Welcome to Grace to you with John MacArthur. I'm your host Phil Johnson.

As we did on yesterday's broadcast, today we are going to step away from our usual

verse-by-verse teaching format, but biblical truth will still be at the center of what

you hear over the next 30 minutes as John and I continue a conversation about some of the

most troubling trends in society at large and in the about some

most troubling trends in society at large and in the church.

And even though we're going to consider some discouraging subjects,

our hope is that you actually will find this broadcasting encouraging.

That's because God still is sovereign.

He's not surprised by anything that happens in this world,

and he has put you right where you're supposed to be at this time in history.

So, John, let's get back to the discussion.

We ended last time talking about dealing with sin in the church.

The Bible's clear about the need to confront sin, but one thing

that concerns me is that there are those who argue that the church should

commandeer the mechanism of secular government, that the church should comeendear the mechanism of secular government. The church should

take the sword out of Caesar's hands so to speak and give that power to the church

in order to bring about a righteous society by force.

But I don't see a command in scripture for the church

to do anything like that.

Would you agree?

Well, yes, absolutely, 100% I agree.

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