While the Church and State are to have separate and distinct powers, yet, biblically there are some legitimate functions for the national government to engage in. In this sermon we will be looking specifically at some Old Testament prophecies regarding the New Covenant era that demonstrate the legitimate functions of the civil ruler in the ecclesiastical sphere. 

Can Christians engage in all wars or only just wars? What makes a war just or unjust? These are the questions we will be answering in this sermon.

Where did we get the idea of separation of Church and State? Was it the creation of Thomas Jefferson in his famous letter to the Danbury Baptists, or is it much, much older and rooted in the Old Testament? That will be the topic this week on Solomon's Porch Smyrna.

When you think of servants of God, do you only think about church officers or other Christians? There are servants of God outside the church too. These servants carry out the wrath of God on dangerous persons in their communities. Let's learn from the Apostle Paul how Civil Rulers serve the purposes of God.

Where did civil government come from? Did it arise from some accidental development in human history, or did God reveal its necessity to us in the Scriptures? That is the question we will attempt to answer in this episode of Solomon's Porch Smyrna.

Who decides what is good and what is evil? Are these things declared from a single human power? No, that would be a dictatorship. Are these things voted on by the masses? No that would be a democracy. Moral law and declaring what is good and what is evil is alone the domain of the Triune God. Let's explore the Civil Rulers relationship to moral law a little further this week on Solomon's Porch Smyrna.