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The verse is first Peter two thirteen through seventeen. Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the Emperor or the Supreme, or to governors as sent by him, to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone, love the Brotherhood, fear God, honor the Emperor. In the year 1998, almost 30 years ago, a movie was released that perhaps many of you have seen, the movie The Truman Show. In this movie, the main character, his first name is Truman, played by Jim Carey. And in the Truman Show, Truman, he unknowingly grows up and lives his life on a television set. His world is perfectly curated for him. Every conversation that he has is perfectly scripted, and he doesn't know it at all. The reason for this experiment, if you will, is because 24-7 there's a camera on Truman, and the watching world is consuming the Truman Show as a reality TV show for entertainment purposes. And Truman has no idea what's going on. Until he starts to pick up on some things that seem off to him. He starts to recognize some things that are out of place. And one day he takes a sailboat and starts sailing toward the edge of the set and runs into a wall. The wall was painted blue to look like the sky, but he runs right into it and he tries to open up the wall and finds a staircase that leads off the television set. Some of you remember this scene. And as he's about to take the staircase, a voice from the heavens, quote unquote, calls out to Truman, it's the creator of the Truman Show, and basically encourages Truman: don't leave the set. You haven't ever experienced the real world, you've never seen the real world, but the world that you've experienced up to this point on the set of the Truman Show is way better. So just stay here and don't go. But if you've seen the movie, you know that Truman walks that staircase and leaves the set. You know, in a way, we're kind of like Truman in that scenario. We come and we gather in this room as the church in here, and we can't say that our faith is easy, but our faith is a lot easier inside these four walls than it is outside these four walls. We come and gather as the church in here, and we've got volunteers all over the property who have planned ministry and are executing ministry with excellence for you. You have positive conversations with other brothers and sisters in Christ right here when you're gathered as the church in here. But as Sunday morning winds down and you're getting ready to leave property, there's a quiet voice in your head. It's the enemy, it's the devil saying, Hey, why don't you just leave your faith here and pick it back up next Sunday morning when you return? But don't take your faith into the community. Don't take your faith into the real world. That's what the enemy wants you to do. But that's not at all what God wants you to do. God not only wants us to gather as the church in here, God wants us to leave this place and be the church out there. He wants us to be the church outside of these four walls. He wants us to have a real world faith. And a real world faith when you leave these four walls is not a faith that is squashed by the real world, but it's a faith that makes a real difference in the real world and on the real world. God wants you to have a real world faith. And so the question then becomes what are the key ingredients to a real world faith? How do I develop and maintain a real world faith? Well, let's turn to God's word to answer that question this morning. If you haven't already, turn with me to the book of 1 Peter, chapter 2, 1 Peter chapter 2, and I'll meet you there in just a moment to discuss having a real world faith. Well, this morning we are continuing our Living Hope sermon series through the books of 1 and 2 Peter. And I tell you what, last Sunday, May 24th, I loved having Pastor Bud Norton here with us to exposit God's word from 1 Peter. Pastor Bud's a good friend of mine, and I'm so proud of him. He did such a good job preaching God's word, and I enjoyed sitting under his preaching alongside each of you. And we didn't miss a beat. He taught from 1 Peter chapter 2, verses 9 through 12, and we're gonna pick right up where he left off, but I loved having him here. I will tell you that uh today will be our last day in the Living Hope sermon series for a little while. We're gonna pause the series after today, and during the summer months, we're gonna study some psalms in a series called Songs of the Summer. If you are with us in 2025, we're gonna study some different psalms in 2026, I can assure you of that. But starting next Sunday, we're gonna look at some different psalms. And then in the fall, when we resume the Living Hope sermon series, we'll pick right back up where we leave off today in 1 Peter chapter 2. But this morning we're in 1 Peter 2, verses 13 through 17, talking about having a real world faith. Just five verses to study this morning, but some dense verses nonetheless. So, church, if you're taking notes today, let's dive right in. Number one on your notes is this number one, aim for submission. Having a real world faith involves