role of maintaining order in society. This is a good thing. And we see here the reason God's established this authority has to do with good and evil. And we'll talk more about that later. But the authority he's entrusted is to avenge evil on God's behalf, thereby encouraging good conduct, not bad. Civil authorities mete out punishment on God's behalf. Paul references bearing the sword, which means they have coercive power, including capital punishment, the power to put people to death. Paul says it's not in vain that they have that role. It's established by God. Back in Genesis, we see God's covenant with Noah for protecting the dignity of human life. This covenant is different than God's covenants with the faith community, like the covenant with Abraham, Moses, David, and of course the new covenant in Christ. All of those covenants were with the people of God. The covenant with Noah, however, encompasses all people. And scholars have noted that in many ways it is the basis for God's purpose in government. I found this insight very helpful. We see in Noah's covenant a concern about protecting human life in terms of a system of justice and fostering a healthy environment for families to reproduce and thrive. This is the baseline for civilization and how societies can flourish. That's why they carry the sword. Both the government or state and the church, God's people, they're both under God. But despite both being under God, the state and the church have distinctly different roles. And we'll talk more about that later. Now, Paul is speaking here. to the divine ideal, which is, of course, not always the human reality. The fact that they're established by God doesn't mean that the person in that authority position is selected by God because of what a good leader they are. Whether it's Nebuchadnezzar over Babylon, or Pilate in Judea, or Nero in Rome, or Hitler in Germany, or our leaders today. They're not appointed by God because of their character being consistent with His. But they are appointed and entrusted with this authority. Jesus said to Pilate, you would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given from above. Jesus was acknowledging Pilate's God-given authority. So when the government leaders misuse authority, it's still given by God. So our submission has nothing to do with the governing authority personally. I'm sure Paul did not see eye to eye with the emperor on any number of things. But they are established by God as a ruler of the state. So we must submit to them as unto the Lord, as the authority that God established and entrusted. And this order in society is something that God purposed for government to maintain, even when they do it imperfectly. Even extremely flawed governments, where there's tyranny, for instance, even that is better than anarchy. That is to say, even really bad government is better than no government. Because when you have anarchy or no government, the bad guys and the bullies will always be in control. It's like the Lord of the Flies, if you've read that book. At least under bad leadership, there can still be order. With no leadership or government, there's only disorder and chaos, and no one can flourish in that kind of environment. So God's designed for government to execute justice and to keep order and peace to provide for human flourishing. For this reason, the governing authority is even called God's servant. in verse 4. So undermining or subverting the authorities is resisting something that God has appointed for our good and will be judged by God. That's one reason we submit, Paul says, to avoid the wrath of God. The second reason, he says, is for conscience sake. You submit, not just to avoid punishment, but because it's the right thing to do. Society depends on the order that governing authorities provide by punishing evil. Then in verse six, Paul lists some other examples of obligations that fall under this submission. As Jesus said, Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, taxes, revenue or fees, respect, honor. Now, this purpose for government, keeping order in a sinful world is a purpose that will expire one day. God's covenant with Noah will not be relevant in the new age. Its purpose is here and now. So live as good, submissive citizens, Paul says. Now, notice we're to honor, respect, and submit. He doesn't say obey, and that's important. This is not an unqualified obedience demanded here. We see the same thing in 1 Peter. Whether it's government, whether it's our employer, husbands, fathers, elders, we submit to the human authority as unto the Lord. The only unqualified obedience is to God and His Word. If we're ever commanded to do something that God forbids or prohibited from doing something that God commands in any of these authority contexts, we must obey God rather than men. Remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said, we will not bow. But notice they didn't revolt or lead a rebellion against the government. They simply said, come what may, in terms of punishment, we cannot obey you. We're willing to suffer. We're not gonna obey. Same thing in Acts. The apostles said, punish us if you will, but we must obey God rather than men. And again, they didn't revolt. They were flogged, persecuted, and then rejoiced that they were