(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Now I'm not going to say it's always been the easiest. There's been some difficulties. But we've been able to get a lot of people saved the last year. You know what? There's other parts of the world where good luck with that. I mean, in North Korea, you're not even able to listen to the Word of God being preached. And technically they have Christian churches there. But what they do is they have people from the government that watch everything that's said. And basically they make sure that you're not saying anything they disagree with. And pretty much I think it's like Nebuchadnezzar. I think you pretty much have to bow down before that idol pretty much every day. And if you refuse to do that, well, we're not going to let you meet for church. Right? Because you're fighting against the government. Praise the Lord we don't live in a government like that. We're able to preach the gospel and get people saved. And you know what? Honestly, we just don't have that many restrictions. And we ought to thank God for the freedom we do have. Okay? Point number one, there is an authority structure. And point number two, when you live under an authority structure, you are expected to obey that authority. Romans 13, verse 2. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God. And they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. Now, look, I don't believe this is saying that if you resist you're going to go to hell. But I think it's saying you're going to get God's judgment in this life. Okay? You're going to go through struggles because of the fact you're expected to obey. I'm not going to obey this law. Okay? If you want to pay a 10,000 peso fine, go for it. If that's how you want to live your whole life, it's just like, well, this is their law, but I don't agree. I think it should be like this, so I'm willingly going to disobey. Okay? Just get ready to pay a lot of fines. Get ready to have a really difficult life. Or you could just do what they say. Right? The government says the speed limit's 60 miles per hour. I don't know miles to kilometers in my head. 60 miles per hour. That's what we say in the U.S. 60 miles. And then you say, well, I think it should be 65, so I'm going to drive 65. It's like, okay, if you want to get a ticket and pay for it. Or you could just realize you live under an authority and you don't make the rules and you're supposed to just obey them. That's what the Bible teaches. Now, turn in your Bible to Ephesians 6. Ephesians 6. Ephesians chapter 6. Ephesians 6. Ephesians chapter 6. Look, it's fun when you're a preacher to always preach the sermons you know everybody's going to like. Right? But if you're preaching verse by verse, you're not really able to do that. You've got to just preach what the Bible says. Or just avoid all the verses. But honestly, I don't really think Romans 13 is that confusing. We're expected to obey unless the government asks us to sin, unless authority asks you to sin. It's just people don't like that. That's the reason why they... And let me explain something to you. Here's what you're saying that I've never disobeyed. Brother Stuckey, have you ever gotten a speeding ticket? Yes, I have. But here's what I am saying. I should have just been going the correct speed limit. And we're going to see later on why that's actually true. You know, here later on in the passage. This is what the Bible teaches. Ephesians 6 verse 5. One of the examples is servants with masters. Servants be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling and singleness of your heart as unto Christ. So look, if you have a master, you should really be able to realize it's as if you're serving God. Because God's the one who set up this system. And if you have a boss at work, so to speak, you're expected to obey the boss. Right? If they say you're required to wear a red shirt at work... This is not red. I get that. Okay? If you're required to wear a bluish light blue shirt at work, just wear a light blue shirt. There's no reason to fight against that. If the government says that tomorrow everybody should wear a red shirt, I'm going to wear a red shirt. Now, if the government said, wear a red shirt in honor of something, you know, with Mary, well, then I'll probably just not go outside. Right? Because I don't want to wear a red shirt and pretend like I'm agreeing with the Catholic Church. There'd be an example where I would feel my conscience, I would feel guilty as if I'm going along with the program. Or if the government says we're requiring everybody to wear a rainbow shirt, it's like, that ain't happening. Right? It's like, I'm not going to go along with that program. So here's the thing. There are going to be some gray area situations where you're in a difficult situation. But if the government asks you just to wear a red shirt because they want you to wear a red... Wear a red shirt in honor of people that died in such and such war. Just wear a red shirt. Right? It's not worth fighting on. Okay? It's not worth getting into an argument on something silly. It's not with eye service as men pleasers, but as the servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart. What it means as men pleasers or with eye service is people that would work hard when the boss sees them, but when the cat's away, the mice will play. Right? It's like, you got people at an office, and then when the boss is around, it's like, and they're answering calls and everything like that. The boss is gone for the day, outside