aiming for submission. Look with me in verses 13 and 14 of 1 Peter chapter 2. In 1 Peter 2, verses 13 and 14, Peter tells us, be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution. For instance, to the Emperor as supreme. But verse 14, also to the governors that are appointed by the Emperor. And those governors are there to punish evil and to praise good. But in verse 13, those first two words are be subject. Those two words are really the words from which we derive point number one, about submission. We're in the English Standard Version this morning, but other translations of the Bible might say, submit yourselves. Here we have subject yourselves, but you might see in other versions, submit yourselves. It's all about submission in verse 13. Now it's important to notice what Peter does not say. He does not say, be subjected. There's no ED on the end of that subject. There's nothing passive about our submission. We don't wait until someone catches us doing wrong to start doing right. We're not gonna be subjected, we're not gonna be submitted as Christians. The Lord is calling us to an apt active submission. We should subject ourselves and submit ourselves. You shouldn't wait until a police officer pulls you over to start driving the speed limits. You shouldn't wait until the IRS catches you to start paying your taxes. You should submit yourself to every human institution, including the government, as we'll talk about in a minute. But you should actively submit yourself. Don't wait to be submitted or wait to be subjected. Why do we submit ourselves? Why should we actively subject ourselves? Well, Peter tells us in a moment to submit ourselves to the government. Well, why should we do that? Well, it's not for the government's sake, although the government is better off when citizens submit themselves. It's not for our sake, although we're better off when we submit ourselves. But what does Peter say in verse 13? For the Lord's sake. We aim for submission for the Lord's sake. God is most glorified when you are most submissive. We aim for submission for the Lord's sake. To whom do we submit, verse 13? Peter says, submit to every institution. Every human institution. Now, to clarify, what Peter means by every human institution is not every school and university and library and small business and doctor's office and corporation. That's not what he means. But he means every human government, the government of your nation. And we know that because he goes on in verse 13 to talk about emperors and then in verse 14, governors. When he says every human institution, he's talking about the government of your nation state. Submit yourself to the government, to the human institution. It's important to notice that Peter does not say, submit yourself to every single law of the government. This is important, brothers and sisters, because sometimes the government may command something the Lord forbids, or forbid something the Lord commands. And when that happens, check this out, we continue aiming for submission, we just aim a little higher. And we say, I report to a higher authority. I can't do this, or I can't stop doing this. So it is important that we phrase this, not always submit or blindly submit, but aim for submission as often as you can. And when the government commands something the Lord forbids, or forbids something the Lord commands, keep aiming for submission. Just aim a little higher. And say, I report to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Some great examples of this would be in Exodus chapter 1, when Pharaoh commanded the murder of young boys and the Hebrew midwives disobeyed. Or in Daniel chapter 3, when Nebuchadnezzar commanded the worship of a false god, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego disobeyed. Or in Daniel chapter 6, when the government said, You cannot pray anymore, and Daniel continued praying. Or in Acts chapter 5, check this out. When the government said, You may no longer preach the gospel, and Peter said, I will continue to preach the gospel. The author of this letter exercised some civil disobedience. And he's the one telling us, Submit yourself to every human institution, submit yourself to the government. Aim for submission, and when you can't, aim just a little bit higher. Aim for submission to every human institution. For instance, the emperor. Oh boy. This is a hard pill for Peter's original audience to swallow. Submit to the emperor. The emperor at the time was Emperor Nero, and Nero was an evil man. At the time when this letter was written, Nero hadn't yet done this, but just a couple years later, Nero sets the entire city of Rome on fire because he's evil and a bit crazy, and then he blames the Christians for it. And so as if people didn't already dislike the Christians enough, now they really hate the Christians because they think the Christians burnt down their entire city, burnt down Rome. And it's to the emperor, to Emperor Nero, that Peter is writing to these Jewish converts to Christianity in exile in Gentile territories, and he's saying, Subject yourselves and submit yourselves to the Emperor. That's a