counted worthy to be persecuted and suffer for the name of Jesus. Both examples are really instructive, I think. Submission, but not unqualified obedience and a willingness to suffer. So we must obey God rather than men, but let's be really clear. We should never disobey on issues of our own preferences, but only those things that would demand breaking our allegiance to God in his clear word. Let's face it, many of the things that we chafe at in America have very little to do with biblical commands. The main point is this. Christians are not to be subversive in society, causing problems. We're not to be leading rebellions. Our obligation is to submit because it reinforces God's purpose in the state's role, which is peace and order in society, creating an environment where everyone benefits. including the ministry of the church. So that's our obligation to the governing authorities. What about to one another? Let's look at number two in your outline. Our obligation is to love others. Let's start reading in verse eight together. Owe no one anything. except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet, and any other commandments are summed up in this word. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor, therefore love is fulfilling the law. So, first, I'll just note, some have misunderstood what Paul says in verse eight, owe no one anything, to think that it's wrong to take out loans. That's not what this means. It doesn't mean we can't incur debt or take out a loan. What it means is that when you have a loan payment due, you should pay it. Pay your mortgage payment when you owe it. Don't leave anything outstanding. Not the same, however, with love for one another. Because that is always owed. You can never stop loving someone and say, I've loved enough. Note the state operates according to justice. The Christians in the church operate according to love. And when we love one another, note that this action fulfills the law. Isn't that interesting? Paul has referenced the law a number of times, hasn't he, throughout the letter. We saw in chapter six that Christians are not under the law as a covenant, like the Jews were in the old covenant. But that doesn't mean you live however you want. No, this is how you fulfill the law as a Christian, by loving others as yourself. In verse nine, Paul quotes many of the 10 commandments, and then he adds, and any other commandment. Wow, that's comprehensive. They're all summed up in this, loving your neighbor, Because if you love the other person, you'll always act according to what's best for them. By the Holy Spirit's power now, we will naturally fulfill the intention behind the law. You don't need specific commandments for every possible scenario in life. Love the other person is your guide. And that love is fueled by Christ's love shown you on the cross. We've been bought by the blood of Christ and owe him everything, don't we? And we discharge that payment, in a sense, through our debt of love to one another. That's our obligation to each other. Now the final obligation to ourselves, number three, clothe yourself with Christ. Start reading in verse 11. Besides this, you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake up from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone, the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires. In this period of history, there was no artificial lighting as there is today, so you're up with the sun. Most of the work was done before the heat of the afternoon. Only the laziest would still be in bed after sunrise. I think many of our kids would have a hard time in that culture. It's daybreak, you're up. That's the image Paul conveys. Don't be lying in bed, let's get going. The key events in God's end times calendar are in the past now. The next big thing to happen is Christ's return. The day is at hand. Don't be living in the darkness. Let's be ready. Remember Jesus' parable, the 10 bridesmaids. Some weren't ready. They weren't living as if the bridegroom was really coming. They were living as if his coming wasn't true and they weren't ready. Jesus is coming back. Don't be caught living as if that's not true. Wake up. A few summers ago, you might remember, there was gonna be a big jet flyover that everyone was talking about. Well, of course I wanted to see that. So I waited outside. But after waiting for a bit, I got distracted. I decided I'm not sure if this is really gonna happen after all. I have other things to do. So I put in my headphones and went on a walk. Well, I was walking by a friend's house a few neighborhoods over, and he yells down from his roof, did you see it? Well, I missed it. He was ready. Got on his roof, anticipating with the best view possible. I, on the other hand, got tired of waiting, and my priorities demonstrated that despite what I claimed, yeah, I want to see it, I wasn't really into it. It wasn't a priority for me. Don't be like that with the kingdom. Don't be like that with Christ's return. Don't be distracted. Be ready. Make it a daily priority. Don't live according to the sinful nature. These works of darkness, Paul calls them, sexual perversions, drunkenness, quarreling, jealousy. Put on the armor of light. Put on Jesus Christ instead. Another way to say it, be clothed in Christ. We saw in