What You Can Do For Your Country

, so good to see all of you here today. Well, last week in my message from First Timothy, I probably said a thing or two that led you to believe that, we would be continuing our study in First Timothy today. and last Sunday, I thought we probably would, but just, as this past week has unfolded and looking ahead to this coming week, it seemed prudent to just step aside from our first Timothy series and to talk about, issues more of national concern just as we're going to be having our national election on Tuesday of this week and all of the campaigns, both for and against candidates and also propositions and some of the issues that are before the voters nationally and statewide, all of those campaigns are reaching fever pitch.

And, it's just time to, I think, take a deep breath and breathe in some gospel truth, some biblical truth and remind us of some important things.

that I want us to be reminded of today. To be honest with you guys, I can't imagine why anyone would want to be president at this time in our country's history. we are involved as a nation in two significant wars, the outcome of which is, Undecided. We are dealing with Islamic extremism unlike anything I think any of us would have imagined 8 years ago.

I'm amazed at the difference between the world of today and the world of 8 years ago when President Clinton left office. It's a very different world that probably none of us would have guessed. And tensions between Iran and Israel are escalating. Something certainly it seems is going to happen over the next 4 to 8 years.

From an economic standpoint, the United States economy is in an extremely vulnerable place right now. Our markets and the global markets are extremely volatile right now. Our national debt is over 10 trillion. When Bush took office, our national debt was at $5.3 trillion and now it's over $10 trillion growing by over $30 billion a day.

A day. so, we're not heading in the right direction when it comes to, to that issue. And, also, the homosexual marriage issue is very much in the forefront of a lot of people's, thinking, both for and against and even the status of the unborn in our society. The issue of abortion is, Also very much factoring into this election.

And so, our nation, the stakes are extremely high and our nation can go one way or another on some of these, these things. And we definitely are going to need to pray for whoever it is that assumes office for the next 4 years. But with the election 2 days away, I want us to just stop and ponder what we can do for our country. I want to give you guys 7 words of counsel, 7 pieces of counsel of what you can do for your country this week and beyond.

And the first word of counsel that I want to give to you guys, I don't even really need to say it because I think you guys already have this one down pat. In fact, I'm so convinced of this, I'm going to give you a quiz. I'm going to give you a multiple choice question. And you pick the right answer and show me that, that you already understand the first counsel I'm going to give you.

Here's the question, Who ultimately determines who becomes president of the United States? A, the Council on Foreign Relations, B, Oprah Winfrey, C, the Bilderbergs and Rockefellers, D, the mainstream media, E, evangelical voters, F. Florida, you remember in 2000, it all came down to Florida, and in the 2004 election, it all came down to the state of Ohio, or gee, Jehovah God. What's the right answer?

Good. So see you guys already have this down. but I'm gonna preach point number 1 anyway. and that is this.

Here's the first piece of counsel that I would give to you guys as we look into this week, and that is to remember that ultimately, God determines who gains positions of power. We need to remind ourselves of this. I think we know theologically this is true when we stop and ponder it, but we can Forget this sometimes, but we should remember that ultimately God determines who gains positions of power in this country as well as around the world. No person ever wins an election without God's sovereign allowance.

Let us find comfort and perspective in this biblical truth. And Daniel chapter 2, verses 20 and 22, it says, Daniel answered and said, Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to him. And it is he who changes the times and the epics. He removes kings and establishes kings.

And by the way, Daniel is dealing with a little bit more than, wow, we don't have a Republican in office. Now it's a Democrat. he's dealing with a little more than that. and to understand the equivalent of that, imagine that on Tuesday of this week, a foreign nation comes across the ocean, attacks our country, obliterates our society, our government, and then takes all of us captive back over, overseas to that home country that has taken us over.

Would we be able living in that foreign land? that has totally changed our lives, and eliminated our society, would we be able to look up at God and say, it is God who changes the times and the epochs. He removes kings and establishes kings. That was the world of Daniel's day living in the Babylonian.

captivity, and we need to embrace this truth also. In Daniel 4:32, we learned that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever he wishes. And so the Bible is very clear that God is the one who takes down kings. He's the one who establishes kings.

