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Let's pray. Heavenly Father, 
we thank You for this time that we have on this, Your Lord's 
Day now. Prior to worship, to study truth, we pray that You 
would help us in this, help us to hallow Your name, help us 
to honor this day, help us to be resting upon the illumination 
of the Holy Spirit as we study Your Word. We pray that You would 
help us that you would strengthen us in truth, and that we would 
be preparing our hearts as we look forward to worship, to enter 
into worship, to worship the one and only living and true 
God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and to rejoice in our precious 
Savior, Jesus Christ. And we pray in His name. Amen. 
We're in chapter 24 now, so you can turn there, chapter 24. Does anyone need a confession? Excellent. So we looked at Of 
Lawful Oaths and Vows last time. We're now in the chapter concerning 
the Civil Magistrate. It's a very short chapter. Concise, but as always, thorough 
in its concision. I'll read the three paragraphs 
and then we'll have a look at this particular doctrine and 
chapter. God the Supreme Lord and King 
of all the world hath ordained civil magistrates to be under 
him, over the people, for his own glory and the public good. 
And to this end hath armed them with the power of the sword for 
defense and encouragement of them that do good and for the 
punishment of evildoers. It is lawful for Christians to 
accept and execute the office of a magistrate when called thereunto, 
in the management whereof, as they ought especially to maintain 
justice and peace, according to the wholesome laws of each 
kingdom and commonwealth. So for that end, they may lawfully 
now, under the New Testament, wage war upon just and necessary 
occasions. civil magistrates being set up 
by God for the ends aforesaid, subjection in all lawful things 
commanded by them ought to be yielded by us in the Lord, not 
only for wrath, but for conscience' sake. And we ought to make supplications 
and prayers for kings and all that are in authority, that under 
them we may live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness 
and honesty. So it's a short paragraph, the 
Baptists here treating what the Bible has to say with respect 
to the civil magistrate, the civil government. Compared to 
the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Savoy Declaration, 
it is considerably shorter. That's because the Presbyterians 
that were comprised of some who were parliamentarians, they included 
in their confession of faith the reality that the civil magistrate 
should, to a certain degree, be involved with respect to religious 
matters. The independents, John Owen and 
his ilk in the Savoy Declaration of Faith, included that but lightened 
it and softened it a little bit. The Baptists, however, taking 
what we should believe to be the more biblical and the more 
purer view with respect to the doctrine of the civil magistrate 
as the Bible sets it forth, removes anything that has to do with 
the civil government being involved in religious affairs. And we 
believe rightly so. It's a shorter paragraph, or 
a shorter chapter, But we ought to remark that they include a 
lot of the language that their Westminster and Savoy brethren 
included, and they're showing their assent to their fellow 
Presbyterians and Independents in opposition to the Anabaptists 
of the time. So the Anabaptists, which, you 
know, the confession, as much as it's targeting Roman Catholicism 
or writing against Roman Catholicism and Sassinians and that sort 
of a thing, it's also trying to communicate that particular 
Baptists are not Anabaptists. And at this point of the doctrine 
of the civil magistrate, the Anabaptists were were something 
of anarchists in the sense that they opposed the civil government 
or they thought the civil government to be wicked, to be evil. Obviously, as we look upon the 
civil government of any time, we can remark that particular 
leaders and particular systems and institutions are evil, but 
civil government in and of itself as being that which has been 
ordained by God is not in and of itself wicked. And so the 
Baptists are showing their affinity with the Presbyterians and the 
Independents, but distancing themselves a little bit because 
of their approach, their fuller approach to the doctrine of Christian 
liberty and liberty of conscience, as well as with respect to civil 
government as a whole. Now, the other thing in view 
contextually here is the impositions of the Church of England against 
dissenters, the particular Baptists would be those who would have 
been dissenters. In other words, those not in 
agreement with and opposing the Church of England and the governmental 
imposition into religious matters and the squashing of religious 
freedom and those sorts of things. So, the Baptists, it's... The 
stance of the Baptists, though, I think it's commendable, because 