chapter six as a result of our immersion into Christ and his death and resurrection by faith, we've been united with Christ. Let me just pause to say if this is new to you, regardless of where you are in your spiritual journey today, you need to be clothed in Christ. This entire message today, this entire chapter is for believers only. If you've not put your trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins in his death and resurrection, then you're still living in the darkness. You may feel like you're living in darkness, you may not feel like it, but either way it's true. And you need to be saved from this judgment to come. The kingdom's at hand. This could happen at any time and you're not ready. Your relationship with Christ is established at that moment of conversion. when you put your trust in Him. Yet, this reality constantly needs to be reappropriated, lived out, put on. This is classic Paul in his theology, where he commands something of the Christian based on something that's already true about the Christian. I thought I was clothed in Christ. Well, you are. Well, why do I need to put them on then? Well, you do. We must constantly be embracing this identity in Christ that makes us want to live according to His character and the fruit of the Spirit in all we think, all we do, and all we say. So wake up and walk in the light. Now with the remainder of our time, I wanna think together practically about how to live wisely as a dual citizen. As Christians, our primary citizenship, of course, is in heaven, as Paul says elsewhere, and we're exiles here, as Peter says. But as the Romans were also citizens of Rome, we are also citizens of our own country. Paul has very clear instruction as it relates to submission to human government. And I wanna, in this application section in the outline, I have a what, a how, a why, and a when to hopefully help us think through this. And I wanna mention too, especially for this first point, this is a huge topic in biblical studies right now. And there are great resources that I'm drawing on. I'm not gonna cite them throughout. But I just want you to note that very little of what I'm saying here are insights that are original to me. So I'm happy to recommend some resources if you wanna study this further. So first of all, the what. Do not confuse the church and the state. We saw earlier both the church and the state are under God, and they're instituted by God, but they have different purposes and jurisdictions. And it's important, really important to understand and remember those. One key distinction we saw in verse four is that the state bears the sword, the church does not. And a quick survey of history demonstrates that really bad things happen when you blend those two roles. Not only in history though, but also in the future. If you read Revelation 13, the two beasts are the false state and the false church, a bad blending. I mentioned earlier we see the origin of God's purpose for the state, I think this is a great argument, in Genesis 9, after the flood, God's covenant with Noah. Unlike the other covenants for the people of God which inform our worship, The covenant with Noah is not about proper worship or even things toward God. It has to do with justice as it relates to one another, our fellow man. When we look at God's instruction to the nations in the Old Testament, we see something similar. Now just to be very clear, because there's confusion today, especially in America in some circles. When we look for instruction in the Bible about the state today, national government, don't look at Israel in the Old Testament. They had a special covenant relationship with God as a nation. The United States of America does not. Neither our country nor any other country is a new Israel. We as a nation cannot claim promises in the Old Testament made to the nation of Israel. We should not think that God looks upon the USA the way he used to look upon the nation of Israel. That will lead to a devastating blending of church and state roles. What we should look at in the Old Testament as it relates to the state are the many nations God did instruct in their role as a nation state. And what we find is that God punishes nations for three categories of things. First, violence and hurting people. A couple years ago, we studied the prophecy of Amos as a church, and it was clear, wasn't it, that God held foreign nations accountable. Okay, treating human beings in an oppressive, unjust way, some horrible things they were doing to those made in the image of God. And this wasn't just for the way they, this is the way they treated any human being, not just the Israelites. We certainly have our own black eye, of course, as a nation during the antebellum period in particular, as it relates to the slave trade. The second category where God punishes nations is when a leader exalted himself to a place that only God belongs. You don't want that kind of a leader. Thirdly, they were punished for how they treated his own people. Think of Pharaoh in Egypt as an example of violating all three of these categories. Okay, now, what God never does with these nations is to give them a priestly type of role, where they're to teach about who the Lord is. and to enforce the religion of Israel. He never does