And so God is the one who ultimately determines who gains positions of power. This country and in the other nations of the world, a second piece of counsel that I would give to you guys in terms of what you can do for your country this week and beyond is to remember that whoever assumes office, once they're in office, will only be able to do what God sovereignly allows them to do. All right. We need to find some perspective and that truth also.

There are various candidates that are Running for office and they're all making promises and some of those promises you may not like and you may hope that they don't succeed and maybe some of the promises you do like and hope that those candidates do succeed in, fulfilling those promises, but you do need to understand that when someone does assume office or a position of power, once they're in office, they still are only able to do what God sovereignly allows them to do. In Proverbs 21:1, Solomon says the king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord, and he turns it wherever he wishes.

And this doesn't just apply to kings that know the Lord and are seeking his will, even totally pagan kings who aren't even consulting God, even the decisions that they make, God sovereignly is superintending over their hearts in a way that the decisions they make are ultimately serving God's sovereign purposes in human history. An example of this is in John 19.

Jesus is standing trial before Pilate, and the crowds are wanting Jesus crucified. Pilate finds no fault in Jesus and would rather let him go. So Pilate, trying to figure out a way forward and stall for time, begins to ask Jesus some questions. Jesus, however, doesn't answer Pilate.

And so Pilate said to him in John 19:10, you do not speak to me. Do you not know that I have authority to release you? And I have authority to crucify you? Do you not understand the power that I possess?

Your faith is in my hands. Jesus answered, You would have no authority over me unless it had been given you from above. Pilot, you are not a free man. And you are not the one with authority, but God is the one with authority, and the decision you make is the decision that will serve God's ultimate sovereign purposes, and the decision Pilate did make.

The decision he ultimately arrived at. It was a decision that served God's sovereign purposes. Though Pilate did not fall to his knees and pray to the God of heaven, Give me wisdom on what to do here. Pilate was simply driven by fear.

And yet still the decision that he came to was under God's sovereignty. If God wants to frustrate someone in power to keep them from doing what their agenda is, he has the power to do that. Right now in our homeschooling. I'm, I'm reading through first Samuel with my son Benjamin, and we're reading about Saul's reign over Israel.

And it's interesting that over a length of several chapters, Saul's agenda is to kill David. He's jealous of David and he wants to kill him twice. He tries to pin him to a wall with a spear when David was playing his harp and then he Chasing David around the wilderness, the most powerful man in Israel, his agenda is to kill David, and yet God frustrates him at every turn, and the king of Israel cannot carry out his agenda, his desire. Saul even promises that I will kill him.

He makes that promise in front of people, and yet he cannot fulfill that campaign promise because God will not let him. And so let us, this week and beyond, remember that whoever assumes positions of power, once they are in those positions of power, will only be able to do what God sovereignly allows them to do. And so that leads us to the third piece of counsel that I would like to submit to you this morning that if God is the one who has this power, then we need to pray to this sovereign God on behalf of our country, the citizens of our country, and also on behalf of our governing.

leaders.

In 1 Timothy chapter 2, verses 1 through 4, Paul says, first of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority in order That we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. I'd really commend those verses to you guys to just ponder and go through these verses.

in fact, one of the discussion questions for your care group discussion time is just from these verses, what are the things that we can infer that we should be praying for and about when we do pray for our governing.

Leaders. And I want you to appreciate also the power that God must possess. If God says, when you, regarding your governmental leaders, come to me and pray to me about them. Implied in that must be that God has more power than they do, right?

That he has a greater authority than they do. imagine if God were down here, and the Emperor Nero or the President of the United States is up here, God would never say, come to me and pray to me regarding them. Because if we did that, and that were the case, he would say, Well, I appreciate you coming to me. I feel less lonely, having you talk to me about these things.

But remember, I'm here, and they're here, and I just can't do anything about it. That's not the God we serve. The God we serve is the one who has all authority in heaven and on earth, who gives kingdoms and takes away kingdoms and establishes people in power and removes kings from their places. And when they are in power, he turns their heart in whatever direction he wants them to go to serve his ultimate purposes in human history, bringing history to its ultimate climactic day when Jesus burst through the clouds at his second coming.

