It's been two or three weeks
since we were in chapter 12 of Romans, but I think most of you
remember that in the twelfth chapter of Romans, Paul taught
the duty and responsibility which was incumbent upon officers of
the church, the pastor, the elders, the deacons, those who served
in offices. and to those to whom special
gifts had been given by the Spirit of God. And he taught how members
were to behave themselves toward one another or with reference
to one another. And then in chapter 12 he had
a lot to say about our moral conduct in this world. Now chapter
13, that was chapter 12. Now chapter 13, Paul is teaching
the duties and the attitude that we're supposed to have, the duties
we're supposed to perform and the attitude we're supposed to
have as members of a civil society. John Brown says Chapter 12 contains
Christian ethics and Chapter 13, Christian politics. You may
wonder why Paul wrote chapter 13. Of course, he wrote it because
the Holy Spirit inspired him to write it, of course. He wrote
it because God wanted in his book, of course. He wrote it
for our learning and our edification, of course, but there are reasons
why it was written at this particular time, and I can give you four.
One reason why Paul dealt with this subject, Christian politics,
was because the early Christians were charged with sedition. Don't
you remember they said to Pilate that if he let Christ go, he
was not the friend of Caesar? And don't you know when they
brought Christ to Pilate, they said he makes himself a king. Pilate asked him if he was a
king. And the early Christians were wrongly, falsely charged
with sedition, and by many people they were thought to be enemies
of the government. Christ was accused of being an
enemy of the government, the enemy of Caesar's government. And that's one reason why Paul
wrote this particular chapter. The second reason is this. This
chapter deals with our attitude toward those in authority, presidents
and kings and magistrates and policemen and anyone in authority. The second reason why it was
written is because a very great number of the people in the church
were Jews, and they resented any Gentile king or any Gentile
power over them at all. They were the seed of Abraham.
And in their hearts, they resented Roman rule. They resented Gentile
rule. They resented anyone over them
at all except a Jew. And that's the second reason
why it was written. The third reason, and I didn't
know this, but I'll take the word of the commentary, of all
the Jews, of all the Jewish people, none were so opposed to paying
taxes to the Romans. as were the Galileans. They were
the troublemakers. The Galileans were opposed to
taxes. They were opposed to tribute.
That's what tribute is. It's taxes. And they were opposed
to paying tribute to the Romans. And of course you know Christ
was a Galilean. And his disciples were called
Galileans. And then the fourth reason why
this chapter is written is because Some Christians had the idea
that since they were now members of the Kingdom of God, that they
no longer had any responsibility to the nation and to the rulers
and to those in power over them. They were separate and apart
from civil law and taxes and rule. And they reasoned that
since rulers were wicked men and profane men, that because
they were Christians and these men were wicked men and profane
men, then they were not obligated at all to obey them. And that's
four reasons why this chapter is written. So let's look at
it for a few moments. In verse 1, Paul says, Let every
soul, every person, the minister, the pope, the bishop, the cardinal,
the priest, every soul, that's the reason he wrote that soul,
not soul apart from body, every soul, that he means every individual,
be subject unto the higher powers. In other words, he's saying let
every person be loyally subject to the government and to all
civil authorities. Now these are presidents and
governors, these are policemen, these are officers of the government,
And they're called powers because they're invested with authority.
They're called higher powers because he's talking about government
powers, and he's talking about those who are higher than we
are in official capacity. That's who he's talking about.
And he says, be subject to them. Now, what does it mean to be
subject to authorities, be subject to a higher power? Well, it means
this. It means to show respect. It
means to give them honor. It means to give them obedience
according or suitable to their station. It is to obey their
lawful commands with submission and not rail upon them but pray
for them. That's what it means to be in
subjection to them. It means to respect them and
to obey them and to honor them and to pray for them and not
to resist them. For there is no power but of
God. God is the foundation of all
authority. Anyone who has authority over
you gets that authority from God. Anyone who has power over
you gets that power from God. And it starts all the way back
in the Garden of Eden when God told Adam to have power over
the birds of the air, over the beast of the field, and over
the fish of the sea. He gave Adam authority. over all of God's creation. The power that the husband has
over the wife is God-given. The power that parents have over
children is God-given. The power that a supervisor has
over an employee is God-given. The power that a teacher has
over a pupil is God-given. The power that a pastor has over
a church is God-given. All power is of God. All authority is of God. That's
what he's saying there. These powers are from God. There is no power, no authority,
that's the word, but of God. And the powers that be are ordained
of God. They're ordered of God. Now let
me give you this. It's God that sets up the divine
order. It's God that sets up the order
of authority. It is God that sets up kings
and kingdoms as well as puts them down. Now, there are many
forms of government, but government itself is of God. There are many
forms of government, communistic government and capitalistic government
and republican form of government and all these socialistic form
of government and dictator form of government. There are many
forms of government, but government itself is of God. There may be many forms, but
the government is of God. And men may abuse authority,
and they may misuse authority, and they may corrupt government.