that. That's not the role of the state. So if we think about the good and bad conduct, Paul alludes to in verses three through five, we have to remember the context is the state, not the church. Lehman uses an example of a school teacher. When you come into a classroom context, And they say, hey, we want to reward the good and punish the bad. You know what they mean, because you're in the classroom context. The good are not those kids who are evangelizing and planting churches. The good in the classroom is respecting the teacher and not bothering the other kids. The bad is disturbing the other kids, not respecting the authority of the teacher, and ruining the learning environment. In the context of the state, The good is following law and order. It's not sharing the gospel or planting a church. Those are great things in another context. Rather, it's the good and bad in the domain of the state. Paying your taxes, following the laws to preserve order and peace in society. Respecting the lives of others created in the image of God. Treating them with dignity. Respecting the freedom of religion. We don't look to the state to enforce Christianity. That's a blending of these two spheres under God. Mike Bird says this, beware of people who want to Caesarize Jesus or Christify Caesar. In other words, beware of people and movements that wanna transform Jesus into a political figure and beware of those who wanna transform the state or president into a Messiah figure that's going to fight for the church. Both ideas are damaging to the church in different ways. One turns the church into a social program and policy driver, losing the gospel, perhaps a greater risk for the political left. The other turns the state into a power broker for the interests of the church, perhaps a greater risk for the political right. We want to recognize the God-ordained role for both the state and the church, and not mix them. Now, some might say, Lars, I get it, I know the church and state are different, but we want America to be a Christian nation. And if you mean by that we want to have as many Christians as possible in our nation, that's great, yeah, because that would mean the church is doing its job. And people in the nation are coming to Jesus as Lord and living according to the kingdom principles he's given in his word. That's what we want, that's what we pray for. But a nation itself, the state, can't be Christian. That's putting the name of Christ where it doesn't belong. In a sense, it's a violation of the third commandment, using the name of God in an unholy way. Lehman notes that in Deuteronomy, God instructs the Israelites when they invade the land of Canaan, they're to remove the names of the foreign gods of the temple, replacing them with his name, the Lord's name. It's like when an army captures a stronghold and they switch the flags, right? Replacing the name is showing allegiance to the true God. We see throughout the Old Testament, His name is on Israel. The prophets say over and over, for the sake of my holy name. God's name is a big deal in the Old Testament, and it's a big deal in the New Testament, but we find something different there. Jesus says, gather in my name, baptize in the name. In Acts, we see the apostles were reprimanded and punished for preaching in this name, and they were thankful to suffer for the name. Christ and the apostles are very careful to reserve the name for the church, his people. His name's not on a nation. That would be putting Christ's holy name on the profane. So we don't want a nation to be identified with Christianity to protect the name, but we do want our nation to be influenced by Christianity. That's a key distinction, which brings us to the how. Be informed by scripture, not a political tribe. This idea that you need to keep your Christianity private and not take it into the public square is ridiculous. Everyone else is bringing their gods into the public square, and so should we. And we're fortunate to live in a country where historically at least laws are established by ballots and not bullets. And we pray that that continues because we thankfully have order and peace, which is God's purpose for government. So we should use our influence to make good arguments, persuade people toward good laws, laws that preserve order and peace, laws that uphold the dignity of human life, laws that protect religious freedom and provide an environment for any to flourish. We should speak up like everybody else. But we can't be subversive or coercive in how we do that. And yes, I understand it's a double standard. Others will try to force their religion on you. They will use coercion. We see this very clearly during so-called Pride Month. If there is a national religion today, that's probably it. They have many special holy days on the calendar. They have saints that they lionize and worship. They have creeds and confessions. And they will use coercion to force confession of these creeds. And yes, Christians must obey God rather than men. We can't operate in the same way. We cannot coerce people. We cannot force people to bow the knee to Jesus. If there was ever a religion that cannot use political power to enforce its beliefs, it's ours. We need to remember, as seductive as it is, political power is best described in