smoking, taking six smoke breaks a day. And look, I've worked at an office before. This is reality. This is what people do. I've had times when I worked in my office, we had the defined benefit and the defined contribution side. The defined benefit is all math. The defined contribution is basically answering calls and organizing something. We had like eight people in the defined benefit section and like 25 in the defined contribution section. If the phone calls aren't answered, they get bounced around until somebody answers it. And then sometimes I would be taking calls, and I'm just thinking, my job is to be on Microsoft Teams, my job is to be on Microsoft Excel all day, my job is to do math and make sure the numbers check out, and then, you know, I'd be answering phone calls of stuff I don't even know what it's about. Why? Well, the cat was away, and the mice did play, right? And they're just outside smoking and getting paid to smoke cigarettes. It's like, okay, you're getting paid to destroy your health. Go for it. Okay? But this is reality. This is what takes place. This is reality because nobody notices. Here's the problem. Promotion cometh from the Lord, the Bible says. And God sees every single thing that you do. Verse 7. With good will doing service, ask the Lord and not to mend, knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. So the Bible says, you know what, you're supposed to obey and do what's right, and God's the one who sees and notices. Go to Daniel 3. This is the way it works when you have a boss. Okay? Now, I meant to mention this a couple weeks ago, but my sermon ran long, and, you know, Brother Ehrman's actually been working for our church since January. And I meant to mention that a couple weeks ago, but we had a lot of work to do. We were really busy. If you've noticed, he's obviously been volunteering a lot and doing a lot of stuff. He's actually been working full time for us in January, and he's probably going to be bouncing back into his career here soon and everything. But when you have an employee, you expect them to just, you give them assignments, and they do them. And you know what? When I give Brother Ehrman assignments, it's like I don't have to check in 20 times a day. It's just like he just gets the job done, and then he'll just message me back exactly what I asked for. And that's the way it works, right? I just wanted to mention that, because, you know, next week, we're going to be doing the soul-winning in Pampanga, so he's going to be in charge next week for the soul-winning marathon, you know, for several days and everything like that. But this is the way it works when you have a boss. If your boss gives you instructions, you're expected to obey what they say and just do what they say, even if you don't always agree with them. Look, my old job when I worked on Microsoft Excel, sometimes my boss would give me assignments, and he's like, you know, he'd want me to do things a certain way. I didn't necessarily always agree with him, but I just did what he said. When I use Microsoft Excel, I always use borders. I think it just lines up and looks better. And I remember doing that, and he's like, yeah, he's like, I don't like it. Just remove all the lines. All right, well, he's the boss. It's like, well, I don't agree with you. I'm going to keep the lines in there to prove a point. Okay, well, I'll get fired then. It's like, what's the point of doing that? Just obey what the boss says. It's the same thing with government. If the government asks you to do something, you just obey it unless they're asking you to do wrong. Daniel 3 is an example. Daniel 3 is an example where the government asks people to do wrong and to sin. Okay, Daniel 3, verse 10. Daniel 3, verse 10. So they are required to bow down before an idol and worship that idol or they're going to be killed. That's what they're told. Now, we are fortunate to live under a government where we do not have some hardcore Catholic giving us these sorts of rules. Do you realize we could have a president one day who's a hardcore Catholic and says, you know what, on June 4th or whatever, we're going to pull out this Padre Pio statue and we want everybody bowing down before Padre Pio, right? We're going to pull out this statue of Mary and you're going to say, behold… You're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, 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you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, well, you're going to say, So it works you're expected to obey that authority. Turn in your Bible to Romans 13, Romans 13. Romans 13. See, there's a kingdom of God, and then there's the kingdom on earth, and here's the thing about this. We hope that the kingdom on earth and the kingdom of God don't come at odds with one another. And if the kingdom on earth comes in odds with the kingdom of God, we disobey the kingdom on earth, because they're asking us to commit sins. But hopefully the kingdom of God and the kingdom on earth will not come at odds with one another. And if they don't come at odds with one another, you just go along with those rules even if you don't like those rules, okay? That's what the Bible teaches. Point number one is God's authority structure. Point two is we're expected to obey, and point three is this. The government is good. The government is good. How dare you say the government's good? I'm just using the terminology of the Bible. Is that all right? The government's good. That's what the Bible teaches. Romans 13, verse 3. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the terror power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt I praise it the same. It's like, hey, if you just obey the rules, you don't have to worry, okay? Here's the thing. Romans 13 is not every single government that's ever existed. It's a general template on how a government's supposed to work. The government's meant to help and protect the people. And if you just obey what they say, you're not going to have any problems, okay? You could focus on laws you don't like or you disagree with, but almost every law in this country is actually a good law. It's actually not a bad law, okay? Notice what it says in verse 4. For he is the minister of God to thee for good. The government's good. He is the minister of God to thee for good, but if thou do that which is evil, be afraid. For he beareth not the sword in vain, for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. And the Bible says here the government's good, but if you disobey and you break their rules, then you know what? You're going to be judged for that. That's what the Bible teaches, okay? Verse 5, wherefore ye must needs be subject not only for wrath, not only because you can get judged, but also for conscience' sake. On the inside, you should want to obey what the authority says. You should feel guilty about breaking the laws of the government. You should feel guilty about going over the speed limit. As I said, I've gone over the speed limit before. I'm just saying that's what the Bible teaches, for conscience' sake. Go to Judges 17, Judges 17, Judges 17, Judges chapter 17. Here's the thing, I mean, if you're just trying to obey, the laws aren't really going to affect you that much. Do you understand what I'm saying? You know why I'm not against law? I mean, the big law that people criticize and they say, how dare the president say this, this is really terrible, is President Duterte's view on drugs, right? And worldwide they say it's so terrible and so oppressive, you know why it doesn't bother me? Because I don't do drugs. You know why it doesn't bother me? I'm not a drug dealer. And I'll be honest with you, when you're talking about mind-altering drugs, I think that's sorcery. That is the death penalty, according to the Bible. I think it falls under sorcery. And so I actually agree with that law, to be honest. But even if I didn't agree, it still wouldn't affect me, it still wouldn't bother me. In fact, it would help protect me from drug dealers. Why would I be upset about a law that's going to protect me from drug dealers? I mean, would I be upset if a law came out against child trafficking? No, I would rejoice. It's like, well, how dare the government give us rules? It's like, it doesn't affect me. Do you understand what I'm saying? Yeah, it's illegal to steal from a store. That doesn't affect me. I don't steal from stores. And look, just because the law is not identical to the law in the Bible doesn't mean it's a bad thing. Look, realize they weren't driving cars thousands of years ago. So the new laws they're coming up with, that's the reason why they had a system of judges. People that were spiritual interpreted the law for the modern-day situations as things change, okay? Cars were not available back then. But you know why I don't mind a law against driving over the speed limit? Because I'll be honest. When I'm on the road and somebody drives like a maniac, it's a danger to me and my family. Do you understand that? If somebody's driving twice the speed limit, it's dangerous for all of us. If there's a law against somebody driving drunk, you know what? That's good. You know why? Because it's dangerous. Have you ever been on the road and there's a car just weaving back and forth and everything and you're scared for your life because you don't know what way it's going to go because they're drunk? It's like, yeah, I like laws against people like that. You know why? Because that's dangerous for me. I don't drive drunk, okay? Those laws are not bad laws. And no, you're not going to find a verse that directly says this is the law, but they didn't have cars thousands of years ago. Those laws, and look, most laws in our country are actually helpful. Let me give you an example here in Judges 17 if there were no laws. Because some people want this anarchist government. Man, why can't we live where there's no rules and no authority? Well, first off, there's rules during the millennial reign of Christ, by the way. There's a lot of rules, okay? A lot of rules. In fact, there's a lot of rules in this book. There's a lot of rules that God says. Now, not all the things are punished with like a fine or death penalty or something like that, but there's a lot of rules, okay? Judges 17, verse 6, let's see an example if there are no rules. In those days, there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes. There's no king, there's no authority, what's the result? Everybody does that which is right in his own eyes. Whatever I want to do, whatever seems right, I'm going to do it. Go to Judges 21, Judges 21, Judges 21, Judges 21. Is that the world you want to live in? Where every wicked pervert and weirdo out there is able to do whatever they want without any sort of judgment? I mean, somebody wants to molest a little kid, there's no law against it. Is that the world you want to live in? It's like, good night, how are we going to protect these people from the Catholic church if there's no laws whatsoever? It's just like all these kids are going to get molested and, you know, hey, everybody