I. Intro: I want to point out and warn against the spirit of division in our nation and its
attempt to creep into the church.
A. What I will share today is not political. I am addressing spiritual problems that require
spiritual solutions.
1. We have been impacted by the recent murders of Iryna Zarutska and Charlie Kirk. (Iryna’s death has brought national attention to our city.)
2. The evil one would like to use both of these murders to bring more division in the nation and into the church. Attempting to divide us along racial and political lines.
a. Iryna: black vs white, trying to ignite racial division and tension
b. Charlie: left vs right politically, trying to divide us on political lines.
3. We need to be aware of this division and reject it, we need to see it for what it is.
a. 2 Cor 2:11 “…lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.”
b. 1 Peter 5:8&9
4. Please don’t let the media, the outrage, the political discourse, etc. push you to one side or the other because as a Christian, that is not where you belong.
B. POLITICS IS DOWNSTREAM FROM CULTURE.
1. What I hope to show you today is that political parties fall far beneath our calling as disciples of Jesus. That there is no political party on earth that perfectly aligns with the teachings of God’s Word.
2. The late Tim Keller said it this way. (I’m paraphrasing)
a. The American left: welfare, (concern for the poor), racial discrimination, etc.
b. The American right: sanctity of life, of marriage, etc.
c. But ALL of these issues were important to the early church, they championed all of these and we should as well.
d. The two party system does not serve the church.
3. POLITICS IS DOWNSTREAM FROM CULTURE.
a. Political parties, legislation, etc. reacts to culture, they don’t create culture.
b. Government is mostly responding to trends in the nation.
4. And we are not meant to follow culture, but to influence it.
C. Let your light shine.
1. The problems in our nation are not just racial or political issues, they are spiritual and moral issues that require a spiritual solution, and that solution is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
2. Christianity is not a political movement, it is not a racial movement, it is a lifestyle of following Jesus, loving as He loved and bearing witness to the truth as He did.
3. Last week, we read the letter Paul wrote to the Ephesians, imploring them to walk in the light in the midst of a city that was in spiritual and moral darkness.
a. We saw how we live in a very similar situation today, Christians who live amongst a culture of greed, immorality and witchcraft.
4. In the same way, this nation needs us to shine this light today. To love as Jesus did, to show compassion and forgiveness as Jesus did.
D. Meeting the former Muslim.
1. Last week I spoke with a brother who is from a muslim nation. He was raised a muslim and he taught Islamic theology. He came to faith in Jesus because he noticed that some people in his city were different and he wanted to be like them.
2. The were joyful, forgiving, at peace, etc. It took him a few years to ask questions and grapple with the differences between Islam and Jesus, but he could never argue with the kind of people the Christian’s were.
3. In the end, it wasn’t an argument that won him to Jesus. There were two major truths that touched his heart.
a. In Islam, they sacrifice animals, but he realized that in Christ, God became a man to be one final sacrifice for the entire human race. In Islam, Allah never serves, he is the master and they live in fear of offending him.
b. He realized the truth of John 1:12 “To all who received Him, He gave the right to be called children of God.”
4. What opened the door for this brother to hear the truth of the gospel was the light shining in other believers. (Believers in two muslim nations.)
5. And what changed this brother from a lifetime of Islam was not theological arguments, it was believers who were bold enough to bear witness to the truth as Jesus did before Pilate.
6. What convinced him to follow Jesus was the message that God loved Him enough to send Jesus to die for His sins and that if he received Jesus, God would be his Father.
II. We belong to a kingdom that is not of this world.
A. John 18:36&37
36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.” 37 Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
1. Vs 36 “My kingdom is not of this world.”
a. If Jesus was trying to set up a theocracy, He missed an opportunity here.
b. But He makes it clear that His kingdom is not an earthly kingdom.
2. “If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight…”
a. We are not to fight, whether by words or by physical acts of violence, to try and establish an earthly Christian government.
3. Instead we are to follow the clear biblical pattern of establishing the kingdom of God that Jesus taught the first disciples and commanded them to teach every successive generation.
a. Preach the gospel: the kingdom is declared.
b. Heal the sick, cast out demons: the kingdom is demonstrated.
c. Make disciples of all nations: the kingdom is parented.
4. This is how Jesus wants His kingdom established according to scripture. (Matt 28 and Mark 16)
5. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t discuss the events of our time, I’m not saying that these topics are off limits other than Christians, but I am saying that we need to remember what God has called us to and not be distracted by earthly kingdoms.
B. The desire for an earthly kingdom was a snare to the Jews in the Lord’s day.
1. All throughout the gospels, the promise of a future kingdom was a hinderance to people understanding and accepting what Jesus was all about.
a. The Messianic prophecies of a future kingdom were assumed to be literal, earthly
b. Assumed to mean that the nation of Israel would be restored to it’s glory days under David and Solomon.
c. Jesus was telling them “This doesn’t mean what you think it means.” and they rejected Him for it.