This is the sovereign God to whom we pray, and implied in this command to pray is that God has All power, the greatest power, even over the kings of the earth. When we pray for them, verse 2, we pray that we'll be able to exercise our faith freely and live our Christian lives and tranquility and quietness. That doesn't mean that God will necessarily answer yes to that all the time. In other countries of our world today, the church is being sorely persecuted and driven underground.

But even when God answers this prayer in that way, his agenda is to glorify his name and purify the church. We need to pray for the salvation of those who are in positions of authority and also he uses the word thanksgivings. We need to see the good that is in our governing leaders, and when they make wise decisions, we thank God for those decisions, realizing that those wise decisions ultimately have emanated from him. So we need to be a praying people.

And I would ask you, how are you doing with regard to praying for this nation and our governing leaders? How much time do you spend complaining about our governing leaders and how much time do you spend praying for our government and its leaders? I used to hear my dad always say, if you want to criticize me, go right ahead, but at least do me the courtesy of spending as much time praying for me as you do criticizing me. And I think that paradigm works well in terms of our attitude towards our government.

We need to pray for our governing leaders, especially with the issues that they are faced with now and will be faced with in the years to come. Well, there's a 4th thing that we need to do. Yes, God is in control of those that gain power. And yes, once they're in power, God is sovereignly in control of what they do and the decisions they make, whether their own plans are achieved or frustrated.

And yes, 3, we should pray to our sovereign God. for our governing leaders, but number 4, we also would do well to let our voice be heard both at the ballot box and in the public square. In the United States of America in God's good providence, it just so happens that we have a system of government where our voice is welcomed and accommodated, where they actually come to us periodically and say, who would you like to serve in these positions of power and we get to let our voice be heard both at the ballot box and in the public square.

We can speak.

To a very large degree freely in this culture airing our opinions whether we agree or disagree with with our governing leaders and to the degree that our society accommodates this, it seems the path of wisdom for us as Christians to make sure that our voice is heard. Along with the other countless voices that are seeking to be heard in our culture today, it would be wrong for a Christian to say, well, I'll just be silent. No, if God has opened the door for our voice to be heard in these ways, then it would be prudent to walk through that open door and to let our voice be heard.

So I would encourage you guys to vote on Tuesday, and to vote prayerfully.

And I would also encourage you to speak up and to let your voice be heard on the various issues that are before our nation right now. Now, beyond the ballot box, as you do speak up and let your voice be heard, let me give two qualifiers, all right? First of all, as your voice is heard and you speak up, please do so in a way that honors all. honors all.

Peter in 1 Peter 2:17 is giving counsel, to the church there. And you look in the context, these are basically laws of good citizenship. And he says, honor all people, honor the king. And it just so happens that the king, as Peter was writing, was the Emperor Nero, an extremely wicked man who was absolutely brutal.

Against the Christians, and yet Peter says honor the king. I don't think we're ever going to have a president, at least in our lifetime, that will be as bad as Nero was to the church. And if they could find a way to honor the king, then we can find a to honor our president and those that are serving in positions of office. If for no other reason we know that in God's sovereign plan, who's ever in a position of power is there because God sovereignly allowed them to be there.

And that's reason enough to honor the position and honor those that are serving in these positions, whether they are Christians or not, whether they agree with even a biblical agenda, or disagree with that agenda. He also says honor all people. So as we speak up and let our voice be heard, let's do so in a respectful way. and be respectful of other people and their viewpoints, but nonetheless, we speak the truth of God's word, but we do so in a way that, that displays a respectfulness of other people as well as those in positions of power.

We, we actually increasingly are living in a lampooning culture, are we not? From Jay Leno to Stephen Colbert to Jon Stewart, to Rush Limbaugh, It just seems like the popular way to make a point is to lampoon those that are serving in positions of, of power in our country today. And we as Christians honestly need to be extremely careful about our diet with regard to things like this. I at times have completely pulled away from these types of programs because of the disrespect that they show to our, president and others serving in office.

we need to, Make sure that we are honoring the king, behaving in a way and speaking in a way that shows honor and respect to those that are serving in positions of power. Now, when we talk about honoring all, I want to elaborate on this a little bit. We, this goes beyond just, oh, I just want to be respectful to those that I talked to, and I want to make sure that I don't speak offensively about those in positions of leadership. When Peter says, you want to be a good citizen, honor all people.