hard thing for them to obey. But the Holy Spirit, through Peter, called them to obey it anyway. Now the question becomes for us in the 21st century United States of America, who is the Emperor? Now, I know that you guys didn't come here for a civics lesson, okay? But this is this is really important to understanding verses 13 and 14. You might think that the emperor is the president of the United States. I could see how you might make that connection. But the emperor in today's day and age is not the president of the United States. In fact, we're coming up on our 250th birthday as a nation, and the whole point of the American experience was to revolt against the monarchy. We wanted to establish a democracy and not submit ourselves to a monarchy any longer. We wanted to be governed by we the people. And so there is no emperor, there is no king in the United States of America. And so when you see emperor here in verse 13 and later on in verse 17, it's better in this context to think about the Constitution. In the United States of America, our emperor is the Constitution. And we subject ourselves and we submit ourselves to the Constitution. Now, before you think you can divorce the document from the people, the document of the Constitution from officers like presidents and governors and mayors and so on, you can't do that because look in verse 14. Peter goes on to say, Submit yourself to the Emperor, but also, verse 14, submit yourself to governors appointed by the Emperor. Well, if our emperor is the Constitution, the Constitution articulates several different offices that are to be filled by representatives of we the people. And so we submit ourselves both to the document, the Constitution, and to the representatives holding office, representatives that we elect. Now, I will say this at First Baptist Leesburg, we don't tell people how to vote. We don't do that. That's not what pulpits are for. We don't tell people who to vote for, we don't tell people what party to align with. We don't tell people what policies to vote for. That's not how this works. That's not what pulpits are for. But I will tell you, you should vote. I'm not gonna tell you how to vote, but I will unapologetically ask you to vote. People died for your right to vote. And as a Christian in this nation, you should you should exercise your right to vote. Inform yourself, seek wise counsel, uh, pray about it, and go to the ballot box and vote your conscience. But you should vote. We won't tell you how to vote, but we will we will tell you you should vote. It's a it's a right and a privilege to vote, and you should you should do it. Now, what are some principles as you think about and pray through how to vote? Maybe look at the rest of verse 14. Check this out. The emperor appoints governors for one purpose to punish evil and praise good. Unfortunately, sometimes politicians get it backwards. And they praise evil and they punish good. But even though we're not going to tell you specifically people and parties and policies to support and oppose, we will tell you to think about 1 Peter 2 14. When you're praying through your voting, is the person and the policy that you're voting for going to praise good and punish evil? This would be a great verse to keep in mind when you vote, but be sure that you vote. Aim for submission. That's really what verses 13 and 14 are all about. As Christians who are looking to have a real world faith, we should aim for submission. You know, brothers and sisters, it's it's no secret that I'm a big basketball fan. I was up late last night watching Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals. The Spurs are going to the finals. I might be the only person in the room that cares about that, but I'm a big basketball fan. There's a consensus that this guy named Steph Curry is the greatest shooter of all time. He's won four NBA championships. He's still playing, and he's already set the record by a mile for the most three-pointers made in his career. There was an interview not too long ago with Steph Curry about the nitty-gritty of his shooting mechanics. And basically, where does Steph Curry aim when he shoots the basketball? What's the secret? He doesn't look at the ball, he doesn't look at his hand, he doesn't look at his defender, he doesn't look at the backboard. On a basketball hoop, you have the rim and the net, and then on the other side of the rim, there's a bunch of hooks that connect the net to the rim. And Curry says, whenever I shoot the basketball, I fix my eyes on one of those hooks, and I keep my eyes fixed on that hook until I release the ball. That's how particular he is about his shooting mechanics. Now, that's probably not the only reason he's the greatest shooter of all time, but it's one of the greatest reasons he's the greatest shooter of all time. Because he's aiming for something very specific. He doesn't make the shot every time, but he makes it most of the time because he's aiming for something very specific. And in a similar way, this morning, church, as citizens of this nation seeking to have a real world faith, we should aim for something specific. We