But government is of God, and it's necessary, and it must be
obeyed for two reasons. Number one,
it is of God. Number two, it's necessary. You've
got to have government. You've got to have authority.
Look at verse two now. Whosoever therefore resisteth
the power," the authority, the power we talked about in verse
1, the authority we talked about in verse 1, the person who resisteth,
who sets himself up against that authority which is ordained of
God in government, in the home, in the school, on the street,
in the church, in the steel mill, in the plant, in the store, the
person who sets himself up against this authority, who resists this
authority, is resisting what God has appointed, is resisting
what God has arranged in the divine order, and consequently
is resisting God, because the power is of God. And they that
resist authority are resisting God, and they'll bring upon themselves
judgment. Now then, naturally, this question
comes to mind. This is what I thought about
as I was preparing this message. This does not include officers
and leaders and people in authority, whether it be a king or a president
or a senator or a governor or a mayor or a commissioner or
a superintendent or a principal or a teacher or a husband or
a parent. It does not include those people
who set themselves up above the law of God. It does not include
those people who set themselves above God's law and above the
just laws of society, for the leader himself is under law.
Now, my wife is to be in subjection to me, but I am also under a
certain law as far as my attitude toward her is concerned. It says,
wives, be in subjection to your husbands, but it says, husbands,
love your wives. If I do not love her, and if
I do not take that authority in the way God gave it and use
it in a lawful manner, she has no reason at all to be in subjection
to me. The Scripture says, wives, obey
your husbands in the Lord. If my child obeys me in the Lord,
if I am using the authority, that God gave me in a just way,
my child should be in subjection to me. Suppose my child wants
to attend the house of God, and I forbid him to attend the house
of God. I'm not using the law. I'm disobeying
the law under which God gave me the authority, and I'm to
be resisted. And when men set themselves up
in defiance of God's law, I don't care if it's a governor or a
king or a parent or husband or whoever it may be, when they
set themselves up in defiance of God's law and make their own
will to be the law, and they endanger the Constitution, endanger
the lives and liberties and properties of others, they are to be resisted.
Now that's what the early church ran into over here in America
in the 18th century when rebellion against King George and against
the English government, unfair taxation, taxation without representation,
and so forth. Some of the ministers got in
the pulpit and used this very scripture here. And says, now
we've got no right to have a revolution, we've got no right to rebel.
The Bible says, be in subjection to the higher power and don't
resist them. For to resist them is resisting
God. Not when they're resisting God.
They are to be resisted and they are to be put down. The same
thing would be true of a Jewish young person. Now, the Jews forbid
their children to hear the gospel. They forbid their children to
believe the gospel. If a Jewish young person is converted,
they are disowned. They are completely cut off from
the inheritance. They are cut off from the family.
Well, what is the Jewish young person to do? Obey his parents
and disobey God? No, sir. What is a wife to do? Obey her husband and disobey
God? No, sir. What is a citizen supposed to
do? Obey the government and disobey God? What about in the days when
people were forbidden to worship God? The Apostle Peter stood
before the magistrates and they said, now we're going to let
you out of jail, but don't you preach in the name of Jesus Christ
another time. That's the magistrate speaking.
That's the higher power speaking. That's the governor speaking.
Peter says, we can't help begging your pardon and rendering to
you the respect that is due your office. But when you turn us
loose and we walk out that door, we're going to preach Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. Now that's the difference. Whosoever
resisteth the power, when that power is subject to the law under
which that power is ordained and ordered, we are to obey it
completely. But when that power resists the
higher power, the supreme power of God, then I'm no longer in
subjection to that power, because God's power is first.
