I. Intro & Disclaimer.
A. Voting day is nearly here.
1. Mid-term elections are coming up on Tuesday, November 3rd and I want to give you some things to think and pray about as that day is approaching.
2. As long as I have been in ministry I have kept politics out of my preaching and out of the pulpit (from others). In my position I have kept people from promoting a candidate or a party in our gatherings. I will continue to do that as long as I am the Senior Leader or unless the Lord instructs me to do otherwise. I believe that the church should be apolitical and should concern itself with teaching what the bible says about the issues we face rather than tell people how to vote and who to vote for.
3. I believe that individual believers can be called by God into the political arena and often are. So I’m not saying that all Christians should not be involved in politics, just that the church as the body of Christ should concern itself primarily with the kingdom of God, preaching the gospel and making disciples. The church should hopefully influence our nations towards righteousness whenever possible, but we should not become a religious arm of a political party.
4. As individuals we have a civic duty to vote, pay our taxes and obey the law of the land as long as those laws are not contrary to God’s law written on our hearts and instructed in the Word.
5. So as a church, I feel strongly that we are to abstain from making political endorsements, but as individual saints, would should seek the Lord in prayer and vote as we are led by the Spirit.
B. Four attitudes & four actions.
1. That being said, this message is not going to be political, but moral.
2. I want to caution you as a believer about four heart attitudes to guard against when it comes to our political beliefs. These four attitudes are prevalent in our nation today but they are not fitting for the Lord’s people. And they are present in every season, not just in election seasons.
3. And I want to share with you four action steps that you should take as faithful believer and a concerned citizen. These apply to every saint in whatever country they live.
4. Proverbs 4:23 “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” My appeal today is based on this verse. Politics can become an idol for the lost and the redeemed, so we’ve got to guard our heart even though we feel strongly about the issues we face.
II. Four Heart Attitudes to Guard Against. (In order.)
A. Give us a king.
1. The saying “Give us a king” comes from 1 Samuel 8:4&5.
4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, 5 and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”
2. People far from God often try to replace His presence in their lives with government. Without a higher, absolute power to appeal to, they turn to government to be the refuge that they crave.
3. But even God’s own people are often tempted to use earthly governments as a means of creating a godly society without the prayer, fasting and evangelism that requires. In other words, many Christians see government as the shortcut to creating a godly nation.
4. This has been the case throughout my life. From my teen years until now, many churches will have candidates (from both major parties) come and speak at Sunday morning gatherings. The message has been sometimes implied and other times overtly stated that the party of the candidate speaking was the arty of God and true believers will vote for this candidate.
5. When the Israelites asked for a King, they were rejecting the societal structure that God had created for them, with God as their King. When Samuel complained to the Lord about this, the Lord said “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.”
6. We risk the same attitude today when we try to vote in politicians who we think will maintain a standard of righteousness for us so that we can go on with our lives. We are supposed to be salt and light, preserving morality and revealing truth in the nations where God has placed us.
a. But we are too distracted by the cares of this world and too afraid of being mocked and ridiculed.
7. And so our strategy has been to vote in the people who we thing will maintain righteousness for us through the arm of government instead of through the church.
8. So when you got to the poll, check your heart. Are you voting and hoping that these people will be salt and light for you?
9. We should vote for people that we hope will lead with integrity, righteousness and justice but still keep our hand to the plow and be salt and light wherever we are.
B. Focusing on earthly citizenship instead of heavenly citizenship.
1. I often quote Acts 17:26&27
26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 so that they should seek
the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of
us;
2. These verses reveal that we have been placed in our nation at this specific time by the Lord. We are not here by accident or by chance, but by the will of God.
3. So as believers we have a responsibility to be good citizens where we live. The Lord instructed the Israelites through Jeremiah as they were led into captivity with words that apply to believers in every nation today.
a. Jer 29:7 “And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace.”
4. But whilst we seek the peace of our nation, we have to remember that our citizenship is in heaven. We walk in the tension of living in this world and looking for the age to come.
a. Phil 3:20 “But our citizenship is in heaven and form it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
5. So be a good citizen of the nation where you live, but don’t get too comfortable living here. Jesus said “My kingdom is not of this world.” Jn 18:36
6. This isn’t it. As much as I love and am grateful for the USA, it pales in comparison to the Kingdom of God. Remember that this world is as close as some will get to heaven and as close as we will get to hell.