should aim for submission. And most of the time you'll be able to hit it. You won't hit it all the time because we're sinful, imperfect people. And you won't hit it all the time because sometimes you won't be able to. Sometimes the government will command something the Lord forbids or forbid something the Lord commands. But if you aim for submission, you'll hit it most of the time, but you gotta aim for it first. If you want to have a real world faith, then aim for submission. Hey church, let's keep moving through our notes this morning. Number two on your notes is this silence opposition, God's way. Having a real world faith involves silencing opposition, God's way. Look with me in verse 15 of 1 Peter chapter 2. Peter says, This is the will of God that by doing good you would silence the ignorance of foolish people. Have you ever heard someone ask this question before? Or maybe you've asked this question before. What is the will of God for my life? That's a great question to ask. And perhaps it's a sermon for another time because you can actually discern the will of God for your life. But one way in which there's no ambiguity about the will of God for your life is when it comes to submission to the government of your nation-state. Peter makes it very clear right here in verse 15 the will of God for your life as a Christian is that you would be submissive to your governments. That is God's will for your life. And it's fascinating because very rarely in the New Testament does a New Testament writer like Peter or John or Paul connect an instruction explicitly to the will of God. In fact, verse 15 is only one of three times. The other two occurrences are in the book of 1 Thessalonians. Paul says it's the will of God that you sanctify yourself. And also in 1 Thessalonians, Paul said, Hey, it's the will of God that you would be grateful. And then here in 1 Peter 2 15, Peter says, It's the will of God that you would submit yourself to the government of your nation state. That is the will of God for your life. And then Peter takes a bit of an evangelistic turn in verse 15. He says, By submitting to the government of your nation state, by doing good, the world is watching, and you're sending a message to the watching world. Peter says, by doing good, you send a message. I think that's really important, brothers and sisters. Peter does not say by thinking good thoughts, although you should think good thoughts. Peter does not say by speaking good words, although you should have good speech and not have corrupt speech coming from your mouth. Peter doesn't say by praying for good things, although our church loves to pray. Peter doesn't even say by funding good things, although we should be generous people who fund the work of the Lord. It's not by thinking or saying or praying or funding. Peter says, by doing, we can't just be hearers of the word only. We must be doers also. And Peter says, by doing good, you silence the opposition. You silence the ignorance of foolish people. May Oxford Campus and all the First Baptist Leesburg be doers of the Word of God so that our opposition in the community might be silent. Foolish people. Who are the foolish people? You know, I heard a provocative statement by a preacher recently, and I'll share the statement with you and then explain it, okay? So hang tight. I heard a preacher recently say, the Bible says, There is no God. The Bible says the phrase, there is no God. You want to know where it says it? You can look it up for yourself. It's in Psalm 14, verse 1. In Psalm 14, 1, check this out, the Bible says, the fool says, There is no God. So who are the foolish people? The foolish people are the ones saying that there is no higher authority than the government of my nation state. The foolish people are the ones saying, Psalm 14.1, there's no God. Those are the foolish people. And something else that we know about foolish people, Proverbs 18, verse 2, foolish people are not quiet people. Proverbs 18:2 says that fools do not listen well. Instead, they express their incorrect opinions very loudly. Fools are not silent. But foolish people who believe there is no God and express their incorrect opinions loudly, they do it because, 1 Peter 2.15, they don't know any better. They're ignorant. This is the second time in his epistle that Peter has mentioned the concept of ignorance. The first time was in chapter 1, verse 14. You'll remember that. When Peter says that now we are children of obedience, no longer conformed to the passions of our former ignorance. As Christians, we don't know everything, but we're not ignorant anymore. The Holy Spirit has opened our eyes to the truth about reality, that our government is not the highest authority. There are lowercase K kings, but there is an uppercase K King of Kings. There are lowercase L lords, but there is an uppercase L Lord of Lords. God exists, and we are no longer ignorant to that. We believe He exists. But fools believe he does not exist. He does not exist. And they they express their opinion loudly and incorrectly. And I'll tell you what we want to do, including myself, what we want to do is we want