And I hope that's clearly understood there. People take the Scripture
a lot of times, just like those old ministers did during the
days of the Revolution. They misused the Scripture. And
there are a lot of husbands, and there are a lot of fathers,
and there are a lot of mothers, and there are a lot of people
in authority who would misuse their authority. Somebody said
one of the tests of a man's right relationship with God is give
him a little authority and see how he handles it. Verse 3 said rulers are not a
terror to good works. Civil authorities, or authorities
in any area, Authority in the home, authority in the school,
authority in the plant. No authority is a terror to people
of good conduct. The person who behaves himself,
why, authority is no terror to him at all. He doesn't fear authority,
he doesn't reject authority, he doesn't resist authority.
The man to whom authority is a terror is the man who misbehaves
himself. The man who dreads authority
is the man who plans and connives and works evil. And Paul goes
on and says, Now wilt thou then not be afraid of the power of
the authority? Then do that which is good, and
you don't have any reason to be afraid. Obey the law, and
you don't have any reason to be afraid. Respect the authority,
and honor the authority, and give them the right position
that they deserve, and you don't have any reason to tremble. Why,
you'll have praise of the authority. The authority, the law, if you
obey the law of God and the law of the land and live in submission
to this authority, you don't have anything to be afraid of. And that authority will praise
you. Verse 4, for he's the minister of God. A policeman is the minister of
God. A governor is the minister of God. An unsaved governor.
A president's a minister of God. School teachers, a minister of
God. Husbands, a minister of God. They may be unsaved. They
may be wicked. They may be profane. But any
person who has authority and is conducting or carrying out
that authority in a just and honorable way is a minister of
God for good. Now let me see if I can make
good on that by asking some questions. Government is necessary. I wish
all the young people of America could be here tonight and listen
to a little of this. They want to do their thing,
they want to tell the teachers how to run the school, and the
Board of Education how to run the schools, and the coaches
how to run the teams, and all these different things. The government,
how to run the government. You've got to have authority.
It's got to be a president, senators, and congressmen, and the judicial
branch. It's got to be mayors. It's got
to be public servants and commissions and policemen. It's got to be
people with authority. It's got to be a boss. Everybody's
got to have a boss. And this is the reason. What
would our land be like right now if we had no laws and no
authority? You just think about it for a
few minutes. What would your property be worth? What would
your car parked out there in the parking lot be worth if you
had no law to appeal to? The only thing that's keeping
the wheels on that car right now is because there's a law
down on Greenup Avenue and 17th Street to which people are subject. And there's the threat of punishment
and the threat of imprisonment and the threat of death. And
that's the reason your property is protected, is because there's
authority. Chaos would rule the home if
there was no authority. No parental authority. Children
just did what they wanted to do. Stayed up as late as they
wanted to stay up. Do what they want to do. Study when they want
to study. Go to bed when they want to go
to bed. Eat when they want to eat. Eat what they want to eat.
What chaos! What about the schools? All the
different personalities and all the different individuals. If
you didn't have somebody whose voice was the voice of authority,
in a classroom. Now you just imagine a classroom
with no authority. Imagine what the streets would
be like. Where would our liberty, where would our safety be? The
law and the enforcer of the law, Paul said, is a minister of God
for good. And I'll tell you this, I'd rather
have a cruel law than no law. I'd rather have a cruel magistrate
than no magistrate. I'd rather have an overbearing...
I hear these young people talk about policemen being pigs. You
better be thankful they're there. Because you're not stronger than
everybody. There's somebody can whip you. There's somebody can
bash your head in. There's somebody, always somebody
bigger than you that can take away from you what you took away
from the other fellow. And I'd rather have piggish policemen
than no policemen. I'd rather have cruel policemen
than no policemen. I'd rather have an overbearing
person in authority than no authority. For he is the minister of God
to thee for good, but if thou do that which is evil, if you're
going to continue to break the law and be a law unto yourself,
then you be afraid For he beareth not the sword in vain, for he
is a minister of God, and God is going to keep order in this
universe. The stars are in their proper order. They are in a proper
path. They go where they are supposed to go. They do what
they are supposed to do. The seasons are in a proper order.