does that which is right in his own eyes. That's great, freedom, right? What's not freedom if you're a Bible-believing Christian because we're put at harm because people are disobeying good laws, you understand? It's good to have some laws. Judges 21, verse 25, in those days there was no king in Israel. Every man did that which was right in his own eyes. You say, why do you highlight those two verses? Because dead smack in the middle of chapter 17 and chapter 21 is the most disturbing chapter in the entire Bible, right? Judges 19 makes Sodom and Gomorrah look like nothing. I mean, Judges 19 is like, what in the world kind of place is that? I mean, the Sodomites are out of control and then they murder, I mean, they gang rape and murder this woman. It's like, what in the world? And look, I mean, that's what Judges 19 is about and that's the word of God, right? You can read Judges 19 in your free time and then walk away and tell me that Vice Pong is such a nice guy. It's like, well, I'm sorry, but based on the authority of Genesis 19 and Judges 19 and Leviticus and Romans 1 and everything in the Bible, I would disagree on that statement. You know what? It's good that there's laws to protect us from people like that. And I remember several years ago we had the big protest in Sacramento, California, and we had 500 Sodomites plus just surrounding our church building, right? My wife and I were the very first two people from our church there that day. We got there like 6.30 in the morning, we're like, well, we're going to see what happens, right? It's like, we perish, we perish, right? And it's like, we were the first two people from our church there, but there was already 50 people outside that were ready, like 50, you know, protesters. And I'm not saying every single one was a Sodomite, because I'm sure there are people that are just friends of the Sodomites, but it was filled full of a majority of Sodomites just protesting our church building. Now, here's the thing about this. There was like 10,000 people committed to protest us, because this is California, but the Bible says Sodomites are covenant breakers, so, you know, they broke their covenant. They broke their promise. We will protest on Sunday morning, but, you know what, they're covenant breakers, so praise the Lord for that, right? And they're probably waking up from a hangover, because they're not exactly godly people. I remember, you know, we were there, and, you know what, there was like 40 policemen or something like that. Fifty policemen. This was a big thing in Sacramento. Here's the thing. We had a front and a back entrance to our building, and everybody was going through the back entrance. Now, here's the thing. All of the police were in the front. All of them. Every single one. Now, I was on crowd control, so I'm like one of like the 10 people from our church amidst like, you know, there's 50 per one, right, kind of scary, right? And secondly, I was determined to be the person who knew people that knew IFB more than anybody else so I could say who could be let in and who couldn't, right? So I'm on crowd duty, and I walked up to this policeman. All the policemen are in the front. Now, let me ask you a question. Let's say I walked up to the policeman and said, hey, you know what, you're not doing your job, blah, blah, and just yelled at him. Would that be a smart thing or a helpful thing to do? No, it wouldn't. You know what I said? I said, oh, hello, sir, I just wanted to thank you for being here to help. And look, a lot of policemen had rainbow bracelets on their arms. There's no question in the side of a lot of them, right? But I walked up to him very respectfully, and I said, hello, sir, I just wanted to thank you so much for helping us and everything, you know, we apologize about this whole situation. I just said, you know, I'm just kind of concerned because, you know, I noticed most of the police are right here in front, and I said, you know, if there ends up being like a problem in the crowd and everything, there's going to be nobody to defend us. And, you know, his answer to me was, well, just start telling people to come in through the front instead of the back, right? So basically he wasn't helping us. But here's my point. If I was very bastos to him, the police might have just left. You understand what I'm saying? It was more helpful just to be respectful, and look, as a church, we try to be respectful week after week even though we're dealing with this, even though every single Sunday you come in and all the homos are threatening to rape the kids, every single Sunday, every single church service. But, you know, we still try to be respectful of the police. You say, why? We didn't want to make them our enemy. Now, they were not exactly helping us. They were not exactly applying Romans 13 perfectly. But at the same time, I don't want to make them our enemy. And that's just a situation we had to be in, right? You don't want to have this attitude of always rebelling, but I want you to understand, as much as they weren't necessarily helping us, if there was none of them there with no cameras, do you know what would have happened that day? Even the fact that they were in the front and not really helping us, the fact that the homos knew, well, we might get in trouble if something happens. There's police nearby. That actually... Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Overall, the government's actually good. Right? And look, this is a sort of sermon. I would love to just skip over this, because I know a lot of people are going to disagree with me. You should be thankful that I just preach what the Bible says. And it's okay if you don't agree 100% on everything. But I would be honest. Over the last year, I feel like our church, you know what, we did everything we could to serve God, even through difficult times. I don't think anyone could claim, like, Brother Stuckey's watered down. Well, I really don't think that you could claim that, considering we had just two services. We had live stream only. And one of those is because we didn't know what was going to happen. The other one, I was a little bit sick, so we didn't want to risk everyone has fears and various things like that. You can't say I'm watered down, but I'm just telling you, this is what the Bible says, and I'm telling you, you know what, we are trying not to fight the government. I don't want to fight the government. We wrestle not against flesh and blood. I'm not trying to fight a physical battle. I want to just serve God quietly, peaceably, in all godliness and honesty. Okay? Point number four, we owe those in authority respect, including the government. We owe them respect according to the Bible. Romans 13, verse 6, for this cause pay ye tribute also. You say, what is that referring to? It's referring to taxes, for they are God's ministers attending continually upon this very thing. Now, realize, they don't always do their end of the bargain, but at the same time, the Bible says we're supposed to pay tribute. We're supposed to pay taxes. Right? Now, here's the thing about this. You can look throughout the Bible, and Jesus said, I don't think that we should have to pay taxes, but I'm going to pay taxes anyway. I'm not sitting here saying we should, but I'm just saying those are the laws of the land, and you know what? You pay tribute if that's what the law of your land says. Now, I want you to realize, taxes are nothing here compared to in the U.S. I mean, have you ever looked in the U.S. of where the tax dollars go? You help abort babies in Africa. That's some of your money for tax dollars. I mean, they take a lot of your paycheck. It seems like a high salary, but then they take 30% of it right off the bat. And then everything else is just super expensive and everything like that, and it's like a lot of your money for those taxes goes to things that we do not agree with, but you know what? That's the government you live in in the U.S., right? And I still have to pay taxes in the U.S. because I'm still a U.S. citizen. It is what it is, right? But it's just like the Bible says, you know what? You pay taxes. Now, even if they're not doing their end of the bargain, you're still required to do that. That's what the Bible says, okay? And look, if you say, Brother Stuckey, I don't want to pay taxes. I don't feel right about it. I feel like it's wrong. You can do that, but you could also end up arrested like a lot of Christians get arrested for that. I don't want to die on that battlefield. It's not a hill I'm willing to die on, okay? Verse 7, render therefore to all their dues, tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor, right? Just respecting the authority, and that includes government. Verse 8, owe no man anything but to love one another, for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. Right? And the Bible says, you know, love one another. And what the Bible's trying to tell you is this. Most of the laws that are actually set up are meant to actually protect people. You understand, like, when a law against the speed limit's set up, that actually does help protect other people. Now, I'm not saying, you know, I know in the U.S., you know, oftentimes they'll try to get you tickets because they want to get extra money and stuff like that. I don't really know about here. But I'm just saying, the law itself is not a bad law. I don't want people driving like maniacs out there and risking my life. You understand that? And what does it say in Romans 13, verse 9, the next verse? 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, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. And what the Bible's tying this together as saying, these laws are meant to protect your fellow man. And basically, if you love your neighbor as yourself, you're going to try not to break these laws that could be dangerous to them. I'm not saying I agree with every single law. Of course, some laws I'm thinking, you know what, I don't think that makes sense, but I still try to obey to the best of my ability. I'm not sitting here claiming that I've obeyed 100 percent everything. I'm not saying I never disobey or anything like that. I am saying, though, this is what the Bible says, that we should try to obey unless the government's asking us to sin. Okay? This is what the Bible teaches. And it says here in, go to Jude 1, we'll look at just one last place, Jude 1, Jude 1, Jude chapter 1. Now, look, I don't personally feel like when I walk into a store, I don't really think a face shield's really needed. But you know what? I wear a face shield because that's what they're requiring. It's not really that big of a deal. It's like, well, it's their store. I mean, if I owned a restaurant and I gave rules, I'd expect people to obey my rules. Right? I mean, I wouldn't necessarily expect them to agree with everything. Maybe I have a rule they didn't like, but you know, it's just what the rule is. It's like, yeah, I mean, you're welcome to just go around to different stores if you don't like the rules or whatever. I just don't think