C. False Righteousness.
1. This is not an attitude that I have seen become prevalent at TRC, but it is so common today that it’s worth mentioning.
2. It has become common for people today to have a sense of moral superiority and self-righteousness based on their party affiliation. They are so convinced that their party is the only ethically and morally correct party and therefore they are the righteous ones in our society.
3. If we are not careful, we can be carried along with this deception, according to the course of this world.
4. 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
5. Righteousness is only found in Christ, and only by repenting of our sin, believing that Jesus paid the penalty for our sin on the cross and confessing faith in Him.
6. Righteousness is not based in a political platform. It is not based in what is culturally accepted. No one is righteous because they are a Republicrat, righteousness is only in Christ.
D. Moral Outrage.
1. We have reached a point in the political discourse of this nation where outrage has become the common response to the other side.
2. This has become so common that it has been called “The Outrage Industrial Complex” by political scientists and journalists.
3. Outrage is being used to emotionally manipulate people through anger, fear and moral indignation. Outrage has replaced dialogue and we are expected now to choose a candidate not because we are convinced their policies are better for the country, but because we are angry and afraid of their opponent.
4. Proverbs 22:24&25 “Make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man do not go, lest you learn his ways And set a snare for your soul.”
5. Proverbs 16:32 “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.”
III. Four Action Steps to Take.
A. Why these steps are important.
1. Now that we have identified four heart attitudes to guard against, we need to look at some action steps we can take to grow in our discernment of how the Lord would have us engage politically.
2. Four attitudes:
a. We’re not going to replace God with government.
b. We’re going to remember that our citizenship is in heaven.
c. We’re going to be mindful that only the blood of Jesus makes us righteous.
d. And we’re not going to be manipulated by a false sense pf moral outrage.
3. Here are four positive things that we can do.
B. Educate yourself on what God says about the issues.
1. Don’t let government policy replace God’s Word, don’t let a political party’s platform define truth for you. Each believer has a responsibility to educate themselves not just on the issues of our day, but on what God says in His Word about the issues.
2. For example:
a. There are only two genders. (Gen 1:27; Matt 19:4&5)
b. Abortion is murder. (Ex 20:13; Ex 21:22&25; Mt 18:14; Didache)
c. Care for the poor. (Lk 12:33 “sell and give”; 1 Jn 3:17 rich but stingy)
d. The alien & stranger. (OT; Mt 25:35 “I was hungry, thirsty, a stranger and you…)
e. Stewarding the earth. (Gn 2:15 ‘preserve & protect’; Rm 1:20; Rev 11:18)
3. Don’t let popular opinion replace the truth of God’s Word for you. Take the time to search the scriptures, talk to other saints, pray and ask for revelation.
B. Pray for Kings and those in authority.
1. 1 Timothy 2:1-4
1 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
2. We have a saying in this country, “If you don’t vote, you can’t complain.” (I think this is ridiculous.) I propose we should say “If you don’t pray, you can’t complain.” Even if we do pray and do not see the result we were hoping for, we can pour out our complaint to God in more prayer.
3. Proverbs 21:1 “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.”
4. Nothing happens without prayer.
C. Live a simple and holy life.
1. 1 Thess 4:11&12
11 …that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, 12 that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.
2. Remember this passage from a few weeks ago. We should make it our goal to live a holy life and mind our own business, this is how we walk properly with those outside of the kingdom of God.
3. Mind your own business: don’t feel like you have to have an opinion on everything and share it on social media! To not be entangled with the things of this world.
D. Trust in God, not man.
1. Jeremiah 17:5-8
5 Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord. 6 For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited. 7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. 8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.”
2. Even though we vote and participate in our civic process, our trust and hope must always be in the Lord and not in any person.
IV. Closing.
A. Christianity is not a democracy, it is a monarchy.
1. This goes full circle back to the heart attitude that we saw in ancient Israel and we still see today. The attitude that says “Give us a king!”
2. We have a king, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is King of Kings and Lord of Lord, His Name is above every other name in the universe.
3. Rev 19:11-16
11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
4. Jesus is coming again. He will put an end to all rule and authority and power at the end of all things. (1 Cor 15:24)
5. Daniel 7:13&14
13 “I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. 14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.