There is winter, spring, summer, and fall, and they come in their
proper order. They are not going to change
places. Spring is not going to get mad because it can't come
before fall. It is going to stay where it
is because God put it that way. And people worried about the home
giving out. I'm not the slightest bit worried. God's going to keep
the home. There's going to be a home somewhere. And God's going
to keep things in order. And those that resist it, the
order is not going to perish. The government is not going to
perish. God's divine order of authority is not going to cave
in. I guarantee you, it's been here
since God created man and gave him authority over the birds
and the beasts and the fish and his creation. And it's going
to stay that way till Christ comes. Now the man who's going
to suffer is the man who resisted. They're the ones that are going
to suffer. God says that I bear not the sword in vain. He's a
revenger to execute wrath upon all that do evil. All that do evil. Then verse 5 says, Wherefore
you must needs be subject. Subject to what? To the authority.
Subject to the authority. In the home, in the school, in
the streets, in the government, in the nation, in the world,
you've got to be subject. Not only for wrath, what does
he mean by that? That we Christians are to be
subject to God's order of command, chain of command, not only through
fear of punishment, not only to escape God's anger, but be
subject to this authority for conscience sake, or because we
approve of it. We're glad for it. And we respect
it as a matter of principle, not only a matter of fear, but
a matter of principle. We put our approval upon God's
government. We believe in the way God's doing
things. And our conscience not only tells
us that it's right to have an order and a government Our conscience
not only tells us it's right, but our conscience agrees with
it. Praise God for the order of things. Praise God for authority. Praise God for someone who is
in charge. There used to be a sign where
I worked. The boss may not always be right,
but he's always the boss. He's always the boss. Verse 6. For for this cause pay you tribute
also. That's just flat word taxes.
For this cause pay you taxes. The duty of the Christian is
not to refuse to pay taxes, is not to seek to evade paying taxes,
not to escape by underpayment of taxes. The Christian is to
give what is required. For this cause pay you taxes.
And here's the reason. for their God's ministers attending
continually upon this very thing. What does that mean? Well, it
means this, that the people who are paid by our taxes, in other
words, our taxes go to support our government, starting in Washington,
with the President, Senators, Congressmen, Supreme Court judges,
and the different people in the different bureaus Bureau of Investigation,
the different cabinets, and then down to the state level, Governor
and the House of Representatives and so forth, and then on down
to our local government, and then our school teachers are
paid with taxes, and the people who work in the health departments
and the different things like that. That's what he means here
in verse 5 or verse 6. These people attend continually
upon this very thing. That is, they are supported this
way. They're supported. He says that
they're God's ministers promoting the general welfare of society. And their work requires full
time. Just like the ministers are supported
and the missionaries are supported by your gifts to the church.
Because our work requires that we be busy full time in the ministry
and in missionary work. And these people who are teaching
school and in the hospitals and in the government and policemen
and firemen These people are in full-time employment, and
therefore they're supported by taxes. And for this cause, pay
your taxes, because God's ministers, these people who are God's ministers
for the welfare of the community and the state and the nation
and other areas, are attending continually upon this thing.
In other words, that's the way they're supported. Now, verse
7. Render, therefore, to all their
due. What does that mean? It means
to everybody who's in authority. For authority is of God. And
let me say this to this pastor, and to you fathers, and to you
mothers who have children, and to you schoolteachers, and to
you men who are bosses out there at the mill. Authority is of
God, and don't you forget it's a sacred trust. It's a sacred
trust. If these people who are supposed
to be subject to me, if they're supposed to be subject to me,
I'm supposed to be subject to God. And I'm supposed to conduct
myself as a leader, as a parent, as a husband, as a community
leader, as a pastor. And you are in your official
capacity, and everybody here has authority over somebody.
Even you boys and girls, you've got a dog or a cat, you've got
a little authority, you know. But everybody's got a little
authority, and it's a sacred trust. We are to respect and
obey authority, and that respect is to correspond to the degree
in which the authority is possessed by the object of your respect.
In other words, fear to whom fear is due. What is fear? This
is respect. It's a high degree of respect.
It's a reverence. Fear to whom fear is due. Honor
to whom honor is due. Honor is an inferior degree of
reverence. Honor civil rule. Honor authority
as God's ordinance. Custom to whom custom is due.
Fear to whom fear is due. Taxes to whom taxes is due. Honor
to whom honor is due. Now then, verse 8. Owe no man anything. I just heard
a preacher use this on the radio the other day, trying to convince
everybody all to pay cash for everything. Well, let's see if
I can handle this here. I'm not making fun of him, forgive
me, but I'm saying that this goes a lot deeper than that.