it's that big of a deal. And I'll be honest with you, over the last year, I have not just been spending all my time dwelling on all these laws that I don't like. That's just going to make you miserable. Now, of course, I wish some things were different over this past year, but I'll be honest, I can't say my life has been terrible the last year. If this is the way it is the rest of my life, man, I don't even want to live. Right? And that's the sort of attitude some people have. Well, learn to adapt to the situation you have because, you know, it could be like this for another year. We have absolutely no idea. It's just like, I mean, it's, you know, it's that sine curve or sine wave just going back and forth. I mean, it could be like this. It's like 12 months later, it's like, just everything is starting again. Well, you know what? Learn to adapt to it. And I'll be honest, if you want to be happy, just don't dwell on things you dislike. Look, if you've got problems in your life or things that you don't like, the worst thing you can do is just dwell on those things. I mean, being around people that are always negative and complaining, does that put you in a good mood? Right? There's no point in just complaining about things you don't like. Jude 1, verse 8. Jude 1, verse 8. Likewise, also, these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. And the Bible speaks about people that are bad people that despise dominion. They hate authority. Any sort of authority. You know, in the U.S., you've got this political party, the libertarians. And the libertarians are either, like, good or just, like, bad. Because there's, like, the Bible-believing libertarians, and there's the atheistic anarchist, we hate government, we hate God, we hate all authority libertarians, right, polar opposites with one another. Now, here's the thing about this, you know, you'll see that a lot of atheists will agree on a lot of stuff that we actually agree with in terms of various different things, conspiracy theories and stuff like that, but the reason why they are what they are, they hate having authority. The Bible speaks about people that are bad, people that hate authority and hate structure. Look, the last thing you want to teach your kids, if you've got young kids in your house, is to disrespect authority, because if you teach your kids to disrespect authority, they're going to fail at work, they're going to be disrespectful to you, they're going to be disrespectful to your wife. It's not going to be good for them. We ought to teach our kids, yeah, you know what? Respect authority. Okay? And I want you to be honest, to be honest, me saying, you know, hey, I'm thankful. The government makes a law tomorrow, and I say, hey, praise the Lord, you know, thank you God for this. You know what, that doesn't mean I'm saying that person's invited to be the preacher next week. I mean, if you want to say that I'm watered down, it's like, well, we're not inviting all these political leaders to preach sermons here like us Baptist churches, right? But at the same time, I do believe the Bible teaches, we should try to obey unless they're asking us to do wrong. That's what the Bible teaches. Now, here's the thing about this. Let me explain this to you. I believe it would be very hypocritical as a Christian to sit here and say, well, the Bible teaches children obey your parents, wives obey your husbands, right? Because, I mean, as independent fundamental Baptists, that's one of the big things that kind of sets, I mean, wives obey your husbands, right? Husbands are the head of the home, the authority structure of a family. Children obey your parents, wives obey your husbands, obey your bosses at work, obey the government when you want to. That's hypocrisy. That doesn't make any sense. You would never say that with another authority system. You would never say, well, you know, your children obey when you feel like obeying. Or, you know, wives to husbands obey when you feel like obeying. It's like, no, I mean, obey unless you're being asked to do wrong. It's the same thing with government, okay? And look, as I said, I'm not intentionally preaching this sermon because this is a hot button topic now. It's just we're going verse by verse, Romans 13. And it just happened to fall on this time where there's all these laws that are very strict. This is what the Bible says, right? This is the sort of sermon where people on both sides get mad, right? Because you take the balanced approach where it's like there are times to disobey the government, but usually it's not that time. And you know what? We should be thankful and have respect to the government and respect those in authority, even if we don't agree with everything they say. This is what the Bible teaches. Let's go to the word of prayer. Thank you for allowing us to be here today, God, and getting to hear your word. And we ask you to allow things to be as open as possible here for our churches so people can freely meet for church and freely go soul winning and freely serve you, God, and all the soul-winning mega marathons that are going on. Please give us freedom to just preach the gospel, God, and put it into the heart of these rulers to make laws that are beneficial for us as independent fundamental Baptists that want to serve you, God. But help us not to develop this attitude of just being disrespectful to authority, but help us to try to obey authority and obey you in godliness and honesty. Please give us that opportunity. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.