while they are the recipients of persecution by the hands of 
the civil magistrate, they nevertheless affirm that Christians are to 
obey the civil magistrate in all things lawful. You know, 
you think about, you can think about the nature of man and his 
perverse reactionism that can obtain in the face of persecution, 
they might have been tempted to be like the Anabaptists and 
say the civil magistrate is wicked through and through. God did 
not ordain it for our good. but they uphold what the Bible 
says with respect to the civil government, even though the civil 
government of their time was in opposition to them and threw 
them in prison sometimes for over a decade. And so I think 
that's commendable. And just a brief aside, I think 
that lends itself for us to appreciate that when the writers of the 
Confession are opposing the Roman Catholics, when they're opposing 
the Sassanians, when they're opposing Armenians, they're not 
doing so out of a perverse reactionism. They're doing so by the authority 
of God, by the authority of the Word of God, and according to 
proper understanding of the Word of God. And I think their approach 
to the civil government here is evidence to that particular 
fact. There is a connection here to 
chapter 21. Paragraph 2, you don't have to 
turn there, but that refers to God alone as being the Lord of 
the conscience. So the doctrine of Christian 
liberty and liberty of conscience connects to the doctrine of the 
civil magistrate. God alone is Lord of the conscience, 
the civil magistrate is not. Also chapter 26 in paragraph 
4, the Lord Jesus Christ is the head of the church. The doctrine 
of conscience and liberty, the doctrine of the church, I think 
have, not I think, they do have a connection here. God, not the 
government, is Lord of the conscience, and the Lord Jesus Christ, not 
the government, is the head of the church, and the particular 
Baptists are clear on those points. So let's look at the content 
of these three paragraphs then. We could summarize the three 
paragraphs or title the three paragraphs in this way. Paragraph 
one, the divine purpose of the civil magistrate. Paragraph 2, 
the responsibilities of lawful governments. And then paragraph 
3, limited obedience to and commanded prayer for civil government. So first off, divine purpose, 
the divine purpose of the civil magistrate. The first thing that 
we notice here is that the civil magistrate is of divine origin. Notice the language here, God 
the Supreme Lord and King of all the world hath ordained civil 
magistrates to be under him over the people. So the first thing 
we learn here is that civil magistrates are ordained by God and we see 
God's sovereignty over civil government. I like how the confession 
begins here, not with the civil magistrate is under God, though 
that would be fine, but it begins with the word God and then elaboration 
upon our God, the Supreme Lord and King of all the world. When 
we come to a consideration of the civil magistrate, it's comforting 
to understand that the civil magistrate is under God, who 
is the supreme Lord and King of all the world. The nations 
of this world are the nations of our God and of his Christ. And so whatever the civil government 
may do, whatever the civil government may bring upon the people and 
the church, We can be confident, first off, that the Lord God 
is the ordainer of all things, and also that the Lord God, as 
the God of justice and holiness, will judge those who oppose his 
truth and who oppose his will. And so the civil government is 
under God, and we see this There are some key, it's very interesting. It's one of the, not the only 
paragraph, but one of the only paragraphs that has sort of one 
Bible, one scripture proof text. And it's a key proof text in 
a consideration of the civil magistrate. And that is Romans 
13, one to four. And you can turn there as we're 
talking about the divine origin here of civil government. Romans 13 is sort of the key 
passage. And this also ties up to the 
entirety of the chapter, really, but paragraphs one and three 
maybe more specifically. Notice Romans 13, beginning at 
verse one through verse four. Let every soul be subject to 
the governing authorities, for there is no authority except 
from God. And the authorities that exist 
are appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists the 
authority resists the ordinance of God. And those who resist 
will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to 
good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of 
the authority? Do what is good, and you will 
have praise from the same. For he is God's minister to you 
for good. But if you do evil, be afraid, 
for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is God's minister 
and avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. So 
we see there the language, the authority that the civil magistrate 
has is not inherent to the civil magistrate, the civil government. 