Go back to verse 7, and this is what it says in verse 7 now.
"'Render therefore to all their dues.' Fear to whom fear is due,
tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom is due,
and honor to whom honor is due, O no man any fail." In other
words, make good all obligations, whether of a civil or a natural
kind. These are obligations. Obedience
and respect are debts which are to be paid. Kings to subjects
and subjects to kings. Husbands to wives and wives to
husband. Parents to children and children
to parents. Supervisor to workman and workman
to supervisor. Brother, friend, neighbor to
one another. This honor is to be paid, this
respect is to be paid, this obedience is to be paid, this submission
is to be paid. Oh, none of them anything that's
theirs by God's order of government. Don't owe it, pay it. Also, and
all, I looked up several writers and all of them agree, and I
think it can be brought in here, it can also be brought in here,
financial dealings. Financial dealings. In other
words, borrowing, buying, contracts, you enter a contract with a person,
an agreement, even a handshake agreement, even a word agreement.
These things cannot be avoided in carrying out business. We
all have it all the days of our lives. And they should be paid
promptly and fully when they're due. Nothing wrong with entering
into an agreement with a man that when he supplies a certain
thing, you'll pay him. That's an agreement. That's a
contract. You owe him that on the basis of your word. That's
God's order. That's authority. That's a contract. And when it's due, you pay it. owe no man anything but to love
one another. Now this is the only debt which
can never be fully paid. Owe no man anything. If a man
is due respect from you, give him. If a person is due subjection
from you, give him. If a person is due obedience
from you, give him. If a person is due taxing from
you, pay him. If a person is due a payment
on a Obligation, pay it on time. Don't you owe that. Don't you
let it get past that time when it's due. That's what he's talking
about. But to love one another, and love, John Gill says, is
a debt that can never be fully paid. Though we're always paying
it, we still owe more. Love is a debt we owe to all,
and a debt we can never fully discharge. For he that, look
at the next line, for he that loveth another in the way that
he ought to, in the way that he owes that person, hath fulfilled
the law. He that truly loves another hath
fulfilled what the law requires. Now, in fulfilling, the apostle
doesn't mean that I perfectly obeyed the law. You know that
I don't love perfectly, and you don't either. We don't do anything
perfectly. But it means by fulfilling the
law is that we are doing what the law requires. We're loving
one another. And he that loveth another is
doing what the law demands. For this, thou shalt not commit
adultery, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt
not bear false witness, thou shalt not covet. And if there
be any other commandment, it's briefly comprehended in this
saying, thou shalt love thy neighbors thyself. Now the apostle is saying
in verse 9, that the law requires nothing of us in reference to
one another that is not contained in the word love. You take any
law in either table of the law. The first table has reference
to God, and Christ said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart. The second table is in reference
to people, and he said, Thou shalt love thy neighbors And
the Apostle is saying in verse 9 that the law of God requires
nothing of us, absolutely nothing, in reference to one another that
is not contained in the word love. Look at verse 10. Because love worketh no ill to
his neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
The man who loves his neighbor will not willingly hurt him.
The man who loves his neighbor will not willingly hurt him because
that's not consistent with love. He'll do all within his power
not to hurt him, but to promote his happiness. And therefore,
love is the fulfilling of the law, because it meets every requirement
of the law and is the doing of the law. Oh, no man anything.
Meet your obligation. Fulfill your obligation. be in
subjection where you're supposed to be in subjection, but love
one another. This is a debt that is never
fully discharged. It's one we pay and we keep paying. And it fulfills all the law of
God because the law of God is comprehended in this saying,
I shall love thy neighbor as thyself. Now verse 11, and that
knowing the time that now it is high time to awake
out of sleep, knowing the time. What time is it? Well, it's the
gospel day. It's the day of salvation. It's
the day when the grace of God in Christ shines forth as the
sun. It's the day of completed revelation. It is not the time for carelessness. It's not the time for indifference. It's the time for diligence to
spiritual duties. So awake out of sleep. And this
is not spiritual death because he's writing to converted people.
But he's saying it's time for us to awake out of indifference
and out of carelessness. Our final deliverance is nearer
than when we first believe. Our salvation is nearer than
when we first believe. That day when we shall be free
from all sin. That day when we shall have a
triumphant entrance into the very presence of God. That day
when we shall have a perfect conformity to Jesus Christ our
Lord. So it's not any time for indifference. It's not any time for sleep.