Part of what's embodied in that is look for the people in our society that are being dishonored, and insist that they be honored. There are people in our society both now and throughout our nation's history that have been oppressed. They've been dishonored. They've not been given equal rights as other Americans, and we can thank God for people that stood up and said, Whoa, wait a minute, we need to honor these people rather than dishonor them.

Martin Luther King decades ago stood up in the face of those in positions of power and very graciously and respectfully. spoke to our nation's leaders and to our nation's conscience and said, you are dishonoring millions of Americans. And not according them the civil liberties that are granted to white Americans, and he pricked the conscience of this nation and called upon. All of this nation to honor all of its people without regard to the color of their skin, and we can be thankful for men like him and others who were willing to take a stand and even go to prison in their attempt to see that all people in this society are given due honor.

And as you do speak up in a way that honors all, look for those that in our society today that are not being honored, are not being represented. Those that are wealthy, they're very well represented. Those that are impoverished, they are not as well represented. Who are those that are being dishonored that need to be spoken for?

And I would encourage you to include among those that you would seek to honor the unborn. They are a subset of our society that is being dishonored and viewed literally as being lower than animals in terms of the rights that are accorded to them. In Psalm 139:13, David says to God, you formed my inward parts, you wove me in my mother's womb. That was me in there.

That wasn't something else. And then it became me when I was born. No, that was me and my mother's womb. You wove me in my mother's womb.

And so God is fashioning a life inside of the womb of a mother. And this is someone who cannot speak for themselves, and consequently over 40 million such people have had their lives taken from them, over 10,000 a day. 10,000 a day, 1.37 million every year. We rightly bemoan the 2,000+ people that were killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but our nation's conscience does not bemoan the five times that amount that are being killed at our own hands every day through the evil of abortion.

And so it's my belief that the unborn are being dishonored. And as we speak up, we need to speak up in a way that shows honor and calls upon others to honor them. let me let John Piper speak to this issue, a pastor in Minnesota. He says, when we bought our dog at the Humane Society, I picked up a brochure on the laws of Minnesota concerning animals.

Statute 343 343.2 subdivision 1 says, no person shall unjustifiably injure, maim. or kill any animal. Subdivision 7 says no person shall willfully instigate or in any way further any act of cruelty to any animal. The penalty a person who fails to comply with any provision of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor.

Piper says, now this set me to pondering the rights of the unborn. An 8 week old human fetus has a beating heart, an EKG, brain waves, thumb sucking, pain sensitivity, finger grasping, and genetic humanity. But under our present laws is not a human person with rights. The 14th Amendment, which says that no state shall deprive any person of life without due process of law.

Well, Piper says, I wondered if the unborn do not qualify as persons. It seems that they could at least qualify as animals, say a dog or at least a cat. And earlier in this article, it's evident he doesn't like cats. so he's saying maybe we could accord them the status of a dog or something less, at least a cat.

And then he asked the question, why is it legal to maim, mutilate, and kill a pain sensitive unborn human being but not an animal? So this is a great evil in our culture today. An unborn child. Is ranked beneath a dog and a cat.

And who will speak for them? Who will stand up and insist that they be honored? Who will represent them? And so I would encourage you to include the unborn among those that you would seek to honor, as you seek to honor all people, including honoring the King.

And also, I would encourage you to speak up in a way that reflects the fear of God. Speak up in a way that reflects the fear of God. Guys, there is a God in heaven. And he is a God who hates sin, and he is a God who judges nations.

not only his chosen people Israel, but he judged and destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of the evil that was in those cities. He throughout history, even in the Old Testament, brought judgment upon Babylon and the Assyrians and the other surrounding nations around Israel who were not his chosen people, but he judged them because of the sins that were among those peoples, and we need to realize that the United States of America, despite some commendable aspects in our history, that does not exempt us from the judgment of God.