The civil government is not an authority from themselves. They're not even an authority 
from man. They don't exist by virtue of 
the consent of the governed. They exist by virtue of God who 
has ordained them. For there is no authority except 
from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. So we have the divine origin 
of the civil magistrate. And it's interesting to point 
out here, as Pastor Butler has pointed out many times, the government 
at the time of Paul's writing here wasn't a holy, harmless, 
and undefiled government. You know, we think we have it 
bad, and we really do. The governments are wicked in 
our own time. But at this time, it was the Roman government, 
and it was, you know, it was Nero and his cronies running 
the show. And they weren't any friends 
of peace and holiness and justice. And they would increasingly become, 
of course, no friends of Christians. And so, Paul can still write, 
though, that we are to submit to those and not to resist to 
the civil government. Now, we'll get to a qualification 
when we get to paragraph three, but nevertheless, insofar as 
things are lawfully given to the governed, we are to submit 
and not resist to those who govern over us. And Paul can write this 
in the midst of a godless government who is no friend of Christianity. So God, the Supreme Lord and 
King of all the world, hath ordained civil magistrates to be under 
him and over the people. Another passage that we could 
think about is in Proverbs, Christ speaking as wisdom, and speaking 
with respect to the fact that by him kings reign. So divine 
origin, those who are appointed as magistrates over the people 
are under God, the divine origin of civil government. And we see 
as well the divine design in civil government. We see here 
that they are to be for God's own glory and the public good. So there is a purpose given with 
respect to the civil government. They are to be for God's own 
glory and the public good. I like the simplicity of the 
confession here, because if we think about the Canadian government, 
we have 39 at least, 39 ministries federally, 
and about 260 sub-ministries within those 39 ministries, doing 
everything under the sun for the blessed beneficiaries being 
the Canadian citizens. The government is in everything. and the government wants to be 
in everything, but here we have the simplicity of God-ordained 
government. It's simply for His own glory 
and the public good, and there will be a little bit of a still 
simplistic elaboration on this in the second paragraph, but 
we ought to see here what government is actually supposed to do, and 
I think we see it in Romans 13, specifically where we see in 
verse verses three and four. Rulers are not a terror to good 
works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of 
the authority? Do what is good, and you will 
have praise from the same, for he is God's minister to you for 
good. But if you do evil, be afraid, 
for he does not bear the sword in vain, for he is God's minister 
and avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. The 
simplicity of God-ordained government is seen in the punishment of 
evildoers and and the protection of the judicially innocent, the 
protection of good and the punishment of evildoers, that is the call 
upon the government and we see the confession saying that to 
which end are they given this execution of their role as the 
civil government. We see the remainder of paragraph 
one, to this end, God has armed them with the power of the sword 
Here we are again with the government's role for defense and encouragement 
of them that do good and for the punishment of evildoers. 
And if we look then upon the governments in our own day, if 
we look upon the government of Canada, for example, And to some 
degree, a good number of states in the United States, they have 
completely abandoned their chief task as the civil government, 
which is the wielding of the sword for the punishment of evildoers. And it's an intriguing thing 
that, and these things aren't contrary to one another, but 
a nation given over to the rejection of the sanctity of life not only 
kills babies, but doesn't kill those who ought to receive the 
death penalty. That's not hypocritical, it's 
consistent with the rejection of the sanctity of life, and 
it's consistent with the rejection of God's design for what civil 
governments are to do. And that is, the defense encouragement 
of them that do good, and for the punishment of evildoers. 
