Sermon On Church State Relations

By the kind permission of our friend Mark Malcolm, I link to a sermon of Mark's on Romans 13: 1-7. Click on the following link (you will need Real Audio) Download 070610.ra .  The Reverend Malcolm is a minister in the Church of Scotland, and you get to hear what Mark calls his "authentic nasally Glasgow accent."  If you liked Pippen's accent in the Lord of the Rings movies, you'll love Mark's.  I add that Mark's permission to link to his sermon here by no means suggests he endorses anything on this site, certainly not Ken Blanchard's taste in music.  Here are the verses in question from Romans:

Let every person be subordinate to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been established by God.

 

Therefore, whoever resists authority opposes what God has appointed, and those who oppose it will bring judgment upon themselves.

 

For rulers are not a cause of fear to good conduct, but to evil. Do you wish to have no fear of authority? Then do what is good and you will receive approval from it,

 

for it is a servant of God for your good. But if you do evil, be afraid, for it does not bear the sword without purpose; it is the servant of God to inflict wrath on the evildoer.

 

Therefore, it is necessary to be subject not only because of the wrath but also because of conscience.

 

This is why you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, devoting themselves to this very thing.

 

Pay to all their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, toll to whom toll is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.