to snap back. In our flesh, we want to talk back and text back and post back on social media and email back and call back. But God calls us not to do that. God calls us to a better way of silencing opposition. He says, instead of snapping back, just be silent and do good. Do so much good for such a long time that the opposition has no other option than to be quiet. Do so much good for such a long time that the opposition has no other option than to simply hush and be quiet. Because we've proven them wrong with our good that we do. On December 17th, 1903, the Wright brothers took flight for the first time in human history. They flew for a total of 12 seconds. And they flew for a distance of 126 feet. But it was the first time that humans took flight. A couple years later, in 1905, the Wright brothers had built a plane that could stay in the air for 30 minutes. They were making progress. And by 1909, the U.S. military purchased their first airplane from the Wright brothers. Now, today we recognize the Wright brothers as heroes. They paved the way for aviation around the world. But we often forget all of the opposition that they faced in 1902 for the majority of 1903. People thought they were crazy. Up until this point, for thousands of years, humans have never flown before. And here are the Wright brothers, these two bicycle mechanics in North Carolina trying to build a contraption that can fly humans in the air. People thought they were crazy. You can read newspaper articles and editorials from 1903. But you know what happened? From December 17th, 1903 onward? The opposition was silent. The Wright brothers never snapped back, they never wrote back. They just kept building. They kept trying and failing and trying and failing until they finally took flight. And then the opposition was silent. God is calling us to have a real world faith and do something very similar to the Wright brothers. Don't snap back, don't write back, don't talk back, just do so much good for such a long time that the opposition will eventually have no other option than to hush and be quiet because we've proven them wrong. Having a real world faith involves silencing opposition, God's way, not your way. In this verse, Peter says, as free people, don't use your freedom to do evil and then try to cover up that evil. But in the latter half of verse 16, he says, Instead, use your freedom to live as a servant of the Lord. As free people. As a Christian, you are a free man or a free woman. John chapter 8, verse 36, it says that who the Son sets free, the S-O-N, who the Son sets free, is free indeed. Jesus came and lived the life that you and I could never live. He lived a perfect life. He died the death that you and I deserve. He died in our place. He was buried because he was really dead, and he rose again on the third day, defeating death once and for all. And anyone who repents of their sins and believes in Jesus can restore their relationship with the God of the universe and can be set free. Set free from our former ignorance. Set free from our slavery to sin. If you are in Christ, then you are a free man or a free woman. You are free people. But Peter says in verse 16, what we should not do is use our freedom for self-indulgence or selfish gain. We shouldn't use our freedom for evil and then try to cover up that evil. Unfortunately, a lot of religious people have corrupted and co-opted Christianity to do some evil things and then try to cover it up with religiosity and religious platitudes. May it never be so at First Baptist Leesburg. By God's grace. Peter says, a better way to use your freedom is to live as a servant of the Lord. You know, it's hard to have a favorite verse because there's so many to choose from, but I will say that one of my favorite verses is Mark chapter 10, verse 45. In Mark 10, 45, it's Jesus talking about himself. And Jesus says, the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. In that verse, Jesus basically tells us the ultimate reason why he came. Ultimately, he came to be a servant of the Lord. And so check this out, church. There are a lot of ways that you could be like Jesus, but you're never more like Jesus than when you're serving. You are most like Jesus when you are serving. You should use your freedom and exercise your freedom to be a servant of the Lord. Don't live in irresponsible freedom. Live in responsible freedom. Or perhaps put another way, live in such a way that you leverage your freedom to take on more responsibility for the Lord. Live in responsible freedom. You know, when I think about this verse, I think about a 16-year-old getting their driver's license. And I recognize the irony of me talking about driver's licenses, okay? My eyesight is so poor, I don't have a driver's license. But this is still going to help you understand verse 16, okay? Think about that teenager who gets their driver's license at the age of 16. A whole new world of freedom has been opened up to them. They're no longer dependent on mom and dad for rides. They're no longer dependent upon friends for rides. They can drive. Now, maybe this was you. But that 16-year-old, that