One of the very things that the government has been given by 
God to do, that is to wield the sword, they have completely abandoned. And that's something that we 
ought to pray for as we get to paragraph three, where we're 
to pray for kings and those who are in authority, we ought to 
pray that they would properly wield the sword that God has 
given them under His ordaining sovereignty, that they would 
so wield it, that they would even just wield it, not just 
wield it properly, but wield it. And, you know, the complete 
abandonment of that is no doubt a sign of judgment upon the nations. But we see in paragraph one, 
we see God's sovereignty over civil government. Keech writes, 
Benjamin Keech, kings and rulers are but God's vice regents set 
in place by his sovereign hand. They rise and fall at his command, 
for the Lord of hosts is the true governor of all nations, 
and none can withstand his will. We also see the divine design 
in civil government in paragraph one. Cox writes, the magistrate's 
power is ordained of God for the orderly governance of society 
and the suppression of vice, as well as the advancement of 
public tranquility. advancement of public tranquility 
would need to be asterisked and qualified, but there is a measure 
of simplicity there. Obviously, we don't necessarily 
want the government to be about the advancement of our tranquility 
in a particular way, but I think what he's getting at is simply 
that the government, as Jim often says, would leave us alone and 
that we could live in peace and tranquility without the imposition 
of the government in everywhere, in the kitchen, in the closet, 
in the bedroom, on the streets, and everywhere else. Paragraph 
two, we see the responsibilities of lawful governments. the responsibilities 
of lawful governments, and the first thing we see here is the 
propriety of the believer's participation in civil government. Notice the 
language here, it is lawful for Christians to accept and execute 
the office of a magistrate when called thereunto. This is targeted 
against those contemporaneous to the writers of the Confession, 
at the time of the Confession, but certainly before and after. 
For example, the Anabaptists, and I think perhaps even some 
Mennonites, though you can correct me if I'm wrong, take this particular 
tact because of their pacifistic views that Christians are not 
to serve in roles in the civil government. rejects that, we'll see a text 
here in a moment, but confession in concert with the Bible and 
properly summarizing it says again that it is lawful for Christians 
to accept and execute the office of a magistrate when called thereunto. 
You can turn with me to the New Testament to the Gospel of Luke. 
This is actually John the Baptist speaking with these whom he has 
baptized. And in Luke 3, we see John the 
Baptist preaching. And the people are asking him 
particular questions, and we see if we pick up at verse 10 
of Luke 3, so the people asked him, saying, What shall we do 
then? He answered and said to them, He who has two tunics, 
let him give to him who has none, and he who has food, let him 
do likewise. Notice now here, verse 12, Then 
tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, Teacher, 
what shall we do? And he said to them, collect 
no more than what is appointed for you. Likewise, the soldiers 
asked him, saying, and what shall we do? So he said to them, do 
not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with 
your wages. So we see here that the advice 
of John the Baptist to these two Christians here, a tax collector 
and a soldier, is not first to the tax collector, abandon your 
post, that's a wicked trade, take up something else, or abandon 
yourself to the wilderness, become a monk, take a vow of silence, 
and whatever else. He simply says in the, it's of 
course obvious here that he is retaining his position as a tax 
collector, John the Baptist not opposing that, and he just says, 
John the Baptist, collect no more than what is appointed for 
you. In other words, it is lawful to be a tax collector, but it's 
not lawful to be a tax collector and take what is not due for 
tax collection. It's sinful, of course, to take 
more than what is required, whether for the government or, you know, 
skimming some for yourself, as we see in the biblical record 
in the gospel accounts, but just collect no more than what is 
appointed for you. And with regards to approaches 
to pacifism, John the Baptist is certainly not a pacifist, 
nor should it be the case that any body calling themselves Christians 
should take up that view as that which is supposedly biblical. 
Notice, with regards to the soldier, likewise the soldier asked him, 
verse 14, what shall we do? The advice is, do not intimidate 
anyone or accuse falsely. and be content with your wages. 
Be a good employee. It's lawful for you to be enrolled 
as a soldier in the military, but do it under God and do it 
lawfully. No intimidation, no false accusation, 
and no complaint about your wages. So we see the confession here 
upholding Opposing the notion that Christians can't serve in 
the civil magistrate and upholding that they most certainly can. 
