Clean Transcript

Christian & Civil Government # 2

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• I want you to open your Bibles once again to Romans chapter 13. We covered a lot of ground last night. And one of the reasons I had to preach so long was for two or three nights, I'm having to cram two messages into one. And I think most of the heavy-duty material was given last night. But I hope that you will follow along with me, especially in the Word of God. We're going to be reading from Romans 13, beginning with verse 1. God says, "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God, and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation," or condemnation.

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• "For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same. For 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 a minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore, ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake. For this cause pay ye tribute also, for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing."

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• "Render therefore to all their dues, tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. Owe no man anything, but to love one another. For he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law."

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• Now, last night we dealt with the institution and the nature of government. I took great pains to show you that it was God who ordained and instituted government. We looked in Proverbs chapter 8, Psalm 75, Daniel 2, Daniel 4, and we concluded that God alone is sovereign and God rules by His own sovereign authority. All others rule by derivation. There is no one—not a father, not a husband, not a pastor, not a civil magistrate—can have any authority at all except it come from God. And so God has not abdicated His position and He has not given His world and His people over to a handful of petty bureaucrats to do with as they please. In fact, we took time last night to show you in Romans chapter 13 some of the terms that describe the civil magistrate, just to demonstrate that God ordained them to be His servants. For instance, in Romans chapter 13, not only are they called powers and leaders or rulers, but in verse 4, twice, they're called the minister of God.

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• I pointed out the word "minister"—there's the Greek word diakonos. It is where we get our English word "deacon," which literally means a servant. So God has ordained civil government to be His deacon, to be His servant. And then in verse 4 also, he's called a revenger. And the word there is ekdikos—ek, a preposition, "out of," and dikē, "righteousness"—one who exacts righteousness out of. So God has ordained the civil magistrate not only to be His deacon and His exactor of righteousness, but in verse 6, once again, he's called a minister again, but this time the word is leitourgoi, and that is where we get our English word "liturgy." So God has ordained civil government then, not only to be a leader and a power, but to be His deacon, to be His exactor of righteousness, and also to be His public worship.

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• Then we looked last night at the fact that government is covenantal in nature. And I showed you how in the Bible, when one party loses or when one party disobeys the covenant or breaks the covenant, the other party then is loosed from obedience. And that is exactly how this country was founded. The Americans were not in rebellion. It was George III and Parliament who were in rebellion. And since George III violated his covenant, then the Americans were free then from their end of the bargain. And so when King George invaded, then we fought and won, of course, the war for independence. And then I pointed out the fact that in biblical covenants, not only when one party violates the covenant, the other party is loosed from obedience, but I pointed out also that both parties are responsible to God in the fullest.

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• And then I took pains to show you from Scripture that when a ruler sins individually, God judges that ruler individually. But when he sins openly and publicly and the people do not stop him, then God always judges the people. He always judges the nation and the land along with the ruler. And we looked at numerous examples of that from the Bible.

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• Now, tonight we come to verse 3. The Bible says, "For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same. For 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." So tonight we come to this point: the purpose of government. Have you ever asked yourself, why in the world did God ordain government? It may surprise you that the Bible summarizes the purpose of government under two simple heads. In fact, the Bible says it very clearly in Romans 13, verses 3 and 4. God ordained and God established the civil government, number one, to punish the evildoers and number two, to protect the good-doers or the righteous. So basically speaking, government was set up—government was instituted and ordained by God to be a minister of justice.

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• You remember last night I told you God only ordained three institutions: the family, a ministry of education; the church, a ministry of grace; and the state, a ministry of justice. Now, government has never been ordained by God to be a provider government. Let me put that another way. God never ordained government to be in the welfare business. Welfare historically and biblically has always been a ministry of the family and also a ministry of the church. But it's never been a ministry of government. And so God has not ordained government to be a provider or a ministry of welfare. He has ordained government simply to be a ministry of justice. Moreover, God has not ordained civil government to be a ministry of education. That is the family's ministry, not the government's.

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• It may surprise you to learn that there were no public schools in this country until 1845 in Massachusetts. And it may also surprise you to learn that some of those individuals who set up the government or the public school did so with the specific intent of unraveling the serpent's coils from around our children. And the serpent's coils, according to their definition, was biblical Christianity.

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• Now, they've done an excellent job of that. They've literally unraveled Christianity from government education or public education. But it may surprise you to know that there were no public schools in the South until after the South lost the war of northern aggression. And then the North forced those upon us during Reconstruction so that our children would learn the northern view, the Unitarian view, rather than the biblical view. Now that's a fact. And the truth is, historically, biblically, education has always been in the family and of the family and in the church and of the church. It has never, ever been of the government. And so the Word of God then limits government basically to a ministry of justice. Now, even our Constitution limits the government. I might add that it does not limit the government as closely as the Word of God, but it does indeed limit the government. For instance, while giving 80 grants of power to the federal government, the Constitution of the United States levies 115 prohibitions against it. To the federal legislative power, there are 20 grants of power, and then there are 70 restraints.

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• Now, let me just tell you very quickly that the Constitution of the United States is normally referred to, number one, as an express powers document, or number two, as a limited powers document. When you take the term "the express powers document," all that means is this: that the only authority that the federal government has is that which is expressly stated, that which is expressly written in the Constitution of the United States. So unless the power is expressly stated in the Constitution, then the government certainly does not have it. When you call the Constitution a limited powers document, you're saying the same thing in a different way. You're saying the federal government is limited, then, to the powers so stated in the Constitution of the United States. Now, inevitably, invariably, someone says, "Well, Brother Weaver, where do you find that in the Constitution?" Well, you can find it very quickly and very clearly in Article 9 and Article 10.

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• Listen, if you would, please, to Article 9: "The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." By the way, whenever you begin to talk about the first ten amendments or the Bill of Rights, those are just some of the rights that we as Americans have. That's not all of them. And just because some are listed, the Constitution says, "I want you to understand, there are many others. And the listing of those few does not mean to deny or disparage all of the other rights." But listen to Article 10: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people."

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• So here's a clear, concise statement. All it says is this: the states got together and gave to the federal government a certain amount of limited power. What the states did not give the federal government, they reserved to themselves. And by the way, to show you how far we've gone and how everything's been turned upside down, the federal government was ordained to be the servant of the states, not the states the servants of the federal government.

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• If we were strictly constitutional, there would be no unfunded mandates. There would be no mandates, not from the federal government. The only mandates would be given by the states to the federal government.

