I exhort therefore, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and givings of thanks, be made for all men:
For kings and all that are in high place ...  Here is only a glimpse of the Christian philosophy with regard to government, a teaching which Paul spelled out in detail in  Romans 13:1ff.  The true Christian stands for law and order, any government being far better than none at all. Nero was at the time of Paul's writing the emperor; and, as Dummelow put it, "The apostle's instruction shows that the prayers of the church are to be offered for bad rulers as well as for good."[8]