God's judgment will fall upon this nation, some would say, is already falling on this nation, because of the evils that are rampant in our country, and are being tolerated. Peter in giving us laws for good citizenship in 1 Peter 2, among his instructions says fear God, fear God.

And we know in Proverbs 8:13 that the fear of the Lord is to hate evil. And so when you're voting, not just for candidates, but even regarding propositions or whatever, you just need to ask, does God speak to this issue? And if he does speak to this issue, then your question is, what does God? say about this issue.

And whatever God says about that issue, you then want to make sure that you vote in a way that agrees with what he said. Because you as a believer, you love God, but you also have this healthy fear of God and your thought is, I dare not disagree with God. As I let my voice be heard. We have a proposition on the ballot called proposition 8.

14 words that have created a storm of controversy. It reads, Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California. This is on the ballot because 4 activist judges overturned the will of the people and have created this issue to where now this proposition is on the ballot. It's amazing the attitude of some towards the simple wording.

Some of the commercials are saying it's just plain wrong. Two members of a United Church of Christ in Redlands, last week in the San Bernardino newspaper, the headline of their, essay or article that they wrote is this Wording in Proposition 8 is biting and exclusive. And they say of these words that I just read to you, these are biting words. I look at the wording there and I'm just asking, OK, do these agree with God's definition of marriage?

Our thinking process regarding something like this is to go back to the very beginning and just ask ourselves, who invented marriage? Help me out here. Who invented marriage? If God invented marriage, then that means marriage is God's intellectual property, right?

And if it's God's intellectual property, then God gets to define marriage, however he wants to define it. And far be it from us to take God's intellectual property and say we don't agree with that definition. So we're going to give it another definition. And so if marriage is God's invention, and it is therefore His intellectual property, and he therefore is the only one who gets to define marriage, then the next question is, and the only logical question is, how does God define marriage?

Well, start reading your Bible in Genesis chapter 1 verse. And in chapter 2 of the Bible, you come to the definition of marriage, where it says, for this reason, a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to literally his woman. And the word Isha in the Hebrew could be translated woman or wife, a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his woman, and they shall become one flesh. That is God's definition.

Of marriage. And people may say those are biting words there. those are exclusive words. Yes, they are.

Yes, they are. But again, God invented marriage. It's his intellectual property. He can define marriage how he wants.

This is God's definition of marriage. And we have an opportunity on Tuesday to just look at the wording of a proposition and then just ask, is this consistent with God's definition of marriage? Or is it inconsistent? And personally for me, I'm driven by a love of God and the fear of God to say I am not going to vote in a direction that disagrees with the definition.

of marriage that God has given to it. So as you speak up and let your voice be heard, do so in a way that honors all people, and also in a way that reflects the fear of God. But then the fifth piece of counsel that I would give you guys is to live a godly life, live a godly life. Yeah, we need to pray.

Yes, we need to let our voice be heard. But what, there's nothing worse than someone who speaks a great game. And who takes all the right stands on moral issues, but then they and their lives get busted for doing the exact opposite. And you get weary of reading the news stories of people that are out there.

And positions of office that, toe the line on certain biblical issues, take a stand for, for what is right, and then they get caught in a bathroom doing something stupid, or in their own lives, they are living contrary, contrary to what God teaches in His word. It is important that we live a godly life. That is what lends, lends credibility to the words that we speak. We can talk all we want, but if we're not living the life God wants us to live, our words will be something for laughter, rather than for serious consideration.

Living a godly life means a life of moral excellence, a life of service to others, and obedience to To government, I think if the truth be known, during this time of year, we always, everyone likes to point to the others. It's the Republicans' fault, the Democrats' fault, and Bush's fault. No, it all started with Clinton and we keep going all the way back and pointing the finger at everyone else. No one ever points the finger at themselves.

And it just may be that the number one problem in our culture today is the church. And we need to be willing to look at ourselves in the mirror and ask, Not just how am I speaking, but how am I living. And Peter says in 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 12, again, in the context of teaching, the people of God how to live in society, he says, keep your behavior excellent among the nation so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds as they observe them, glorify God on the day of visitation, when God through His Spirit visits them in mercy, that they may respond in obedience to that because of the life that they have observed you leading.