It's the time to be diligent about the things of God. Verse
12, the night is far spent. The day is at hand. What is the
night here? Well, I think it's the world.
The world is like a night to the believer. At best, it is
filled with imperfections and darkness, filled with errors
and mistakes. It is filled with trials and
burdens. And in doctrine, in conversation, in principle, in
practice, in attitude, in actions, it's been like a night, hasn't
it? For the night is fast passing away and the day is at hand.
What is that day? I think it's that day that John
wrote about in Revelation 21 when he said, Behold, the tabernacle
of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall
be his God, and God himself shall be with them and be their God.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there will
be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor any more pain,
for the former things have passed away." That's the day that's
at hand. That's the day. Therefore let us cast off the
works of darkness. All these things that are contrary
to holiness, and contrary to honesty, and contrary to purity. Let us pray for the fruits of
the Holy Spirit. Let us seek the mind of Christ. Let us cast off the works of
darkness, and let us put on the whole armor of God. In verse
13, let us walk honestly, as in the day, not in rioting. Now
this is not applicable, not very applicable to you because this
word rioting comes from the orgies and the lewd feasts and parties
that they used to have during the days of the Roman government.
That's what Paul is talking about here. It's talking about rioting
and drunkenness such as they had in the days of the Roman
government. These all night orgies and things
of that nature. and chambering and wantonness,
that's talking about lasciviousness and sodomy and homosexuality
and these things that went on in these orgies and wild parties
that they had and not in strife, which is quarreling and arguing
and fighting and not in envying. which is the consequence of intemperate
luxury, which brings an end to all great empires and will eventually
ours, I suppose. But put ye on the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now John Brown says when he talks
about putting on Christ, these people have already put on Christ. They've already received Christ.
They've already professed faith in Christ. They've already believed
on him. They've already been brought
to love him. But John Brown says, putting on the Lord Jesus Christ
here seems to imply not believing on him for salvation, but imitating
him as an example. Put on Christ, that is to walk
as he walked, to forgive as he forgave, to love as he loved. to be humble in my spirit as
he was humble. To follow his example by putting
it on, making that, putting forth an effort, making that my ambition
to be like Christ. And not make provisions for the
flesh, make provisions for the spirit, not for the flesh. Make
not provision for the flesh, give attention to the Spirit,
and to your relationship with Christ, and less attention to
this body, and to its lust, and to its passions, and to its appetite,
by making Jesus Christ your example in seeking to imitate Him. Let us bow in prayer. Our Father, we thank Thee for
Thy Word. We feel that Thou hast spoken to us tonight through
Thy Word. We feel that the Holy Spirit
has ministered to Thy servant and to Thy people. And we pray,
O God, for the will to walk in Thy Word. Grant, O Lord, that
we shall have a submission to those in authority. Take away
our rebellion. Our rebellion against thy sovereignty
and thy kingship, thy lordship. Take away our rebellion against
authority in the civil realm and in the home and in the schools,
in the streets. Give us submissive spirits. Take away our haughty spirit
and our arrogancy and our false pride. and humble us, O Lord,
and bring us to see that government is of God, authority is of God,
and it is ours to be in submission to all that He has ordained,
to the divine order of things. And shed abroad Thy love in our
hearts, bring us to love Thee more. Help us, O God, to love
Thee with all our hearts, and help us to love one another,
for love is the fulfillment of the law. Help us to weep with
those that weep, and be burdened for those that are burdened.
Rejoice with those that rejoice. Take away jealousy and envy and
strife out of our hearts. Give us happiness in our homes,
and happiness in the church, and happiness everywhere that
we are, where we work, and with the people with whom we associate.
And we believe this happiness will be based upon our loving
thee and loving one another. Bless the message to our hearts.
Strengthen us through Thy word, for Thy word is truth. In Christ's
name we pray. Amen. Brother Ronnie, you come. 393. 393. Let's stand, please. Take my life and let it be consecrated,
Lord, to Thee. Take my hands and let them move
at the impulse of Thy love, at the impulse of Thy love. Take my feet and let them be
swift and beautiful for thee. Take my voice and let me sing
Always, only for my King Always, only for my King Take my lips
and let them be filled with messages for thee. Take my silver and
my gold, Not a mite would I withhold, Not a mite would I withhold.