It is lawful for Christians to accept and execute such a particular 
role. Secondly, we see here the tasks 
expected of the civil government. Notice as the language continues 
here, in the management whereof, as they ought especially to maintain 
justice and peace, according to the wholesome laws of each 
kingdom and commonwealth, So for that end, they may lawfully 
now, under the New Testament, wage war upon just and necessary 
occasions. Now, we won't spend a whole lot 
of time on just war and what constitutes it, but notice that 
the confession, in concert with the Bible that it is summarizing, 
does not reject war, does not reject violence as a means which 
is often employed by God to achieve peace. There is lawful war. War can be waged upon just and 
necessary occasions. But more to the point of the 
civil government with respect to the tasks expected of them, 
they ought especially to maintain justice and peace. This perpetuates, in a good way, 
the simplicity of what the government is called for. The government 
is not called to be anything and everything to everybody. It is simply about justice and 
peace, about the punishment of evildoers and the protection 
of those who do good. And I think we ought to navigate, 
I won't say a middle road, but some balanced road, whatever 
the middle might be. We're not anarchists. in that 
we believe because the Bible tells us that God has ordained 
the civil magistrate to be under him and over the people. At the 
same time, of course, we should not want to see a big government, 
certainly not a totalitarianism. I mean, the more that we look 
upon our landscape today, the more it looks totalitarian. It, you know, it flies under 
the guise of democracy and it flies under the, you know, it's 
not a full-out totalitarianism, but what, you know, in a totalitarianism, 
what do we have? We have state-controlled propaganda. We have, you know, state-controlled 
media. We have the exaltation of personality 
over policy. We have the imposition of an 
idealistic unity that everybody must conform to a perceived good. We have the squashing of dissenting 
voices. We see that in our own time. 
So while we're not anarchists, we're certainly not, on the flip 
side of that, those who want some sort of a some sort of a 
large government that God, yes, has ordained civil government, 
so let's have them just take care of us and do everything 
for us. No, we ought to have the biblically informed and balanced 
position of a small government that does what they're supposed 
to do and doesn't do everything else. setting aside what they're 
supposed to do. I think that's what we see in 
our government today. Not only are they doing everything that 
they shouldn't do, but they're not doing what they should do. 
And that's why we ought to be called to pray for kings and 
those who are in authority as they rule over us, and that they 
would do it for our good and for the peace of the nation. Okay, so paragraph three then, 
we're moving along fairly quickly here. Paragraph three speaks 
to limited obedience. to and commanded prayer for civil 
government. Notice the language here. When 
we say limited obedience, what we're saying is that we're not 
commanded. It's not the case that citizens 
are to be in a total and unmitigated obedience to the civil magistrate 
doing whatever they tell us to do. When Paul writes in Romans 
13, and when Peter writes in 1 Peter, that we're to be subject 
to the governing authorities, that we're to fear God and honor 
the king, they're not saying that we're to be submissive in 
all things, but as the Confession says here, paragraph three, civil 
magistrates being set up by God for the ends aforesaid, subjection 
in all lawful things, commanded by them ought to be yielded by 
us in the Lord." So, first off, the expected yet qualified obedience 
to civil government. Just a few quotes by particular 
Baptists at this particular time. And I think most of these come 
prior to the act of toleration in 1688, 1689, when particular 
Baptists could finally become public and publish the confession 
of faith. Before, it was really in secret. That's why we call it the 1677 
slash 1689 is it was written in secret, 
in essence, in 1677, but really could only be published in 1689 
when the Act of Toleration was passed and they were able to 
openly worship, still with restriction, but with much less restriction. 
So this is on expected yet qualified obedience to the civil government. 