And so he then says in this context, submit yourselves for the Lord's sake.

To every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or the governors, for such is the will of God that by doing right, not by speaking right, although we are supposed to speak right, but by doing right, you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. Do you realize the power of what he just says there? You want to silence the ignorance of foolish men? Do right.

Do right. I am no fan of Mother Teresa's theology. But it's undeniable to anyone who knows anything about her life when she was alive that she gave herself very passionately to the poor and to the oppressed and to those that were being dishonored in our world, and she poured out her life for the benefit of thousands of people ministering love and comfort to them. Back in 1994, Mother Teresa was invited by our then president, Bill Clinton, to speak at the National Day of Prayer.

And she got up, you can read her speech, online if you just Google it. And she, she's giving the speech and then she gets to the subject of abortion and speaks very eloquently and passionately about how abortion Destroys the society. It, it, it, it's, it doesn't just take the life of the unborn, but it ruins the life of the people in the society that countenance abortion. Makes a very compelling case against abortion.

When she was done, the next person up was President Bill Clinton. And he got up there and the first words out of his mouth were these, it is very hard to argue against a life so well lived. It's hard to argue against a life. So well lived.

And so yes, let us give thought to how we speak. That is important. Every word counts, but let us look in the mirror and look at the lives we lead, because a life well lived on our part would be very hard to argue against. We must hasten on.

1/6 piece of counsel that I would give you is, and I wish I could have worded this more succinctly. And that is, remember that the battle we are fighting is ultimately a spiritual battle, requiring the most powerful of spiritual weapons. what, my hat's off to Christians that are led of the Lord to run for office and are serving our nation., right now, and, and there are others that, Christian people that by their faith, they're driven to get involved in campaigns, and even right now, there are many brothers and sisters in the Lord that are not just running for office, but even helping the staff particular campaigns around the country.

And that is, that is commendable, that it's all well and good and actually to be encouraged, and there are people that are on the street corners I've seen holding up vote yes on Proposition 8 and so forth, and all of that is great, but at the bottom of it all, guys, we've got to realize That this is a spiritual battle that we are fighting, not a political battle that we're fighting.

And no laws that are ever passed, while there may be good that comes from laws that are passed that prohibit wrong, and encourage that which is good, no law has ever been passed in the history of this country that has changed a single heart. Laws, legislation do not change hearts, and that's why we need to realize that it's a spiritual battle, a battle for the hearts of men, and therefore we need the most powerful of spiritual weapons. In 2 Corinthians 10, Paul says, Though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.

So we need spiritual weapons, in addition to whatever means is available to us in our society today, and our political system.

Yes, we make use of those things. But ultimately, our goal is beyond politics. It doesn't exclude politics. It goes beyond politics.

We want to see hearts changed and spiritual strongholds torn down. And there's only one weapon that's powerful enough to achieve that. what that is? The gospel, Paul in Romans chapter 1, verse 15 says that the gospel of Christ is the power of God in the salvation to those who believe in 1 Corinthians 1:18, the preaching of the cross, or the message of the cross is to them that are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

That is what we're after, legislative victory. are awesome, judicial victories are awesome. But those can be overturned a year later, as we've actually seen. But a change of heart, a change of life, someone being translated from the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom of God's beloved Son, that can never be undone.

And that is what ultimately we are after, Mike Martinez, who was gracious enough to allow his story to be told, the movie that was shown at the festival of Treats. I know he won't mind me saying this, but the guy used to be strung out on drugs here on University Avenue and some of the neighborhood blocks just around here, completely hopeless and bound by the ravages of sin and going from one prison institution to another. What could change his heart? Was there a law passed that said, don't do drugs?

Did he read a slogan, say no to drugs, and suddenly he was like, I just felt my heart change. Is that what did it? No, it was the gospel. It was the gospel.