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• Now you say, "Brother Weaver, wait just a moment. You've just told me that God has ordained government to be a ministry of justice. You've told me God has never ordained government to be a ministry of welfare, nor a ministry of education. And yet, I know a little bit about the Constitution, and there is in the Constitution that general welfare clause." Yes, you're going to find that first of all in the Preamble, and then you're going to find it secondly in Article 1, Section 8, in the first paragraph there. But let me just read to you the Preamble: "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." You say, "Well, see, Brother Weaver, there it is right there in the Preamble because it says 'promote the general welfare.'"

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• But may I remind you something? When the founding fathers put that little phrase in here, they had no idea of food stamps and WIC programs and any and every other welfare scam and scheme that has come along. All you have to do is read the Federalist Papers. The Federalist Papers were written by James Madison, who by the way was—or is known as—the father of our Constitution.

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• He was secretary at the Constitutional Convention. There's also Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, who was the first Supreme Court justice. Alexander Hamilton was secretary of the Treasury. Now, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay—each of these men say in the Federalist that the phrase "provide for the common welfare" or "the general welfare" is an explanation of providing for the common defense. In other words, promoting the general welfare is connected then with providing for the common defense. It had nothing to do with what you and I would know today as welfare. So, the Constitution does not give the government any right to be a ministry of welfare, nor does it give it any right to be a ministry of education.

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• It limits it just as closely as it can, but not as closely as the Word of God. Now go back in your Bibles to Romans chapter 13, verse 3. The Bible says, "For rulers," that is the civil rulers, "are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same." Now I want you to note very closely: the Bible says rulers are not to be a terror to good works.

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• Let me ask you a question. What is a good work? Let me ask you another question. Who defines and who determines what a good work is? Let's go further. He says, "For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil." Now, what is an evil work and who defines and who determines what an evil work is?

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• Now, God is the one that has established and ordained government. God has limited it. God has given it confines. God has placed it in its boundaries. And God says, "I have established you, number one, that you might protect the innocent or the good, and number two, that you might punish the wicked and the ungodly." So as long then as an individual is doing that which is good, doing that which is right, government has nothing to do with him. Did you know our founding fathers envisioned a federal government that had practically no contact at all with the common, ordinary, everyday citizen?

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• I remember when I was a boy—and contrary to popular opinion, that hasn't been too long ago—but I remember when I was a boy, we used to get to go to town on Saturday, because being raised on the farm, you worked all week long, and usually on Saturday morning, and you got to go only on Saturday afternoon. But I remember being in town as a boy, and I remember taking trips with my father and mother, and hardly ever, ever seeing a policeman.

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• It was unique to see a police. I was always excited when I got to see one because you hardly ever saw them. Isn't it amazing now? You can't turn around without seeing police officers. You can't take a trip without running into roadblock after roadblock. Isn't it amazing? And yet the Word of God says, as long as you're doing that which is right, then the government has nothing to do with you in one sense of the word.

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• Now, let me ask you another question, because there is a reason for this. Have you ever wondered why God's law is always expressed in negative terms? For instance, "Thou shalt not steal," "Thou shalt not kill," "Thou shalt not bear false witness," "Thou shalt not commit adultery." Of the Ten Commandments, only two are positive, and those two positives—"Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy" and "Honor thy father and thy mother," the Fifth Commandment—each of those are undergirded with a number of negatives in the Bible. But have you ever wondered why God's law was expressed in negative terms?

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• Now stop and think about this. There's a reason, and let me tell you why. First of all, a negative law always deals with a particular evil. For instance, when God says, "Thou shalt not steal." You see, most of us think that stealing is when somebody takes a knife, maybe, and comes to you and puts it to your throat and says, "Give me your money or I'm going to cut your throat." And that's our concept of stealing. But that's not just simply the concept of stealing in the Bible. Fraud, all kind of deceit, refusing to pay when you honestly and lawfully owe—all of those are aspects of theft in the Bible. So when God says "Thou shalt not steal," it doesn't deal with what just you and I know as the highwayman demanding our money. It deals with every form of theft imaginable. And so a negative law then deals with a particular evil. Secondly, a negative law always limits or confines the government. For instance, if the law says "Thou shalt not steal" and I'm not stealing, what business do they have to interfere in my life?

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• And the answer is none, because I'm doing that which is good and doing that which is right. So a negative law then deals with a particular evil. A negative law limits and confines civil government. And thirdly, a positive law always leads to totalitarianism and tyranny. Let me explain that. You see, the Romans had a law and it went like this: "The health of the people is the highest good." Now, that's a positive law. "The health of the people is the highest good." Now, if we had a law like that on our books today, what does that mean? That means government can do whatever it wants to do.

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• To us and for us. Whether we like it or not, and whether we want to or not, or wanted to or not, they can do so under the guise of protecting us. "The health of the people is the greatest good." Let me ask you a question.

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• Now, I'm not trying to get into a controversy or not. I'm just trying to show you some aspects of a positive law. For instance, I suppose, in all probability, you folks who live in the city have fluoride and chloride in your water.

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• Now, I've got a question. Did you vote for and determine that you wanted all of those chemicals in your water? And the answer is no. Somebody said, "Well, fluoride is good for you. It's really good for your teeth." It might be good for your teeth, but it surely is bad for your arteries and an awful lot of other things. And you'll probably have good teeth when you die. But you'll just die a whole lot sooner because fluoride is a byproduct of aluminum, which is a horrible poison.

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• Now the point I'm trying to make is this: Who determined that you needed fluoride in your water?

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• Now let's ask another question. Who is responsible for my health? Is the local government responsible for my health? No. Is my doctor responsible for my health? No. I am responsible for my health.

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• Now, if I choose to have good teeth and hardening of the arteries, that's my choice. But if I choose to have poor teeth and live 10 or 15 years longer, that's my choice as well. It's not the choice of government. But once you get a positive law, then any and everything can be passed. For instance, you've got a new law. I suppose it's a new law. I've seen it on TV here. What is it? "Click it or ticket"? In other words, if you don't wear your seatbelt, boy, you're going to get a ticket.

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• Now, what are they saying? Here's basically, "We're going to make you safe whether you like it or not." Now, I'm not going to get into an argument over whether seatbelts save lives. I've got friends that are EMTs. I've got some EMT friends who would never wear a seatbelt. They said, "I've seen too many people killed. I will never wear a seatbelt." I've got other EMT friends who say, "Well, they save lives. I wear one all the time," they say. Well, you see, there's a big debate over whether they do or whether they don't.