the book of Revelation as the maddening wine of Babylon's adultery. Political power is intoxicating, and it leads to unfaithfulness. in our allegiance to Jesus. We start saying things and doing things contrary to his word because of our compromising adultery with political power. Political power and coercion is not the way of Jesus and his church. Jesus said to Pilate that his kingdom is not of this world. Now that statement is frequently misunderstood to mean that his kingdom has nothing to do with this world. That couldn't be farther from the truth. Jesus' kingdom has everything to do with this world. What Jesus means is that his kingdom is not from this world. His kingdom does not originate in the world's system. His kingdom does not operate like worldly kingdoms using political power and coercion. So let's make sure the Bible's informing our actions and our decisions. Let's make sure scripture is informing what we're passionate about when our Burundi brother Shadrach preached to us a few weeks ago, I hope you noticed how susceptible he can see that we are to the idolatry of political power. It's easy to see from outside of our culture, brothers and sisters, just like it's easy for us to spot the witchcraft and polygamy being issues in the church in Burundi. We're mystified. Well, they look at our blind spots the same way. Some of the things energizing professing evangelicals today are not even driven by scripture, but by a political tribe. And this can happen to any of us. We get caught up in social media, cable news, political messaging which just feeds on anger and fear. And if we're not careful, We can start repeating things and be known for being outspoken about things not driven by a careful study of the Bible, but more about American rights or some other political platform. Here's some good counsel that's helped me personally, because listen, I know these things going on today can make us angry and fearful. And make no mistake, that's how they mobilize voters, anger and fear. Here's good counsel from James. Be quick to listen. Slow to speak, slow to become angry. When you see something on the news, be slow to speak. Pause, pray, read his word, think about it. If I can't support my opinion on that issue that I feel so passionately about, if I can't support that with clear scripture, that's a red flag. Be slow to speak. Don't mindlessly repeat talking points. Think through. What's the biblical basis for this opinion? Can I articulate that? Or am I slowly compromising? Do I need to be transformed by the renewing of my mind with his word? At a minimum, this wisdom from James helps me slow down and not speak in the flesh, but the spirit. Patrick Schreiner, notes that we all have a tendency to imagine Jesus is on our side of whatever political issue. Jesus would rebel against that, I know he would. He wouldn't submit to the government in this. When we do that, we create a political Jesus in our own image. We manufacture a Jesus to match all the same policy views we have. Let's look to the scripture for how we operate as a dual citizen. and seek peace and order so that we can do our job as a church, which brings us to the why. Seek peaceful order for the sake of gospel love. Listen carefully to what Paul says in 1 Timothy 2. First of all then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions. Why, Paul? Why would we do that? Why should we pray for government leaders? So that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. Did you hear that? In order for the church to do its job, preaching the gospel so that people are saved, that's what God desires, in order to do that, we need to have peace. That's why we pray for government leaders. And note, he says, so that we may live peaceful and quiet lives, godly and dignified. We shouldn't be causing problems, drawing attention to ourselves, disrupting things. Jesus doesn't preach, blessed are the troublemakers, those who revolt in mutiny. No, he says, blessed are the peacemakers and those who are persecuted. His kingdom is for the weak, those who promote peace and are willing to suffer. We should be peaceful and quiet as good citizens so that the church can do its work. We pray because the state has a role in this, and it's an important role. but it's not to promote the Christian message. That's the church's job. Lehman uses the analogy of a babysitter versus a parent. The parent of a child has comprehensive responsibility, including spiritually discipling the child. The babysitter has a narrower responsibility. Just keep the child out of danger. Make sure they're fed and go to bed. In a similar way, the state has a narrower responsibility in the Noahic covenant. Just protect life, keep order and justice, providing freedom for everyone to flourish. Thielman says it this way, God's gift of good government then is not intended merely as a blessing for his own people. but as a means of creating a well-ordered society in which the church can freely and lovingly live out its witness to the transforming power of the gospel. Unfortunately, the perception of many Christians in America today is not that we live peaceful and quiet lives of submission. The perception is that Christians want control. They want political power and perhaps will even rebel if they don't get their