teenager, can leverage their freedom to do some pretty mischievous things. To stay out past curfew, to go places they shouldn't go, to meet people they shouldn't meet, do things they shouldn't do, purchase things they shouldn't buy, and then try to cover it up from their parents. Or that teenager with a driver's license could use that newfound freedom to contribute and to serve the family. Maybe to go pick up a part-time job at the local grocery store. Maybe to go run some errands for mom and dad. Maybe to go pick up their younger brother or their younger sister from school. It's the same freedom, but one teenager might leverage it for evil and then try to cover it up, while another teenager might leverage it to serve and contribute to the family. You know, in a similar way, brothers and sisters, when you repented of your sins and became a Christian, you were given a spiritual driver's license. A whole new world of freedom has been opened up to you. You are free people. You are a free man or a free woman, freed from your former ignorance, freed from your slavery to sin. How are you going to use your freedom? The Lord wants you to have a real world faith and use your freedom to live as a servant for Him to serve His bride, the church. Look with me in verse 17, the last verse in our passage today. In 1 Peter 2, verse 17, Peter says, honor everyone, love the brotherhood, fear God, and honor the emperor. There's that word emperor again. You've got four commands in verse 17, four instructions. But the thing about these four commands is they're not created equal. One of these commands is not like the others. One of these commands influences the other three. And it's that command to fear God. If you do not fear God, it is unlikely that you will honor everyone, love the brotherhood, and honor the emperor. But if you truly fear God, then it is inevitable. You must honor everyone. You must love the brotherhood and you must honor the emperor. That phrase, that command to fear God, is the key that unlocks the other three commands. Now, what does it mean to fear God? That is a big question. It doesn't mean that you're shaking in your boots or you're on the edge of your seat waiting for a jump scare or you're walking on eggshells around God. That's not what it means to fear God. I guess there is a little bit of that because God does have wrath that must be satisfied. But for the believer, God's wrath was satisfied fully and completely in the death of Christ on the cross. So we don't fear God in that kind of a way. So for the believer, for you and I, what does it mean to fear God? The best definition, my favorite definition of what it means to fear God is this. To fear God means to take God seriously. That's all it means. To fear God means to take God seriously. Unlike the foolish people in verse 15, we believe God exists. And we believe the Bible is his word. And if we fear God, then we take God and His Word seriously. That's what it means to fear God. Proverbs 1:7 says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. God designed all of this, God created all of this. And so if you want to acquire for yourself knowledge and wisdom, well, it starts by fearing the Lord and believing He exists and trusting His Word. Fear God and everything else will fall into place. You won't be perfect, you'll make mistakes along the way, but if you fear God, it unlocks your obedience to the other three commands in verse 17. If you fear God, you will honor everyone, because the Bible says everyone is created in the image of God. It does not matter someone's ethnicity, someone's age, someone's gender, someone's nationality, someone's abilities or disabilities. If you fear God and trust his word, then you believe every single person on this planet was created in God's image, and every single person on this planet is due some honor from the Christian. If you fear God, then you will honor everyone. If you fear God, then you will love the brotherhood. If you fear God, then you believe what we're doing right now, gathering in this room. This is more than a social club. This is more than an organization or a corporation, this is a family. You are my brothers and sisters in Christ, and we share a heavenly father. This is a brotherhood and a sisterhood, and we should love one another like siblings. And if we fear God, then we believe that about what we're doing right now as a church. If you fear God, then you will honor the emperor. Because you believe that the government of this nation state is not the highest authority. There is ultimately a king of kings and a lord of lords. And Romans 13, 1 and 2 says that God establishes all human governments. And so if you fear God, then you can honor the Emperor. You can honor the Constitution and the representatives holding offices in our nation. Fearing God unlocks the other three commandments in this passage, in this verse. You know, the other day we were finishing up a meal at my house, and most of you know that Hannah and I, we have three kids. Uh their ages are four, three, and two. We were really trying to spread them up, spread them out, you know, so that's why