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• I know for a fact, I had two acquaintances. One young girl went under a semi. The semi was turning around in the middle of the road with no lights on. She did not have her seatbelt on. She had one of those little things, and she went right under that car, and because she did not have her seatbelt on, she was unable to slide down under the steering wheel, and her life was spared. I had another friend who had a seatbelt on. She went under another semi, the same thing, the semi was turning around the way, and it cut her head off. She couldn't move. In one instance, not wearing the seatbelt saved someone's life. In another instance, wearing the seatbelt cost someone their life.

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• Now, the point I'm trying to make is this: Whether I live or whether I die, whose responsibility is it to protect my life? It's mine. I'm the one who has to determine, "Well, I believe seatbelts will save my life, so I'll wear one," or "I don't believe they will, and so I'm not going to wear one." You follow what I'm saying? But once you get into a positive law, then the city or the state can come back and say, "Well, we need to do this for you, and we need to do that for you, and we're just looking after you." Believe it or not, I've had bureaucrats tell me, I've had politicians tell me, "Well, we're just thinking of your safety, you know?" Well, it's not your responsibility to think of mine. It is my responsibility. But positive laws always lead to tyranny. They always lead to totalitarianism. I might also add, they always lead to revenue collection agencies because that's basically what they do. It's a form of collecting taxes in a different manner.

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• Now, I want to show you something. Let's go back to Romans chapter 13, verse 3. Watch this carefully. "For rulers are not a terror to the good works but to the evil."

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• Now ask a leading question while I go. I haven't answered it yet. Who determines and who defines what a good work is? Who determines and who defines what an evil work is? I want you to turn in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 45 and look at verse 7. Here's a very interesting verse, Isaiah 45 and verse 7. Look at what Scripture says. Isaiah 45, verse 7. God says, "I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil."

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• "I, the Lord, do all these things." Now, wait a minute. We can understand how God creates light and darkness, we understand that. We can understand how God says, "I make peace," but then God says, "and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things." Now, we know that God is not the author of evil because God is infinitely holy. We know that God is not the instigator of evil. We know that God is not the infuser of evil. So how in the world can it be said in Scripture that God creates evil? How does God create evil?

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• Well, the answer is very simple. Do you remember when God created the world, the Bible said He beheld everything that He made, and behold, it was what? Good. You remember that? Now, watch this. When God determines and when God defines what is good, by definition, He has created evil. You say, "What are you talking about?" Well, when God says, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," that is good. But when God said "Thou shalt not commit adultery," on the other hand, He's already said adultery is evil. When God says "Thou shalt not kill," that's good. But when you kill, that's evil. In other words, God has said what is good. And by definition, what is contrary to what is good is absolutely evil.

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• Now, let me show you something. When our country was first founded, it was indeed founded as a Christian nation. And our founding fathers always relied upon the Word of God. In fact, our branches of government were taken from the Word of God. Isaiah 33—the legislative branch, the judicial branch, the executive branch. Isaiah 33, verse 22, based upon God. God said He is the King, He is the Lawgiver, He is the Judge. There are the three branches right there. Our country was founded upon Christianity. The Word of God had the most influence in the founding of our country, and the book of Deuteronomy was the chiefest book in the founding of our country. Do you realize, when this country was first begun, men determined trials, or the outcome of trials, many times based upon the Bible.

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• Jurors carried Bibles with them into the courtrooms. You know, today there's a habit—I suppose it's a habit—but the bailiff comes out and says, "All rise." And you stand up and the judge comes in his long flowing black robe. You know how that got started? Because the judge used to walk in carrying an open Bible. And men stood in respect for the Bible. Now they've thrown the Bible out and they want you to stand in respect of them.

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• Let me tell you something, listen carefully. Here's one of the big problems we have in our country. You can relate this to multiculturalism, you can relate it to multi-religiousism, whatever you want to relate it to. But you see, there was a time in our country when we all agreed on what is right and what is wrong. And our definition of right and wrong was based upon the Word of God. In other words, at one point in our country, we had an authoritative standard. We had an objective standard. Today, everybody has thrown out the Bible and there is no standard. Everybody does that which is right in their own eyes.

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• And that is true of our Congress. That is true of our executive branch. That is true of our judicial branch. There is no standard, objectively speaking, except those in the minds and the whims and the wills of the individuals. And this country is in absolute chaos and absolute confusion. When I was a boy, and it was true when you were a boy, you know as well as I do, when you got a whipping in school, you were afraid to go home. Because when you got home, you knew what was going to happen again, again, and sometimes again. Because everybody had the same standard. But there are no standards anymore. And everybody does that which is right in their own sight.

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• We've kicked out the Word of God. We've kicked out the objective standard. And thus, we are in absolute chaos, anarchy, and confusion in this country. And we wonder why our children are on dope. We wonder why they're shooting each other and killing each other and raping each other. I can assure you, whenever you teach someone that there are no absolutes, that there are no standards, that you're free to do your own thing, human nature, being depraved, will do its own thing. And it's not a pretty sight, I can assure you.

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• Now, I want you to look in your Bibles, if you would please, to 1 Peter chapter 2. I dealt with this last night, but I did not deal with all of this passage. You remember, I told you in Romans chapter 13 that God ordained government, number one, to be a protection of the righteous and number two, to be a punisher of the wicked. Well, in 1 Peter, in 1 Peter chapter 2, notice if you would please, verses 13 and 14. And I dealt with this passage, the first part, last night.

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• He says, "Submit yourself to every ordinance of man." And the word "ordinance," you remember, is ktisis. It means the act of founding or the act of establishing or the thing created. So, actually, he's not talking about a law here. He's talking about a government, whether it is a monarchy, a constitutional monarchy, or a republic. He says, "Submit yourself literally to every kind of government of man for the Lord's sake."

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• Now, watch if you would, he says, "whether it be to the king as supreme, or unto governors as unto them that are sent by him," look, "for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of them that do well." What is God saying? God says, "I don't care what kind of government you have, whether it is an aristocracy or a republic or a constitutional monarchy, just so it's set up to carry out the functions for which I've ordained government, and that is for the protection of the righteous and for the punishment of the wicked." Now God said He ordained government for the punishment of the wicked.

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• Now go back to Romans chapter 13 and look if you would please at verse 4. In fact let's read verse 3 and the first part of verse 4. In verse 3 he says, "For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same. For he is the minister of God to thee for good."

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• Do you hear what the Apostle Paul is saying? The civil government, the civil magistrate who punishes the evil, is the minister of God to us for good. Let me explain that. Do you realize the way God has things ordained in the Scripture is like this: If the wicked die, society lives. If the wicked live, society dies. It's just that simple. Every time you read in the Bible, when God demands the death penalty for a certain crime, you will always find this phrase: "and so shalt thou put evil away from among you."

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• Now let me tell you something, folks. One of the biggest problems we have in this country is rapists and kidnappers and murderers are usually set free, paroled. And most of the crime that we have in this country is repeat crime by repeat offenders. Let me give you a Scripture. I'll quote it. You write it down. You can read it later. Ecclesiastes chapter 8 and verse 11. Here's what God says. God says, "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the hearts of the sons of men in them are fully set to do evil." Let me quote that again. God says, "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the hearts of the sons of men in them are fully set to do evil." God says, because civil magistrates do not deal with justice toward the wicked, they allow the wicked to escape. Therefore, the hearts of the sons of men in them are fully set to do evil. Let me give you an illustration.

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• I was preaching in Iowa. And the pastor asked me if I would go out and visit with this one man and invite him to church. And he told me, he said, "The man is extremely bitter. He's gone through a horrible divorce." And he said, "I don't even know if you'll be able to talk with him." I said, "Well, I'm willing to try." So I got out and I met the man and I tried to invite him to church and I tried to talk with him a little bit. And the pastor was right. This man was so full of bitterness. He was so full of vengeance. All he wanted to talk about was his divorce and what he went through.

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• And I want to tell you something. Before I left that man, here are the words that he uttered. I never have forgotten them. Here's what he said: "I should have killed her. I should have killed her. I should have killed her like I started to. Had I done so, I'd have been in and out of prison in seven years. And now I've got to pay her alimony the rest of my life." Those were his exact words. He knew if he had murdered his wife, he could have been out of prison in less than seven years.

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• There was a family about 100 miles from us, the Alday family, you've probably heard of it, around Bainbridge, Georgia. Carl Isaacs, his brother Billy, another man escaped from prison, got to the Alday family, went in and raped and murdered the wife, waited for her husband to come home, murdered him. When her father went to find out what was wrong because he missed them, they murdered him. I forget how many members of that family they murdered.

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• There's four or five of them. I saw with my own eyes and I heard with my own ears Carl Isaacs on TV, on the news, and here's what he said: "Yeah, I killed him. And if I get out here, I'll kill some more of them."

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• Now, his brother, Billy, turned state's evidence. Got off with about 10 or 15 years. Finally got out of prison. I think he was sent to Maine where he was charged with murdering someone else up there. You know, just in the last several months, I've seen with my own eyes Carl Isaacs back on TV again. They're still debating whether or not to execute the man. It's been 25 years. His victims have been dead 25 years. He admitted publicly.

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• I'm going to tell you something, folks. Whether you know it or whether you don't know it, I can assure you of one thing. The execution of the wicked does deter crime. You say, "Brother Weaver, that's debatable." No, it's not debatable. It does deter crime. The man that you execute will never commit any more. It'll deter him permanently, I can assure you. It'll stop him.

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• Now, let me show you what is happening in this country. Watch this. We've turned everything upside down. Government, instead of protecting the righteous and punishing the wicked, is now protecting the wicked and punishing the righteous. You'd be amazed at my pastor friends that I could name one after another that have been in jail in this country, been in prison. You say, "Brother Weaver, what have they done?" Not one thing. Not one thing. I've got one pastor friend that served three years in prison.

  #57 | 37:37 to 38:17 | cleaned

• He was charged with violating a court order. He was not even named in the court order. The court order was never served on him to begin with. And when the deputy was on the stand testifying as to why he never served this pastor, he said because he was not named on the court order. And yet they still convicted him of violating a court order. Because the district attorney and some others did not like his politics and did not like the fact that he was a Christian activist and he was trying to get wickedness kicked out of his county, they decided they would silence him.

  #58 | 38:20 to 39:04 | cleaned

• That's not an unusual case. I can show you case after... I had one pastor friend, listen to this, in Mississippi. He was arrested, he was handcuffed, and his great, horrible crime was running a home for boys and girls without permission from the state. He refused to take a license and he refused based on biblical principles. This man and his wife had either—I forget, it was either eight or nine children of their own.

  #59 | 39:06 to 39:42 | cleaned

• And then they took in another 20 or so whose parents could do nothing with them. And they worked with these kids, a lot of them got converted, but when the state finally came down to shut him down because he did not have a license from the state, they had the man handcuffed, his arms behind his back. And one of those little kids, about five or six years old, all of them called him Daddy, the little girl started crying, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy," and reaching up like that.

  #60 | 39:45 to 40:18 | cleaned

• Now, this was not his child. It was one that he had taken in as well. She came with some older siblings. And that pastor just took his shoulder and pushed the deputy aside so he could get down and the little girl could hug his neck. Guess what? When he took his shoulder and pushed that deputy aside, they charged him with assaulting an officer. He served a year and a day.

  #61 | 40:19 to 40:46 | cleaned

• Now, I want to show you how easy it is for government to turn everything upside down. I want you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Peter, chapter 4. 1 Peter, chapter 4. And as you turn there, I want to explain two legal terms for you. You will find these terms in Black's Law Dictionary, Bouvier's Law Dictionary, any legal dictionary, but I want you to understand them. The first one is mala in se, M-A-L-A I-N S-E.

  #62 | 40:49 to 41:22 | cleaned

• The second term is mala prohibita. Let me explain them. Mala in se just simply refers to that which is evil in and of itself. For instance, when God says "Thou shalt not kill," murder is evil in and of itself. When God says "Thou shalt not commit adultery," adultery is evil in and of itself. When God says "Thou shalt not steal," theft is evil in and of itself. We understand that. Mala prohibita just simply means that something becomes evil only because man prohibits it or man demands it. For instance, here's a sign that says, "Keep off the grass." Now, if I walk on that grass, have I become inherently evil in and of myself because I stepped on grass? No. For instance, when you came here tonight, I noticed there's a speed limit sign, 35 miles an hour.

  #63 | 41:26 to 42:27 | cleaned

• And yet people were passing me. And I was pretty much observing the speed limit. Now, here's my question. If the speed limit sign says 35 miles an hour and you're doing 40, have you become inherently evil and wicked in and of yourself? No. What if the government says you shall follow this form and you don't? Have you become inherently evil and wicked in and of yourself? By the way, I hope you know that Congressman George Hansen served many, many months in jail because he did not file a form that was required. But of course, hardly any of the other congressmen had filed that form, and Attorney General Edwin Meese, who prosecuted George Hansen, had not even filed that form himself.

  #64 | 42:28 to 43:21 | cleaned

• But none of the others had written a book against the IRS like George Hansen had. You see what I'm saying. Here's that which is evil and wicked in and of itself, and here's that which is evil only because there is a law passed by some individual that says you ought to do this or you ought not to do this. Now watch this. The only thing that is required in this country for the righteous to be lawfully prosecuted is for a law to be passed that there is no way that we can comply with and obey out of conscience toward Jesus Christ and obedience to the Word of God.

  #65 | 43:23 to 44:09 | cleaned

• Let me show it to you in the Bible. Look in 1 Peter chapter 4 and let's begin reading there with verse 14. He said, "If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye, for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you. On their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified." Now, watch this. "But let none of you suffer as a murderer." That's mala in se. "Or as a thief." That's mala in se. "Or as an evildoer." That's mala in se.

  #66 | 44:10 to 44:40 | cleaned

• "Or a busybody in other men's matters." That's mala in se. Watch. "Yet if any man suffer as a Christian," in other words, because of his convictions, because of his faith, because of his belief, "yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf." Do you realize when our government is talking about hate crimes and thought crimes, and now if I preach what the Bible says about sodomy, they're going to charge me with a hate crime? If I tell you that abortion is murder, now they're going to charge me with a hate crime? Am I to stop preaching what the Word of God says about sodomy and abortion just because there's a law passing?

  #67 | 44:41 to 45:27 | cleaned

• You can't say those things. Well, God tells me I can say those things. And so I become a lawbreaker then, and I can be lawfully prosecuted, legally prosecuted because government has turned everything upside down and now they're protecting the wicked and prosecuting the righteous.

  #68 | 45:27 to 45:52 | cleaned

• Now, I want you to understand, folks, God ordained government, number one, for the punishment of evildoers. Whatever the sphere of justice is, government is charged with that. And on the other hand, it is also charged with the protection of the righteous, and whatever sphere that is, that is the charge of government.

  #69 | 45:55 to 46:23 | cleaned

• Now, let me try to answer very quickly in my remaining time tonight a simple question, because this question has been asked me everywhere I've gone. "Brother Weaver, are we to obey every law that is passed? Are we to obey every ordinance, everything that comes down the pike?" Well, if you understand what I preached last night on the institution and the nature of government, if you understand the covenantal nature of government, you already ought to understand the answer. If you understand sphere authority, as I explained last night, you already ought to understand the answer. If you understand the purpose of government, which I just preached, you ought to already understand the answer.

  #70 | 46:23 to 47:08 | cleaned

• But in case some have not quite grasped it, I want to be very explicit. I've been asked, "Well, what about civil disobedience?" Let me tell you this. Everybody believes in civil disobedience. Everybody does. The question is not whether or not you believe in civil disobedience. The question is, where do you draw the line? I've heard preachers say, "Well, when they tell me what I can and cannot preach, that's it." I've heard people say, "Well, when they come after my children, that's it." What do they say? "I will obey as long and as until, but when it comes this, I will say no more." Basically everyone agrees with civil disobedience. They just sometimes draw the line differently. Now what am I... A good exercise that I engage in sometimes is when someone comes up to me and they say, "But Brother Weaver, do you remember Romans 13?"

  #71 | 47:09 to 48:08 | cleaned

• I said, "Yes, I read that a few times." But they said, "Now, Brother Weaver, the Bible says, 'Let every soul be subject to the higher powers, for there is no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained of God.' And what the Apostle Paul is telling us is we must submit to all the laws and to every ordinance that comes down the pike." And my answer is, "Are you sure the Apostle Paul is saying that?" "Oh, yes, Brother Weaver, that's exactly what he's saying."

  #72 | 48:08 to 48:37 | cleaned

• I said, "Well, let me ask you a question or two. Number one, do you know who wrote the book of Colossians?" "Yes." "Do you know who wrote the book of Philippians?" "Yes." "Do you know who wrote the book of Philemon?" "Yes." "Do you know who wrote the book of Ephesians?" "Yes." "Who wrote those books?" "Well, Paul." I said, "Now, do you know what that group of books is called?" And they think for a moment and they say, "I think they're called the prison epistles." I said, "You know, that's right. Now, do you know why they were called the prison epistles?" And then it dawns on them, "Yes, because Paul was in prison when he wrote them." I said, "And why was Paul in prison?"

  #73 | 48:37 to 49:27 | cleaned

• "For disobeying the powers that be. He disobeyed authority." I said, "Now, do you think it's strange that Paul would write in Romans chapter 13 that we're to obey every law, and then he himself would not and did not?" I said, "Very obviously, your interpretation has to be wrong. For the Apostle Paul himself, who wrote Romans chapter 13, did not believe that and did not even do that himself."

  #74 | 49:29 to 49:55 | cleaned

• Now, let me show you several passages in the Bible. Turn, if you would, please, to 2 Kings, chapter 1. I'll go ahead and quote one of them. But as you turn to 2 Kings, chapter 1, may I remind you of 1 Kings, chapter 18. In 1 Kings, chapter 18, Elijah comes to Ahab, the king, and he said, "As the Lord liveth before whom I stand, there shall not be rain or dew these years, but according to my word." And God told Elijah to get down by the brook Cherith, and after he got down there and that brook dried up, he sent him out of the land into a widow woman's house.

  #75 | 49:59 to 50:33 | cleaned

• I want to tell you something. Ahab was so angry and so upset that he searched the entire land trying to find Elijah. In fact, he not only searched the entire land, if you'll read 1 Kings chapter 18, he even sent men into foreign countries, into different countries. He sent his CIA over there to find out if Elijah was there. And when they said, "No, he's not here," then he had them take an oath of that government that he was not there, and if they found him, they would tell him. Why did Ahab want Elijah?

  #76 | 50:35 to 51:12 | cleaned

• The answer is very simple. He wanted to kill him. Ahab was a wicked tyrant. He was an ungodly reprobate. Now, here's my question. Ahab was looking for Elijah. Elijah knew he was looking for him. God is the one that told Elijah to get out of the land. Do you think for one instant that Elijah lay in bed at night and he was tossing and turning saying, "Oh Lord, oh Lord, should I turn myself into my king? I know he's looking for me and he wants me. Should I turn myself in? Lord, I can't sleep." You think he lost a minute's sleep doing that? No. Elijah never gave it a thought. You know why? Ahab was a murderer. He had murdered the prophets of God already. And Elijah knew that if he went back, he would murder him. And Elijah did not go back until God told him to go back. God hid Elijah from Ahab. Now, watch this. Elijah, the man of God, purposefully and deliberately disobeyed Ahab and would not cooperate with him at all.

  #77 | 51:12 to 52:26 | cleaned

• Look in your Bibles if you would please to 2 Kings chapter 1 because here's another king, Ahaziah, a wicked, wicked rascal. Let me just tell you about him. He fell out of a window through a lattice. And he hurt himself, evidently a lot of sores, and those sores got infected and there were flies all over him because he sent to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron.

  #78 | 52:27 to 52:50 | cleaned

• to inquire as to whether or not he would recover his disease. And Beelzebub means "the god of filth" or "the god of flies." So as he sends his messengers to Beelzebub, Elijah meets them in the way. Now watch this. 2 Kings 1, verse 2: "And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and he was sick. And he sent messengers and said unto them, Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover this disease. But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel that ye go to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Now therefore thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but thou shalt surely die. And Elijah departed. And when the messengers turned back unto him, he said unto them, Why are ye now turned back?"

  #79 | 52:51 to 53:44 | cleaned

• "And they said unto him, There came a man up to meet us, and said unto us, Go, turn again unto the king that sent you, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel that thou sendest to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And he said unto them, What manner of man was he who came up to meet you and told you these words? And they answered, He was a hairy man and with a girdle of leather about his loins."

  #80 | 53:44 to 54:09 | cleaned

• "And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite. Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him, and behold, he," that is Elijah, "sat on the top of a hill. And he spake unto him," look what the captain says, "Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come down." Here is a direct order. "Get down, prophet. The king wants you." Verse 10: "And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty, and he answered him," watch the arrogance, "he answered and said to him, O man of God, thus hath the king said, Come down quickly. And Elijah answered and said unto them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume thee and thy fifty."

  #81 | 54:10 to 55:00 | cleaned

• "And the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the captain of the third fifty went up and came and fell on his knees before Elijah. And he besought him and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life and the life of these fifty thy servants be precious in thy sight. Behold, there came fire down from heaven and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties. Therefore, let my life now be precious in thy sight."

  #82 | 55:01 to 55:27 | cleaned

• Now I want you to watch this. Elijah not only purposefully and deliberately and willingly and premeditatedly disobeyed the highest civil ruler in the land, he did so with God's blessing. All Elijah did was disobey. It was God who did the barbecuing. God sent fire down from heaven and consumed them. Evidently, God was on Elijah's side, not on the king's side. You understand what I'm saying? Here was a tyrant.

  #83 | 55:28 to 56:07 | cleaned

• Here was a totalitarian maniac. May I ask you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Exodus, chapter 1.

  #84 | 56:07 to 56:17 | cleaned

• Now, I know that most of us do not name our daughter Shiphrah or Puah, but maybe we should. Those women had more character than probably several thousand put together today, but look in Exodus chapter 1, beginning there with verse 15. Shiphrah and Puah were two midwives. Exodus 1, verse 15: "And the king of Egypt spake unto the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, the name of the other Puah. And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools," now look, "if it be a son, then ye shall kill him. But if it be a daughter, then she shall live. But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, and saved the men children alive. And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive? And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women, for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them."

  #85 | 56:17 to 57:19 | cleaned

• "Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and waxed very mighty. And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses."

  #86 | 57:19 to 57:29 | cleaned

• Now, what does the highest ruler of the land do? He tells these midwives, "When these Hebrew women have a boy, you kill him. When a daughter is born, you let her live." But the midwives disobeyed their civil ruler and they spared the men children. And so when Pharaoh called them in and said, "What's wrong?" they said, "You don't understand these Hebrew women, they're not like the Egyptian women, why they're delivered before we ever get there, we don't have a chance."

  #87 | 57:31 to 58:04 | cleaned

• Now, let me tell you what these Hebrew midwives were doing. Are you ready? They were lying. They just told a bold-faced lie to the king. Not only that, they disobeyed him. And the Bible says, "And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God," that is because they obeyed God and not the king, "God made them houses." So here's the blessing of God upon civil disobedience. God honored these women because they honored Him.

  #88 | 58:04 to 58:49 | cleaned

• Now, I know you've got a question in your mind, and I want to answer it for you. So look in your Bibles to the book of Joshua, chapter 2. Let me give you another illustration. Joshua, chapter 2, and I'm going to explain this in just a moment. You may not like my explanation, but I don't think you have a better one because I believe mine is scriptural. Look in Joshua, chapter 2. Joshua, chapter 2, beginning there with verse 1.

  #89 | 58:49 to 59:10 | cleaned

• "And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went and came into a harlot's house named Rahab and lodged there. And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men in hither tonight of the children of Israel to search out the country. And the king of Jericho said unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth the men that are come to thy house, who are entered into thine house, for they be come to search out all the country. Now look, and the woman took the two men, and hid them, and said thus, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were. And it came to pass about the time of the shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out. Whither the men went, I know not."

  #90 | 59:14 to 59:57 | cleaned

• "Pursue after them quickly, for ye shall overtake them. But she had brought them up to the roof of the house and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof. And the men pursued after them the way of Jordan unto the fords. And as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate." And of course, you know how she saved them. Now she took the men and she hid them on the roof under the stalks of flax. The king came along with his men and said, "Give me those men." "What men?" "Why, sure, some came in to me, but they left. I think they went that-a-way. You check after them. You'll probably catch them."

  #91 | 59:57 to 1:00:38 | cleaned

• Now what was Rahab doing? She was lying. Bold-faced lie to the highest civil authority in the land. He said, "Brother Weaver, that wasn't right." Well, I'll tell you something. Are you listening to me? It must have been right. Because God not only spared Rahab and her family physically, God also saved Rahab and God also put her in the genealogy of Christ. He said, "Brother Weaver, how in the world can you explain that? There are so many verses in the Bible that say that we're not to lie. Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord." Yet those Hebrew midwives lied and God blessed them. Rahab lied and God blessed her. How do you explain that? Let me explain it to you like this. It is true that the Bible condemns lying over and over and over.

  #92 | 1:00:40 to 1:01:41 | cleaned

• I can show you verse after verse that tells you that we are to be tellers of truth. But yet I can show you several passages, more than these, of where God blessed a lie. I can show you passages in the Bible where God even used a lie. I can show you a passage in the Bible where God even ordained a man to lie. He said, "Brother Weaver, you can't do that." Sure I can. Don't you remember when God rejected Saul and He sent Samuel to anoint David to be king? Samuel said to God, "I can't go. If Saul hear of it, he will kill me." And God said to Samuel, "You tell him that you've gone to offer sacrifice." Well, now, Samuel did go to offer sacrifice.

  #93 | 1:01:41 to 1:02:34 | cleaned

• But that was not the purpose of his going. He was going to anoint David to be king. But God used this subterfuge. God used this lie to get Samuel safely there where he could ordain and appoint David to be king. Moreover, don't you remember how God sent a lying spirit to Ahab's false prophets that God might get him up to Ramoth-gilead to kill him?

  #94 | 1:02:34 to 1:03:01 | cleaned

• Now, what am I trying to say? Here are two principles in the Scripture, side by side. The first one is this: We must always tell the truth to those to whom we owe the truth. These passages, like Exodus 1 and Joshua 2, 1 Samuel 16, 2 Kings—none of these passages give any children the right to lie to their parents or the right of a husband and wife to lie to each other. In other words, those to whom you owe the truth, you must tell the truth. But here's another principle: You don't owe the truth to those who are going to abuse the truth.

  #95 | 1:03:03 to 1:03:54 | cleaned

• Now, let me explain the consequences. Here I am walking around the corner. And if I go around the corner, a man steps out and sticks a pistol right in my stomach and he says, "Give me your money." And I say, "Sure." And I reach in my pocket and I got three bucks and I hand it to him. And he looks at those three bucks and he says, "Is that all the money you got?"

  #96 | 1:03:57 to 1:04:23 | cleaned

• What do you expect me to do? You expect me to say, "I cannot tell a lie, there's a $100 bill hidden in my shoe." If I told the truth, if I did have a $100 bill there—I don't—but if I told the truth and did have one there, I have just assisted him in stealing and violating the law of God. I've become an accessory to theft. No, I'm going to tell you, "Yeah, that's all I got. Don't have a bit more."

  #97 | 1:04:25 to 1:04:50 | cleaned

• "No reason to shoot me over three bucks. You're not going to get anything else." Let me show you something. Every one of us understand this principle. Here you are. Now, think with me. Here you are. There's a man that you've had a falling out with. He's an unsaved man. He's angry. He's upset. You go to him. You try to reconcile things. He says, "I don't ever want to see you again. Get out of my face." You see him another week or two, and you say, "Look, I want us to get things right together."

  #98 | 1:04:50 to 1:05:22 | cleaned

• He said, "I told you," and he puts a few expletives in there, "I never want to see you again. Get out of my face. One of these days I'm going to kill you anyhow." And you leave him. A few weeks later, you see him again, and you try one more time. He said, "I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to blow your head off."

  #99 | 1:05:22 to 1:05:40 | cleaned

• "And that's all there is to it. You get out of my life." And you go home. And you're sitting at your supper table eating your meal and all of a sudden your wife and you hear tires squealing outside and you look out and here's this maniac jumping out of a truck running up to your doorway with a sawed-off shotgun in his hand. He's already threatened to kill you. And thanks to Mr. Clinton and his friends you don't have a weapon in your house because you're a law-abiding man, you see. And so you know he's going to kill you.

  #100 | 1:05:40 to 1:06:09 | cleaned

• And so you run and you dive and you hide under the bed. And here your little wife is. She's standing there shaking. And here's the man knocking on the door with the butt end of that shotgun saying, "Open this door. I'm going to blow it down." And your wife tremblingly opens that door. And he says, "Where's your husband? I'm going to blow his head off." Now here's my question.

  #101 | 1:06:10 to 1:06:30 | cleaned

• Do you want her to say, A, "I cannot tell a lie. He's hiding under the bed"? Or do you want her to say, B, "You're too late. He left 15 minutes ago to Timbuktu"? I don't know about you, but I'm going to choose B. I don't want her to tell him where I am. Do you realize if she said, "I cannot tell a lie, he's hiding under the bed,"

  #102 | 1:06:30 to 1:06:53 | cleaned

• she is now helping this man commit murder. You don't owe the truth to those who are going to abuse the truth. That's why Rahab lied. That's why Shiphrah and Puah lied. Let me ask you to look in your Bibles, if you would, very quickly, to Exodus chapter 2. Let me show you something else. Go back to Exodus chapter 2. Let me show you something else. After Pharaoh could not get the midwives to murder the children, look what he said in Exodus chapter 1, let's begin there with verse 22: "And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive." So that meant then the Hebrews either had to kill their own children, their own sons, or at least deliver them up to the Egyptians so the Egyptians could kill them. Well, look in verse 1 of chapter 2: "And there went a man out of the house of Levi and took a wife of the daughter of Levi."

  #103 | 1:06:53 to 1:07:54 | cleaned

• "And the woman conceived and bare a son. And when she saw that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months." You know the story. This is Moses. And when they couldn't hide him in the house, they put him in the ark and put him in the river. You know what the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 11? Amram and Jochebed, that was the father and mother of Moses, they feared not the king's commandment by faith.

  #104 | 1:07:54 to 1:08:19 | cleaned

• In other words, they disobeyed the law of the land. And by faith, God honored them. And God saved Moses.

  #105 | 1:08:21 to 1:08:34 | cleaned

• Now, here are individuals, folks, that are violently disobedient to civil rulers. And God is honoring them. May I remind you, in Daniel chapter 3, about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Don't you remember that image that Nebuchadnezzar built in the plain of Dura? And everybody was supposed to be bowing down, but Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego would not bow down?

  #106 | 1:08:35 to 1:09:00 | cleaned

• Now, I want to tell you something. Those boys had some principle. They had some character. They could have said—Abednego could have looked at Shadrach and said, "I tell you what, let's just sit down and rest. He's stupid. He didn't leave to think we're halfway up or halfway down. They'll never know. We'll really pull a good one on them." Meshach could have said, "I got a better idea. Let's just lie down on our stomachs and take a nap. And they'll think we're so dedicated to this dumb idol that we're just saying prostrate on our face." They could have gotten away without sticking out like sore thumbs. But no, no, they said, "We're not going to bow."

  #107 | 1:09:00 to 1:09:38 | cleaned

• And when Nebuchadnezzar brought them up to him, he said, "If you don't bow down, at what time you hear the sound of the sackbut, the dulcimer, harp, and all this manner of music, if you don't bow down, I'm going to throw you in that burning fiery furnace. And what God is He who will deliver you out of My hand?" Listen to what they answered: "Be it known unto you, O King, that our God can deliver us."

  #108 | 1:09:38 to 1:09:59 | cleaned

• "But whether He delivers us or no," in other words, that's His business, "be it known unto you that whether He delivers us or no, we will not bow down." Now that's in your face resistance. You can kill us, but you can't make us bow. And you know how God sovereignly delivered them from the burning, fiery furnace. How about in Daniel chapter 3—or Daniel chapter 6? It is—that was Daniel chapter 3, Daniel chapter 6. Here's Daniel thrown in the den of lions. Why was Daniel thrown in the den of lions? Because there had been a law passed that said you couldn't pray, that you couldn't ask a petition of any God for 30 days. And the Bible said, "And when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he knelt and prayed three times a day as he did aforetime."

  #109 | 1:10:00 to 1:10:52 | cleaned

• Now, I can tell you how to pray effectively when you get in trouble. Be used to praying before you get in trouble. See, Daniel was used to praying before he got in trouble. And what did God do when Daniel was thrown in that den of lions? God sent His angel and shut the mouths of the lions. Daniel just had a comfortable night, laid soft on something soft and cuddly, probably pretty warm. Might have stunk a little bit, but he's soft and warm. And the next morning, the king came and said, "Oh, Daniel, Daniel, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee out of the mouth of the lion?" You know, I like what Daniel said.

  #110 | 1:10:53 to 1:11:34 | cleaned

• If that had been most of us, we would have said to him, looking up, "You dirty, stinking, rotten reprobate. Yeah, He saved me, and I'll be glad when I get out of here, and I hope you get down here." But you know what Daniel said? Daniel, no bitterness, no resentment. He said, "O king, live forever." Now, the king had been tricked into signing that law, the king didn't want Daniel dead anyhow. But old Daniel said, "O king, live forever." But here, Daniel disobeyed the law with the approval and blessing of God.

  #111 | 1:11:35 to 1:12:13 | cleaned

• Now, look in your Bibles, the Acts chapter 5. Let me draw this to a close and show you a biblical principle. Here it is, Acts chapter 5. You know the story. Or at least you should know it. Peter and the other apostles have been forbidden to preach in the name of Jesus Christ. And look, if you would please, what Peter and the other apostles answer the rulers, Acts 5 and verse 29. In fact, look in verse 28, the ruler said, "Did we not straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? And behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood upon us." "Lord, we told you not to preach in this man's name." Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, "We ought to obey God rather than man." What does he say? Our first priority is obedience to God. Now, let me take—

  #112 | 1:12:13 to 1:13:14 | cleaned

• In closing, just a few moments to explain something to you. In the Roman Empire, Christians were not put to death just simply because they were Christians. In the Roman Empire, you could believe whatever you wanted to believe. If you wanted to be a worshipper of Venus, have at it. If you wanted to worship Zeus, go for it. If you wanted to worship Aphrodite, that was your privilege. If you wanted to worship Jesus Christ, they didn't care. Just so, once a year, once a year, you swore by the genius of Caesar and you said, "Caesar is Lord."

  #113 | 1:13:15 to 1:13:59 | cleaned

• In other words, you supported the emperor cult. And when you said, "Caesar is Lord," you were saying, in essence, that Caesar is giving me my privileges. He's giving me my rights. Everything stems from Caesar. The Christians would not say, "Caesar is Lord." They said, "Jesus Christ is Lord, not Caesar."

  #114 | 1:13:59 to 1:14:22 | cleaned

• Now listen, Christians were not put to death just simply because they were Christians. They were put to death because they were considered traitors and treasonous to the state. Are you listening? Do you remember those mala prohibita laws? You let the hate crime laws get in full swing. You let the thought police get in full control, and all who are not politically correct in their thinking, in their speaking, and in their acting can be classified as traitors and treasonous individuals, just like in the Roman Empire. What has happened is we've gone full circle.

  #115 | 1:14:22 to 1:15:10 | cleaned

• Do you know what the issue today is? The issue today is who is Lord. Is government Lord or is Jesus Christ Lord? It is true. Government is a power. It has been ordained of God. But it is not God. It has its limitations. It has its boundaries. It has its functions. But it is not God. Now, one last passage. I want you to look in Acts chapter 5, beginning with verse 17. And let me show you how God Himself moved to overthrow the sentence of the rulers. Look in Acts 5 verse 17.

  #116 | 1:15:10 to 1:15:56 | cleaned

• "Then the high priest rose up and all that were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees, and were filled with indignation. And they laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison." Now watch this. Here is a conspiracy, if you want to use the word, or a corporation between the religious authorities and the secular authorities. You see, there were no prisons in the Bible. Now, the heathens had prisons, but not the Hebrews. But now here the religious leaders are, they are using the prisons of the humanists, of the pagans. That is, you have the civil authority now working with the religious authority. So they get the apostles. They throw them into the common prison. Watch verse 19.

  #117 | 1:15:56 to 1:16:50 | cleaned

• "But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors and brought them forth and said, Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life." Now, here's what happened. The religious leaders and the secular leaders, that is, civil leaders, got together, threw them in the prison, said, "Don't preach." God sent an angel, opened the door, brought them out, said, "You do exactly the opposite of what those rulers told you. You preach to the people all the words of this life."

  #118 | 1:16:50 to 1:17:21 | cleaned

• Now, you've got to come down to this basic question: Who is Lord? Who are you going to obey?

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• Now listen, as long as government functions biblically and scripturally, we have no problem. As long as it will function even constitutionally, we'll have very few problems. But when government leaves the Word of God and leaves the Constitution and turns into that which God never ordained for it, nor our Constitution never appointed for it, we have to answer this one question: Who is Lord? And to whom do we owe our first allegiance? And I hope your answer is Jesus Christ, for He is King of kings and Lord of lords and worthy of all honor, glory, and praise. Let's pray.

  #120 | 1:17:32 to 1:18:28 | cleaned

• Father, we ask You to teach us tonight, to build us up in the most holy faith, to help us to see what the real issues are. And Lord, we've gone so far in this country from Your Word. We've gone so far from our Constitution. Bring us back, first of all, to Thyself. And then secondly, Lord, to the principles upon which this country was founded. In the name of Jesus Christ we ask it. Amen and Amen.

  #121 | 1:18:28 to 1:19:04 | cleaned

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T05:10:44Z