This is Spilsbury. Obedience to magistrates in lawful 
commands is a duty upon Christians so long as it doth not contradict 
the law of Christ. This is Andrew Ritter. The good 
and lawful commands of kings and rulers are to be followed 
so far as they comply with the higher law of God. And then Christopher 
Blackwood. A magistrate's authority extends 
to the punishment of wrongdoers, but he must not lay his hand 
against the true worship of God. And that is one of the biggest 
things that was taking place against the Particular Baptists 
in the 17th century, that the civil government was laying their 
hands against the true worship of God. They were opposing the 
Particular Baptists, preventing them from worshiping, demanding 
obedience to the Church of England in worship and in doctrine, And 
one of the biggest points of opposition was credo baptism, 
but it wasn't the only point of opposition. So again, a magistrate's 
authority extends to the punishment of wrongdoers, but he must not 
lay his hand against the true worship of God. You can turn 
with me to the book of Acts to see this, Acts chapter five. 
And it's not only confined to Acts chapter five. I mean, we 
see the example throughout the book of Acts. where the disciples 
are preaching, the apostles are preaching Christ and coming up 
against opposition by the civil governments, by the religious authorities, 
we could say, in Judaism, but obviously, or with respect to 
the Jews, but obviously there's an intermingling of civil order, in a sense, with 
religious order, though it was the Roman Empire that was the 
imperial force at the time. And then, of course, even with 
the Roman Empire, we see the increasing persecution in the 
Book of Acts in opposition to the proclamation of Christ. But 
in Acts 5, notice if we pick up at verse 22, we see this, 
the apostles being tried for their preaching of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. But when the, this is 522, but 
when the officers came and did not find them in the prison, 
they returned and reported saying, indeed, we found the prison shut 
securely and the guards standing outside before the doors. But 
when we opened them, we found no one inside. Now when the high 
priest, the captain of the temple and the chief priest heard these 
things, they wondered, what the outcome would be. So one came 
and told them, saying, Look, the men whom you put in prison 
are standing in the temple and teaching the people. Then the 
captain went with the officers and brought them without violence, 
for they feared the people, lest they should be stoned. And when 
they had brought them, they set them before the council, and 
the high priest asked them, saying, Did we not strictly command you 
not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem 
with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood on 
us. But Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to 
obey God rather than men. This is really where, you know, 
the proverbial rubber hits the proverbial road with respect 
to the limited obedience to civil government. When the civil government 
commands something in opposition to the law of God and the command 
of King Jesus, those so commanded are not obliged 
to obey. Because it is not a lawful thing 
or a lawful command, but an unlawful command. And we see this language 
here, verse 28, did we not strictly command you not to teach in this 
name? So that is clearly an unlawful 
command. And the righteous and right response 
not only from these apostles here, but from Christians throughout 
any age, is we ought to obey God rather than men. Whenever 
the civil government commands something unlawful, whether it 
pertains to doctrine or whether it pertains to worship, such 
as the freedom to so gather in worship, we are to obey God rather 
than men. Civil magistrates being set up 
by God for the ends of foresaid, and that's before we even get 
to in all lawful things that asterisk or qualification, the 
language of for the ends of foresaid already introduces that qualification. But we have this subjection in 
all lawful things commanded by them ought to be yielded by us 
in the Lord. And then there's this clause, 
not only for wrath, but for conscience's sake. For conscience's sake. 
That means that obedience to the civil magistrate is not only 
to be for the avoidance of wrath, but also simply and generally 
that we would as Christians have a good conscience before God 
and men. We're not simply to obey in all 
lawful things in order to avoid wrath, but because it's the right 
thing to do, and Christians having a good conscience before God 
are to so act. We also have the call to pray 
for civil government. Notice the language here in the 
middle of paragraph three. not only for wrath, but for conscience 
sake, and we ought to make supplications and prayers for kings and all 
that are in authority. Coming from 1 Timothy 2, and 
what's going on, well, you can just turn there for a moment. 
The language is essentially identical there, but let's just have a 
look at 1 Timothy 2 for a moment. In my management of time, for 
those who have been here for a long time, I usually go extremely 
over. But now I've gone to the completely 
other side of the pendulum, and now I can't manage time on the 
other side of things. But anyway, here we are. 1 Timothy 
chapter 2. Notice the beginning. of chapter 
two, verses one and two. Therefore, I exhort, first of 
all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of 
thanks be made for all men, for kings, and all who are in authority, 
that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness 
and reverence. The confession is almost verbatim 
there. It contains almost the entirety 
of that language. And contextually, it's a, if 
we know what's going on in the Roman Empire at that time, the 
Roman Empire, again, it's no friend of Christians at this 
time, it would have been right around the time, or just after, 
maybe by a couple years, when Nero turned direction and started 
to be a lot more actively opposed, that the imperial opposition 
in the Roman Empire to Christians was heated at this time, and 
it was only growing more heated, and it would reach sort of a 
fever pitch in AD 64 with the fire that Nero blamed Christians 
for. But at this time in the Pax Romana, 
you know, where it was, you know, I think historically the Pax 
Romana was supposed to be this, you know, empire-wide maintaining 
of peace on the part of the Roman Empire. But what it really was, 
was totalitarian forced peace by the Roman Empire. Squashing 
of dissenting voices, ensuring imperial religion was maintained, 
all of those sorts of things. It was a strong imperial weight 
being brought upon the citizens of the Roman Empire. And so, 
that's no doubt, in one sense, fueling Paul's exhortation. I exhort, first of all, that 
prayers, supplications, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made 
for all men, for kings, and all who are in authority. Yeah? This was probably, what, 60 to 
62-ish? 62, 63, yeah. So it would have been, 
yeah, in that case, just a year or two before the great fire 
there, which was, I believe, AD 64. All of that to come back 
to the fact that there's a context driving this, but there's a general 
principle, of course, in view as well. We ought to pray for 
those who rule over us. I think we have almost a threefold direction in prayer 
if we can say that. We want to pray for salvation. 
We want to pray that God would bring the light of his understanding 
and the light of Christ to the hearts of all men and those who 
are in authority as well. What a blessed thing it would 
be to have someone made alive by the power of God in a place 
of influence. within the rank and file of the 
government. We ought to pray for restraint. If it's not God's will that he 
would save those kings and those who are in authority, then we 
ought to pray for restraint upon a government that is unbelieving 
and that is wicked. Perhaps that they would, even 
in their unbelief, nevertheless, by the light of nature, see the 
justice, and perhaps even a knowledge of the scriptures, see what is 
proper justice, proper wrath, and those sorts of things, and 
so exercise government. And we ought to also be able 
to, and we can, pray imprecatorily. We can pray malediction upon 
those who in reprobate opposition would continue to, by wickedness, 
by horrible legislation, and by clear opposition, reject God 
and oppose his people. The idea here or the force here 
by the Apostle Paul is unto the particular end that Christians 
may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. It's a wonderful thing when there 
is no tumultuous you know, tumultuous landscape with respect to the 
civil government and its rule, such that Christians can freely 
preach the gospel to sinners. If they're always having to deal 
with an opposing government, if they're always having to do 
with citizenry that's inflamed by an opposing government, then 
it's very difficult to freely and openly and consistently preach 
the gospel. Not that they can't when a tumult 
comes, because we see in the book of Acts that when hot persecution 
came upon the church, the disciples went everywhere preaching the 
word and the gospel. Gospel seeds were sown beyond 
the borders of Jerusalem. But we ought to pray, not but, 
we should be in prayer for those who rule over us, for those aforehand 
mentioned things that they would properly rule, but also on the 
part of Christians, that we would live a quiet and peaceable life 
in all godliness and honesty. This is Collins on that last 
particular point. William Collins, magistracy, 
there's a new word for you, is a common blessing of God, government, 
is a common blessing of God without which no society can subsist 
in peace and order. So we don't want chaos and disorder, 
we want peace and order, but we want that with a government 
that is restrained from wickedness and is upholding the proper exercise 