way, certainly not willing to be persecuted or suffer. But think about our mission, brothers and sisters. Think about what we're doing here. We're calling everyone to submit their entire lives to the Lord Jesus Christ. We're calling on them to take their deepest desires, deny them, repent, and follow Jesus. We have zero credibility in that message if we're unwilling to submit to our own civil authorities because our desires may not be met or we might have to suffer. But we can have such confidence, brothers and sisters, in the sovereignty of Christ and his future kingdom that we show by our submission and suffering that anything is worth having Jesus. We don't need to be in control of the government. We don't need Caesar to be a Christian for us to be comfortable because we have Jesus as Lord. McAlpine says this, we can take our place in politics without fear or favor, trusting the outcome to the son of man before whom all political leaders will one day take the knee. We can lose graciously in politics because history isn't riding on the outcome of an election. We know we're on the right side if you've bowed the knee to the resurrected Lord. Not because we're right, but because He is. As we see in Hebrews 12, we're not building a kingdom, we're receiving one. One day His will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven. And on that day, we, his saints, will reign with him forever. Because that's true, there's such freedom to be had to serve faithfully now. Because listen, spiritual darkness does not have a political party. It exists everywhere. And it's our job to bring the light of gospel love and all its implications everywhere we can. That's the why. Finally this morning, The when. Wake up, the time has come. Do you know what time it is? We need to get out of bed because the kingdom is coming and we have a mission for this kingdom right now. I wanna be really practical and I just pray the Holy Spirit applies this to you as I did before I started my message. Remember me? If this is relevant, I can't see your hearts but the Lord can. We need to wake up, not for political action, not to quarrel with people on social media. We need to wake up to our obligations as citizens of heaven. Paul ends this section by instructing us to make no provision for the sinful nature. What does that mean? When you go on a trip, you make a provision, right? You bring extra water in case you need it, You leave extra room in your bag in case you wanna bring something back. Paul says, don't plan for maybe sinning. Don't leave any room in case you have an opportunity to sin. Make no provision for it. I wanna focus on one area in particular. Tim Challies recently wrote about the impact of media, both cable television and social media, today on these works of darkness. in verse 13, namely sexual immorality, jealousy, and quarreling. Let me just lean in on those three. The divorce rate directly tied to adulterers connecting on social media is well documented, not to mention slavery to pornography that incapacitates young men in particular. The discontent and depression because of the jealousy exacerbated by social media is also well documented for young women in particular. The incessant quarreling about political matters on social media by those who claim to be Christians is embarrassing to be kind. Make no provision. Don't put yourself in situations in case you engage in these works of darkness. That's what they are, Paul says. If you can't consume media, television, movies, or social media, without being tempted sexually, if you can't be on social media without being jealous of others, if you can't be on social media without quarreling about politics, please, Stay off of it. Please, turn it off. Make no provision for this wickedness. We don't have time for this darkness, Paul says. We need to be ready for the kingdom. Consider how you can replace these things, these energies, this time, with expressing practical love to others, fulfilling the law. We need your love in action here at Orchard. Discharging our debt to one another. And we're so thankful for many of you who lead the way and show us great examples in this. A life of serving others by the Holy Spirit. Impacting real people in your church family, not random people on the internet. This is why God made you. This is why He called you. This is why He saved you, so that you could walk in the light and live a transformed life, doing good to others for the glory of His name. The hour has come, brothers and sisters, for us to wake up. Would you please stand as we close? Our Father, we're so grateful for what we heard at the very beginning of our service. Our only hope is in Jesus. We're so thankful for Him. We're thankful for saving us. I pray for those here who do not know Him. I pray that they would bow the knee to Him, not out of coercion from me, but by the Holy Spirit's leading, that they might realize He's the only hope. Political power does not deliver, nor anything else in this world. Only Jesus delivers, and He delivers eternal life for all who turn to Him. Lord, give us wisdom in these things. These are difficult times for us as Christians in America. Just pray that you'd guide us, direct us by your word and your Holy Spirit's power, not something else. For Jesus' sake, amen.