2. His own disciples had this same tendency. In Acts 1, Jesus is leaving the disciples some
parting instructions before His ascension.
3. Acts 1:4-8
4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
4. Jesus had told them to go into all the world and preach the gospel, make disciples. He had taught them to do this over the last 3.5 years. And just before His ascent, He tells them to wait for the promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit.
5. And their response is “Are you going to restore Israel to it’s glory days?”
6. Jesus is thinking spiritually, they are thinking nationally. Jesus is thinking about the kingdom of heaven, they are thinking about an earthly kingdom.
7. Right now, we have to be on guard against this tendency in our own hearts. The tendency to miss the spiritual work that God is calling us to and substituting it for a political work.
8. We can’t let what we want to see get in the way of what we need to see.
C. To the Christian called to serve in government.
1. If you are a Christian and God has called you to politics, then by all means, obey that call. You can be a Christian and serve in the government.
2. Examples from scripture:
a. Joseph
b. Daniel
c. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
d. Esther
e. Mordecai
f. Nehemiah
g. Cornelius
h. Erastus, a Christian, the city treasurer (Romans 16:23)
3. But for the rest of us in the church who have not been called to work in politics or government, we need to remember that the Lord’s priority of preaching the gospel should take precedence over political activism.
D. Eventually, all the kingdoms of this world will fall.
1. Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. (Daniel 2:31-45)
a. Statue of a man, made of four different metals, representing four empires.
b. “A stone cut without hands”- Jesus- strikes the feet and destroys it, grows into a mountain.
c. Vs 44 The Kingdom of Jesus will replace every earthly government.
“And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.”
2. Daniel’s vision of the four beasts. Daniel 7.
a. Vs 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.
b. Vs 27
“Then the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.’”
3. 1 Corinthians 15:24&25
24 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.
4. Revelation 11:15
15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”
E. Conclusion.
1. I say all this to hopefully give us an eternal perspective. I say all this so that we will remember that we are pilgrims in this life.
2. Hebrews 13:14 “For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come.”
3. 1 Peter 2:11&12
11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, 12 having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good
III. Not divided by race.
A. Another tactic of the evil one is to try and divide us by racial animosity.
1. The church should be an example of racial unity, harmony and love.
2. We’ve already read that:
a. Jesus commanded the gospel to be preached & disciples made from every nation.
b. Daniel 7 “…all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.”
B. The OT shows us how Father thinks about these things.
1. First, Father made provision for the alien and the stranger to become assimilated into the nation of Israel.
a. Exodus 12:48&49
48 And when a stranger dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as a native of the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat it. 49 One law shall be for the native-born and for the stranger who dwells among you.”
2. Second, as we read in Daniel 7:14 “Then to Him was given dominion and glory and akingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.”
a. Jesus wants all people in His kingdom, He died for all and calls to all.
3. Lastly, in Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15 we read that when we were lost, we were in Adam, but when we are born again, we are in Christ.
a. Born in Adam in the flesh, born in Christ in the Spirit.
b. OT, God saw only Jew or Gentile, in the NT, He sees only in Adam or in Christ.
c. 2 Cor 5:16 “Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh.”
IV. What are we then, and where do we belong?
A. We are a nation within a nation, a people within a people.
1. 1 Peter 2:9
“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;”
2. EXAMPLE: Consider how immigrant communities set up enclaves wherever they land.
a. Little Italy, Chinatown, Little Havana (Miami), Koreatown (LA), Polish Downtown (Chicago)
3. We are meant to be an immigrant community of believers here on earth.
a. People should look at us together and see a community of the kingdom, a holy nation.
B. Who the Word says we are.
1. Reconcilers. 2 Corinthians 5:18&19
18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
a. reconciliation: the restoration of God’s divine favor
b. The Word of reconciliation
2. Ambassadors. 2 Corinthians 5:20
a. to act as a representative
b. Ambassadors represent their home country while they live and work in a foreign
country.
c. They have to remain neutral to work with all sides of the foreign country.
d. Their job is to represent the values of the homes country.
e. Their focus is to advance the values of the home culture.
3. 1 Peter 2:11&12
11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul,
12 having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers,
they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.
a. Sojourner: an alien, a resident foreigner
b. Pilgrim: someone living close to another in a temporary dwelling, a non-citizen
with limited rights
4. Putting this all together, we must remember that…
a. We are here on this earth temporarily, it is not our home country. We have a duty as ambassadors to represent the Kingdom of Heaven to those who are still in Adam. We have a duty to speak the Word of reconciliation to them, pleading with them to be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ.
5. We can’t lose focus on this and waste our time here following the politics of the nation that we have been sent as ambassadors to.
C. Most important of all, don’t be afraid to speak up.
1. Don’t be silenced by fear, either fear of rejection or fear of death.
2. Jesus said in Acts 1, “You will be My witnesses…” martyrs.