of the sword, the punishment of evildoers, and the protection 
of those who do good. Just a word from Spurgeon here 
in closing with regards to the civil government and the Christians' 
responsibility to them. We have seen, practically speaking, 
in the last number of years, some of the things that we're 
reading about here with respect to the government, some of the 
Really putting Acts chapter 5 into action, we obey God rather than 
men. The government has no role in 
telling the church what the church is to do, whether that pertains 
to doctrine or worship. And so we have this very interesting 
balance as Christians, a biblical balance between what church is, what state is, 
and what proper doctrine and worship should look like with 
respect to the goings forth of the church. And I guess what 
I'm getting at is the fact that recognizing that God is over 
the government, having ordained it for our good, the government 
is over the people, but only insofar as their laws are lawful. At the point by which their laws, 
they command things that are unlawful, we are to obey God 
rather than men. And our obedience, we should 
say this as well, our obedience to the civil government is not 
because of the civil government. Our obedience to the civil magistrate 
is, the foundation for our obedience to them is not found in the government 
or in the civil magistrate, it's found in God. We obey the civil 
magistrate in things lawful, not because of the civil magistrate, 
but because of the God that is over them, the God that has ordained 
them for our good and for the punishment of evildoers. And 
I think that's something that hopefully can help us as we, 
in the face of a wicked government, seek to honor God in subjection 
to the government and things lawful. If we understand that 
we're not doing it because of the men and women who rule over 
us, If we understand that we're not doing it because they're 
the civil government, but we understand that we're in submission 
to the government, again, in this limited and qualified way, 
because God has ordained them and we're honoring God and obeying 
Him, and so obeying the civil government, I think that will 
help us as we slog about in this lower world in the context of 
a government that is increasingly in opposition to Christ's people. 
This is Spurgeon. And we'll close with this and 
we'll have some, if there are any questions, we can answer 
those and deal with those. Any questions or comments? But 
this is Spurgeon to bring us to a close. I believe that kings, 
princes, and magistrates are to be obeyed and reverenced within 
their proper sphere. But when they usurp the place 
of God and set themselves in opposition to Christ and his 
gospel, then we must resist and never yield. We cannot give to 
Caesar that which belongs to God alone, for it is written, 
render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the 
things that are God's. Let the magistrate keep to his 
place, and let the Christian also keep to his. Obedience to 
magistrates is a Christian duty, but it must never be pressed 
beyond the bounds of conscience. There are certain rights which 
belong to God alone, and we are bound as Christian men never 
to yield these rights, even should our noncompliance be rewarded 
with a martyr's crown. So praise God for the particular 
Baptists and their approach to civil government. I think bringing 
a corrective to their reformed compatriots of the time, rightly 
reflecting what the Bible says with respect to the bounds of 
Christian freedom, the bounds of the liberty of conscience, 
and the proper bounds of the government where they are not 
to go beyond, and the fact that it is our blessed God who is 
Lord over all the nations. Praise God for the comfort that 
we have in a sovereign king, in a sovereign God who rules 
the nations. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, 
we thank you for your word. We thank you for what you have 
disclosed to us with regards to your sovereign rule over all 
things. We thank you that you have ordained 
over us those particular bodies that are to uphold justice. We 
pray that they would do so. As we often pray, we pray that 
you would cause governments who rule over the people to do so 
properly, to do so in proper order and in proper righteousness. 
It grieves us to see such wickedness, such intrusion upon the liberties 
of people in many nations, including our own. We pray that you would 
bring restraint, that you would bring salvation, and that for 
any who remain in a reprobate, wicked opposition, to the people 
generally and to the church specifically, we pray that you would cast them 
down, that you would raise up those who would rule in righteousness 
and proper justice. We pray that you'd go with us 
in worship, help us to honor you, our glorious God, Father, 
Son, and Holy Spirit, to rejoice in our Savior, the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and to rejoice in amazing grace. And we pray in Christ's 
name, amen.