Radically transformed this man's life and now he's leading a Bible study in that modular building on Thursday nights and I am among the men that get to sit at his feet and sit around the table with him as he leads us and just going through Jerry Bridges's book on the pursuit of holiness. This guy used to pursue drugs. Now he's pursuing holiness and taking other men with him. That's the power of the gospel.

Let us keep our focus primarily where it should be. We want to see heart change, life change, and only Jesus Christ can accomplish this. A 7th and a final piece of counsel that I want to commend to you. I don't want to end on a negative note here, but this is negative.

Regardless of who gets elected this week, don't put your trust in them. All right. Regardless of who gets elected this week, Republican or Democrat, do not put your trust in them. You put your trust in Christ and in Him alone.

Jesus is the only one who will never disappoint us. And Psalm 146 3. The Psalmist says, do not trust in princes and mortal men in whom there is no salvation. How blessed is he whose hope is in the Lord his God.

Barack Obama is not the anointed Messiah. And neither is John McCain. Neither is anyone running for office. If they become our president, senators, representatives, we pray for them, but we do not put our trust in them, because they cannot bring salvation.

those who voted for Ronald Reagan, who were of the pro-life persuasion. Reagan did a number of things that furthered that cause, but he's one, he's the one who gave us Sandra Day O'Connor. Who has upheld Roe v. Wade at every opportunity.

Those who are pro-life, who voted for George Bush Senior. He did some things that furthered the cause, but he's the one who gave us Justice Souter, who has upheld Roe v. Wade at every opportunity. Those who supported and voted for President Clinton, no doubt were expecting a man of moral integrity who would represent their viewpoints well.

And yet many of his most ardent supporters at the end of his administration were saying what a disappointment, what promise he had, but what a disappointment he has been. And those who voted for George W. Bush expecting fiscal responsibility. have been disappointed And what they have seen, George Bush actually a few years ago made a messianic promise that stunned me when I heard it come out of his mouth.

A week after 9/11, he said, My administration has a job to do and we're going to do it. We will rid the world of evildoers. It's 2008, and there's still some evildoers around. There's only one person who can and will.

Fulfill that promise. And that is Jesus Christ. And he is the only one that is worthy of our trust. And so those that get elected, let's pray for them.

Let us pray hard for them. Let us honor them, regardless of the outcome. But let us put our trust in Jesus. And here's what helps me sleep at night.

I know that when I get up Wednesday morning after the election, Jesus Christ will still be Lord of the universe. Amen. He will still possess all authority in heaven and on earth. And he is the one in whom we should put our confidence.

Let me ask you to bow your heads this morning. I hope that tonight in your care groups and even this week, you will really devote yourself to prayer for our nation. For the American people as they go. To the voting booth.

Let us be faithful to do that. Let us also heed the other, I think, biblical words of counsel that we have seen from God's word today. Let's pray together. Lord God, you are the sovereign God.

If we didn't know this and believe this, we'd Probably go crazy. You control Those who assume positions of power. You control the markets, whether they go up or down. Nothing happens apart from your plan.

And Lord, even when leaders do that which is evil, and those are the decisions they make, sometimes those decisions, Lord, have been allowed by you to, Execute your judgment upon a people. Ultimately, Lord, it all weaves together to lead human history towards its final destination. Which is Jesus Christ bursting through the clouds in glory at his second coming, establishing his reign upon earth. He is the candidate we worship.

He is the one we look to, and he is the one in whom we put our trust. Help us in the meantime, Lord. As citizens of heaven who have a dual citizenship here, let us be faithful. To be good citizens of this nation.

To represent you well, to speak for you, to do so with dignity, with passion, and with the power of Jesus Christ behind us, speaking through the words that come out of our mouths, and the lives that we lead. We're going to be taking up an offering here in just a moment, folks, and we would encourage you to give as the Lord leads you to give. You have comment cards that are in. your bulletins, we would encourage you to fill that out and if there's anything we can pray for or anything you want to say in response to the message today, you're welcome to, We do that and put that in the offering bag as it comes by in just a moment.

But Lord, we ask that you would receive these offerings that we render to you. As an act of love and devotion to you in response to the love and the devotion you have shown to us. We give ourselves to you in the name of Jesus, and all God's people said,