we did it that way. But my my two-year-old, uh, Gunner, so the kids have to ask to get down from the table. They have to ask to be dismissed, and then they go throw away their trash and they go wash their hands. So the kids had gotten down from the table, and I could tell Gunner went down the hallway to wash his hands, but I didn't hear any water running. He wasn't washing his hands. And so May Lynn, my oldest, she'll be five in July. She was still in the kitchen. I said, Hey Mae, can you go tell your brother that dad wants him to wash his hands? And so May's actually at an age where she's pretty helpful with this kind of stuff. So she goes down the hallway, and I couldn't hear everything that they said to each other, but I could hear the water start running, and May was moving the step stool in front of the sink for him, and she was helping him get the soap, and Gunner was washing his hands. Now, I tell you, Gunner was not washing his hands because he thought it was a good idea. If he thought it was a good idea, he would have done it a long time ago. Gunner was not washing his hands because his older sister was very persuasive. Her negotiating skills are mediocre at best. Gunner was washing his hands because he knew that I sent May to tell him to wash his hands. And Gunner takes his dad seriously. In a very similar way, brothers and sisters, if you fear God, if you take God seriously, it trickles down into these other three commands. Honoring everyone, loving the brotherhood, honoring the emperor, being a submissive citizen of your nation state. Fearing God unlocks the other three. Gunnar didn't wash his hands because he thought it was a good idea or because his older sister told him to, it's because he takes his dad seriously. We don't honor everyone, love the brotherhood, and honor the emperor simply because we think it's a good idea, although it is, but ultimately because we fear God and we take God seriously. Say, church, this morning we've talked all about how to have a real world faith. And we said that having a real world faith, it starts by aiming for submission. If you want to have a real world faith, then you've got to aim for submission, and if you can't submit to the government, then aim a little higher and submit to the king of kings. Having a real world faith involves silencing opposition, not our way, but silencing opposition God's way. Having a real world faith involves living not in irresponsible freedom, but living in responsible freedom. And lastly, having a real world faith involves fearing God above all. But hey, maybe you're here today and you're not a Christian. Can I tell you something? We're really, really glad that you're here. But maybe you're here and you're saying, you know what? I'm in the real world. I've experienced the real world, but it's been a real struggle for me. Because I don't yet have a relationship with Jesus, and I don't yet have access to the living hope that is the person and work of Jesus Christ. Hey, if that's you here today, we want to invite you to make today the day of your salvation. We want to invite you to make today, May 31st, 2026, the day when you step from death to life, from darkness to light, and you make Jesus your personal Lord and Savior. He is my living hope. He's the living hope of most people in this room. And we're able to have a real world faith because of the person and work of Jesus Christ. And if you're here today and you're not a Christian, you can have that same hope. You can have that same real world faith starting today. Let me tell you what's about to happen. In just a moment, I want to pray to close our time of Bible study. And when I say amen, uh everyone in the room can stand as we sing one more song of worship. As we sing, a lot of our members and regular attenders will come down front and pray all across the altar. The altar is open this morning for anyone who wants to pray about anything. But as we sing and stand, my wife and I will be standing right down the front. And if you want to pray to receive Christ today, if you want to become a Christian today, then as we sing, you walk the aisle, you come talk to us. We'd love nothing more than to talk and pray with you about becoming a Christian today. Would you pray with me? Father in heaven, God, we love you and we praise you. God, we're grateful today for the gospel, for the death and the burial and the resurrection of Jesus. We're grateful that you established the church and you're building the church right here at Oxford Campus. We're so grateful for the freedom we have to assemble and to gather and to worship you every Sunday morning. God, I pray that our faith is strengthened in this room so that we can leave this room and have a real world faith that makes a real impact on the world around us. God, I pray for that person in the room right now who does not yet have a relationship with you through Christ. Would you make today the day? Would you make right now the moment when they place their faith in Jesus and walk with you for the rest of their days? God, we give this time over to you. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen.