Pastor Jeff delivered a powerful message emphasizing the sovereignty of Jesus as King over His kingdom and the importance of giving Him our full allegiance as citizens of Heaven. He highlighted that Jesus expects His followers to actively participate in their civic duties, especially in the context of upcoming elections, underscoring the responsibility to vote according to biblical principles. In discussing the political landscape, Pastor outlined key values surrounding freedom, life, and national sovereignty, urging congregants to carefully consider their choices at the polls. Ultimately, Pastor Jeff encouraged believers to register, vote, and remain steadfast in their faith, reminding them that their actions can impact the direction of the nation for God’s glory.
Sermon Transcript
Father in heaven, we give you all the glory, honor and praise for who you are. We believe that you are king of kings and lord of lords, that you rule the entire world, and that nothing is without your hand over it. Lord, we thank you today for your living and active word that you've given to us. And we pray, Lord, that you would speak through it, because we as a people believe that every time your word is faithfully and accurately proclaimed that you are speaking. So our prayer this morning is, speak.
Lord, I. For we are ready to hear. And so now for all those who have gathered who desire to hear the Lord Jesus Christ, who will believe exactly what he tells you and who will put into practice by faith what he shows you, will you agree with me very loudly this morning by saying the word, amen. Amen. A few months ago, as I awoke and was getting ready to get out of bed, a panic kind of fell over me.
I began to think about this election, and as you know, elections have consequences. And I began to think, what if this goes in a certain direction? And I began to feel the panic of it. And I was asking the Lord, as I was starting to pray, Lord, you need to teach me how to pray for this election. And as soon as I was mouthing those words and had it in my spirit, teach me to pray.
The Lord took me directly to the Lord's prayer, and I began to pray the Lord's prayer over this election. For those of you who grew up in traditions, you may have said the Lord's prayer aloud in every service, but it starts this way. Our father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Let your kingdom come. Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, or deliver us from the evil one. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. And I began to pray each part of that prayer. I began to pray for the Lordship of Christ.
I began to pray for God's name to be holy and honored. I began to pray for his kingdom to come. I began to pray for God to be my provider and our provider. I began to pray for me to forgive others in the same way that Christ had forgiven me. I prayed that the Lord wouldn't lead us into evil as a nation, but would turn us back towards him and give him all the authority and power and rule that rightly belongs to him.
By the time I was done praying. I had total peace. I had total peace. But I wanted to share with you three truths this morning, and I'm going to add a fourth at the end, but three truths this morning that will help you as you get ready in this election cycle for all that God has for you. And really this morning, I'm not going to teach you who to vote for, but I'm going to teach you how to vote, teach you why you should vote as an american citizen and what the consequences are if you do not.
And so I'm going to encourage you to open your bible up this morning to Matthew, chapter six. Matthew, chapter six, because the Lord's prayer, Matthew chapter six, starting in verse nine, is where we're really beginning this message. And there was one verse out of that whole passage that really stuck with me. And what stuck with me was this verse in verse ten in Matthew chapter six where it says, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And here's truth number one that you need to understand as you get ready to roll into this election cycle that Jesus is the king over his kingdom.
You need to understand that Jesus Christ is king over his kingdom. So when we pray, let your kingdom come, let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We're saying this, Jesus, you are king of kings and your lord of lords. You're the ruler over all things, whether people recognize it or not. And here's what we're asking.
Come, Lord Jesus, establish your kingdom here. We know you said you're coming soon. We're praying for that arrival. And until you get here, we're going to live by your kingdom principles until we meet you face to face. Now, you need to realize if you're an american citizen, you have dual citizenship if you're a believer.
My driver's license says that it's a Colorado license. My passport says that I'm an american citizen. But my heart also says that I'm a citizen of the kingdom of heaven, and my allegiance to Jesus Christ and the kingdom of heaven trumps any citizenship that I may have here, first and foremost. And you need to know that Jesus Christ is king, and he is ruling over his kingdom, whether you realize it or not. You say, what's he doing now?
He's ruling the world. He's running the universe. And whatever happens in this coming election season doesn't change that one bit. Amen. You need to know that.
So how much authority does he have? Well, in Matthew, chapter 28, verse 18, after Jesus rose from the dead. And he was commissioning his disciples to go to all the nations of the world. You know what he said? All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
How much authority is that? That's all authority. There's no one that has more authority. There's no one that has more power. There's no one that has more influence.
There's not one square inch of ground on this entire globe or around the universe where Jesus Christ is not Lord over it. He is the king and he has a kingdom. Amen. And we see foreshadowing of this in the beginning of our Bible. It says, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Well, who's this God and who says it? Well, John one. One says, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God. And the word was God. He was with God at the beginning.
It's Jesus Christ that spoke the world into existence. So before there was even a world, before there was even a universe, there's God, Father, son and Holy Spirit. And he's lord over everything. After mankind sins. In Genesis three, in verse 15, God makes the promise that he's going to send one who is going to crush the head of the enemy.
And while the enemy will bruise his heel, he will have authority over that enemy. That's foreshadowing of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we see this throughout all the scriptures. Until Jesus Christ arrives on the scene. You'll even remember in Isaiah, chapter nine and verse six, a verse that we quote often at Christmastime, where Isaiah prophesied 750 years before the birth of Christ, for a child will be born to us.
To us. A son has been given, and the government will rest upon his shoulders. Who's the government? Rest upon the shoulders of the Lord. And his name shall be called the wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting father, the prince of peace.
Amen. And then when Jesus arrives in the world, we see all these birth narratives of saying how he's the king and he's the Lord and there's no one like him. And even the angels proclaim that that's who he is. And in his first sermon in Matthew 417, what does he preach? Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
What's he saying? You need to understand something. I'm God. You're not. I'm alive.
You're dead. You need to understand there's no way back to the father except through me. You need to change your mind. You need to humble yourself. You need to turn your allegiance over to me.
And follow me. And here's why I'm telling you that, because my kingdom is right in your presence. I'm the God of the universe standing right before you. Amen. Jesus Christ is king over his kingdom, whether you believe it or whether you don't.
One day you'll know that I'm telling you the truth. And he's not waiting to become king. He's always been king. He's still king and will always be the king. Amen.
And it's really interesting, because even throughout Jesus ministry, his disciples even got that confused. The night they came to arrest Jesus, you'll remember, Peter drew a sword and tried to cut off the ear of Malchus. He apparently ducked, and Peter cut his. He tried to cut his head off. He ducked.
He cut his ear off, and Jesus put the ear back on him. And do you remember what he said? Matthew, chapter 26 52. He said, put your sword back into its place. For all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword.
Or do you not think that I can appeal to my father and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels when they come to arrest Jesus. And Judas Iscariot comes and kisses Jesus, and they're like, this is the man. Peter pulls out the sword, thinking he's going to help the king of the universe by cutting off the head of Malchus. Malchus ducks. He cuts his ear off, and Jesus is like, stop already.
I mean, seriously, stop. Let me pick up the ear. I'll put it back on you. You're fine now, Peter, understand something. I know you think you're trying to help, but do you not realize that if I appealed to my dad, he would send me twelve legions of angels?
A legion is 12,000. He could send me 72,000 angels at his disposal to help with this. Just one angel in the Old Testament slew 185,000 Assyrians in one night. Two angels stood at the tomb and freaked out the entire SEAL team, six of the roman army. Jesus is like, I don't need your help.
I don't need your power. I got this. I'm going this way in obedience to my father. I'm the king and I'm the Lord, and nothing will ever change that. Amen.
That's what he was saying. And so when we hear and read about Jesus, we see that he has a sovereign rule that will always work. Quote proverbs 27. You need to put this in your memory banks as you're thinking about this election. Some trust in chariots, some trust in horses.
I could even insert some trust in political parties and candidates, but not us. We trust in the name of the Lord our God. Amen.
I think sometimes the enemy tries to play games with our mind to tell us no matter what happens, it's going to get really bad. Jesus Christ is still Lord. No matter what happens. Hang on to the fact that he's the king over all of his kingdom. I was praying through psalm 146 earlier this week, and after it starts off talking about praising the Lord and praising the Lord, here's what it says in verse three of psalm 146.
And following, do not trust in princes, in mortal man, in whom there is no salvation. His spirit departs, he returns to the earth. In that very day, his thoughts perished. Don't place your faith in a person. They can't save you.
When they die, they're gone. Don't put your hope in a political candidate. They can't save you. They can't do anything for you. Put your hope and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ over everything.
Amen. That's what he's saying. And so when we read through God's word, we realize he's sovereign and he's ruling and he's the king, and he's the king over his kingdom, which doesn't mean he's just kingdom over Denver, Colorado, or over the United States of America, but he's king over the entire globe. He's king over the entire universe. Do not fear.
Jesus is king over his kingdom. Number two, let me tell you this. If you believe that, you need to understand this. Jesus demands 100% allegiance. Jesus demands 100% allegiance.
I think sometimes in the west, the way that we present the gospel is you're a sinner. That's bad. But don't worry. Jesus died for you and rose from the dead. Give lip service to him, you'll just go to heaven while still living your same lifestyle.
And nowhere will you find that in God's word. Everywhere in God's word, Jesus Christ calls you to repent of who you are and trust him wholeheartedly. It doesn't mean that from that moment on, you'll live perfectly. It means from that moment on, you've changed allegiances. You've exchanged your dead life for his life.
And his life comes to live in you both now and for all eternity. And he is now the Lord of your life. And as you continue to submit to him, he will grow you into all holiness, righteousness and truth. I mean, think of the invitation that Jesus gives people in the New Testament. I don't read any place in my Bible.
Where Jesus says, you know what? Just ask me into your heart right now. Hey, just pray this prayer. Hey, just close your eyes and bow your head. And as long as you do that, I don't care about your behavior.
He never says that. Now, you're not saved by your behavior. Don't get me wrong. There's nothing you can do to save yourself. But if you are saved, everything, including your behavior, will begin to change.
Matthew 1624 says, if anyone would come after me. You want to be my disciple? You want to come after me? If anyone would come after me, three things he must deny himself. Which means your life is no longer about you.
It's about Jesus. Take up his cross. Which means the very one that you rebelled against. And said, I want nothing to do with that. God is the very one that you'd be willing to go to your own death.
Proclaiming and number three, follow me. Which means, in everything that I tell you. I need you to do just as I say to do. That's the invitation to salvation. And anyone at anywhere, at any time.
That believes Jesus died for your sins and rose from the dead. Who's willing to turn from their dead life and turn to Christ, he will enter you with his holy spirit. Completely by his grace. Nothing that you've done. And he will change you and make you a new creation.
And if you're a new creation, he will change your thoughts, your attitudes, your behaviors. And you will see a difference in your life. As you give him 100% allegiance. Now, why is this important? Because when it comes to our responsibilities.
And especially to our civics duties. We need to understand our allegiance, first and foremost. Goes to the Lord Jesus Christ. Over any political party that we would ever belong to. Amen.
So, think about this. There's a great passage of scripture. It's found in some other gospels as well. But I'll take you to Matthew, chapter 22, and verse 15. And following where there were a group of people.
That were gathering. In order to trick Jesus. It says in Matthew, chapter 22, verse 15. It says. Then the Pharisees went and plotted together.
How they might trap him. What he said, trap means to entrap. Like you would an animal. Like you would go hunting for. Like you would ensnare them.
Like they're going to get Jesus. The Pharisees didn't like Jesus. Because Jesus was uprooting. The religious system. To which they firmly believed.
Now, some things about the Pharisees that they had going for them. They were a little bit of the back to the Bible movement. They wanted to do things God's way. They believed that as Jews, the only way that God would bless the Jews. Is if they lived moral lives to honor God.
The problem was, is they put great burdens on people. And they were legalists. And while they were trying to say, we believe the Bible, they weren't doing anything to help any of God's people. But they would be the conservative movement of the day. They believed in order for God to do what God wanted to do.
You had to pay attention to what the word of God said, okay? And this group of people hated Jesus. Do you know why? Because Jesus told them. You diligently study the scriptures.
Because you think that in them you have life. But here you are, the son of God, standing in front of you. And yet you refuse to come to me to have life. I am the way. I am the truth.
I am the life. Every word of this book is testifying about me. And here I am standing in front of you, and you reject me. Make no mistake about it. The reason they didn't like Jesus is he claimed that he is goddesse.
He claimed he was authority. They didn't like him, so they were trying to trap him. Because they wanted him dead. And they sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. Now, the Herodians would be considered the liberal group.
In the first century, they were Jews. But they realized they were under roman occupation. And there was no way they could ever overthrow roman occupation. There's no way God could ever be lord over the nation. And so what they chose to do is cozy up to Rome.
And said, we're never, ever going to be able to do it just our way. So we'll partner with the government. We'll partner with what they want. We'll do what the government says. In hopes that we can all work together and it'll all work out.
They were the liberal group of the day. The Pharisees and the Herodians. Couldn't stand each other until Jesus was there. And then they hated someone even more. So they came together to put him to death.
And so they're trying to trick Jesus. And so they come to him, and here's what they say. See if you can hear the sarcasm, teacher. We know that you are truthful. And teach the way of God in truth.
And defer to no one. For you are not partial to any. I mean, do you hear it? I mean, they're coming like, Jesus. You are so good.
You are such a good. They're buttering him up. So then they say, this tell us, then, what do you think? Is it lawful to give a poll tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay our taxes to Caesar?
If jesus says yes, pay your taxes. Every one of the Pharisees will say, you're not a true jew. Because you don't believe that God is sovereign over the government. If he says, no, don't pay your taxes. This group over here is going to say.
He's saying, you don't need to obey the laws of the land. It is a lose lose proposition. It would be like if we came to your house. And I said to you. To you, I said, does your wife know that you think your mom's a better cook than she is?
You can't answer that question. Well, I mean, it's a trick question, but Jesus perceived their malice. He knows all things. He knew the trap that they were setting for him. And said, you are testing.
Why are you testing me? You hypocrites. Why are you doing this? So he says this, show me the coin used for the poll tax. And they brought him a denarius.
A denarius was a day's worth. Give me a coin. Show me a coin. Show me what's used to pay the poll tax. They bring him this coin.
So it's going to be an object lesson. And he said to them, whose likeness and inscription is this? He's looking at the coin. He's looking at a picture of Caesar, the emperor. Whose name is on the coin.
Name, image. Likeness. As a college athlete, right now, you can be paid for your name, your image and your likeness. Whose image is on the coin? Whose name is on the coin?
Whose likeness is on the coin? Tell me what you see, because I want to know. And so they're going to answer him. They're going to answer his question and walk right into the trap. They said to him, Caesar's.
That's Caesar's coin. That's Caesar's name. That Caesar's image. That's Caesar's likeness. Then he said to him, one of the most awesome political statements in history.
Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God's the things that are God's. And most people hear that. And here's what they think Jesus is saying. What he's saying is there's a governmental realm. And, you know, pay your taxes to the government and there's a spiritual realm, and then give God your spiritual realm.
So it's okay to go to church and it's okay to do government and just keep those things separate. That's not what he's saying. Here's what he's saying. Whose image and likeness is on the coin? Caesar's.
Since he made the coin and his image is on the coin, he's worthy of the coin. Give him his coin. But give to God the things that are God. Where's God's name? Where's God's image?
Where's God's likeness? It's over the universe. He created human beings in his image. He created the world with his name. He put his stamp of approval over everything.
Here's what he's saying. Caesar made a coin. Give him his coin. I created everything. Give me 100% allegiance with your life and everything else that you ever see.
That's what he was saying. And notice the response in hearing this. They were amazed and leaving him, they went away. Here's what Jesus was saying. Give me allegiance for everything.
Caesar's worthy of a coin. I'm worthy of your entire heart, your life, your passions, your thoughts, because I created you in my image. And we need to understand this, because what we see that God created is, for sure three, but even possibly four realms, if you want to think about it this way. When God created human beings, we know from Genesis, chapter one, he created us with two genders, male and female. He created us in his image, in his likeness, in his name, for his reputation.
So as individuals, we have responsibility before God to honor him in all that we do. Amen. I mean, everything we read about in God's word as a believer, we're to honor him and all that. And then very quickly, God established family. That's another realm that God created.
And God created that realm because he said it was not good for man to be alone. So he created the family and brought Adam and Eve together. And then they started having offspring. Why? Because God wanted to reproduce others in his image that would glorify him.
So family is a realm that God has established. And then all throughout the Old Testament, we see God establish government. And God gave rules for how we should relate to God and relate to one another. And the purpose of government is to do what it's to protect its citizens and to punish evil. That's the purpose of the governmental realm.
And then after Jesus rose from the dead and left, he established his church through his holy spirit. And the church's job is to teach all the truth of God's word so that God's people can respond by doing everything that God requires. So when all of those functions or groups function together, it worked really, really well when you as an individual decide, I'm only bowing to the lordship of Jesus Christ. He gets 100% of my life. My family's gonna do the same.
Church is gonna teach me how to do it God's way, and the government's gonna protect me so that I have freedom to serve the Lord, and they're gonna punish evil so that we have a good society. Everything works. Well, here's the challenge. When the government begins to overstretch and say, no, no, no, we'll tell the church what the church needs to say. We'll decide when the church can stay open.
We'll tell you what goes on, because we're going to play that role for you. The church can push back. I don't think you heard what I said. That's the church's job, to resist that. When the church doesn't do what the church is supposed to do and people are getting hurt, then the government and families can step in and say, this isn't the way God does it.
You need to change your ways. When family doesn't do it the way God does, and there's abuse going on, the church and the government can step in and say, no, no, no. You have freedom only to serve according to what the Bible says. But you can't abuse people. So all three function together under what?
The lordship of Jesus Christ. Because he's sovereign over it all. So we need to understand that when Jesus Christ demands 100% allegiance, he's not just talking about your life. He's talking about your life and how it relates to your family and how it relates to your church and how it relates to the government with which you're under and all are under the lordship of Christ. Jesus is king over his kingdom.
Jesus demands 100% allegiance. And you need to understand this, because if you understand this, you will know that in the first century, Caesar was considered lord. There are many things written in first century literature that prior to Jesus birth, when Caesar Augustus was the roman emperor, that he was considered a goddess, that God bestowed him as the savior of the people, that people should give their allegiance and their heart to him. So when we read Luke two, the Christmas story at Christmas time, and we read about the angel of the Lord that suddenly appeared, and the people were terrified. In Luke chapter two, verse ten and eleven, the angel is making a treasonous statement.
The angel said, do not be afraid. For behold, I bring you good news of great joy for all the people. What's that for? Today in the city of David, there has been born a savior who is Christ the Lord. Where was he saying this in the context where Caesar is the messiah, Caesar is the savior, Caesar is lord.
The angel says, oh, no, no, no. You don't understand. Over there in Bethlehem, there's one who's been born and he's a savior, he's the messiah, and he is the Lord, and there is no other lord. That was true then. That's true now.
In Romans chapter ten, verses nine and ten, it's a verse we use oftentimes in evangelism that says, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart, God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. But let me give you the context. Here's the context. Listen, listen. They lived in a day and age where government says, if you don't bow your knee to Caesar, being Lord, we will take your life, we will cut off your head.
And Paul is writing them to assure them, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that even in that circumstance, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord instead of Caesar, and you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, parenthetically, even though they cut your head off and kill you, you will be saved. That's the gospel.
Or what about in the book of acts with these political dissidents who are arrested, not for healing people, not for doing anything other than one thing, preaching and teaching in the name and the reputation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nobody has a problem with churches. If you can heal people, if you can encourage people, if you can help people, if you can give them benevolent, nobody has a problem with that. They have a problem with proclaiming that Jesus Christ is Lord and there is no other lord. But in acts chapter four and verse 13, here's what they said to this group of politicians.
There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved. And in acts 413, it says, now, as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. See, Jesus doesn't just demand your 100% allegiance in your own little private life. He demands it in your family, he demands it in your church, and he demands it from your government. And as a believer, you're to be involved in all four spheres.
Amen. Those are the different spheres we're to be involved in. Now, if Jesus is king over his kingdom and Jesus demands 100% allegiance, let me give you the third point. Jesus holds you responsible, accountable. Jesus will hold you responsible and accountable for what you do.
Now listen. Listen. For those of you that have repented of your sin and placed your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, here's the truth. God's gifted you with his holy spirit, who has dispensed gifts in your life and commissioned you to go into all the world and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ and to live it out to the full, which means I your job is to help grow the church and impact the world for the Lord Jesus Christ. Which means if you're a believer, you must be part of a local church.
You must use your gift in the local church. You must come along other imperfect, broken people in a local church so that you can grow in a local church. And you must take it outside the walls of the local church to impact the world. That doesn't even go to church. So they can know who Jesus is, too.
That's true of every believer. And here's what Jesus tells us in the book of James through his half brother, that faith without works dead. You can say you have faith, but if you don't practice these things, it's worthless. And here's the thing. God's going to hold you responsible and accountable for everything you have.
In Matthew, chapter five, I'm sorry, Matthew chapter 25, Jesus tells the story of a parable of the talents, where he gave to one five and one two and one one. A talent was an incalculable amount of money. And he went away on a journey and came back and he asked the one with five, what'd you do with the five talents? He said, well, I invested them. Here's five more.
He said, well done, good and faithful servant. He called the one that he gave two. He said, what'd you do? He goes, I went and invested that, and I got you two more. He goes, well, that's good, too.
Then he called the one that gave him one. He's like, how did you do? The man says, I knew you were a hard man, reaping where you didn't sow. In other words, he was saying, I never wanted your stupid talent anyway. I didn't invest anything with this thing because I don't care about what you gave me.
I went and dug a hole and buried it. Here's your stupid talent back. And what does jesus say, you wicked, lazy servant? Throw them out in the darkness where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth. Give to the one that has ten.
Why? Because he didn't invest what he was given. All believers invest what they were given. All of us can do a better job at investing in what we've been given. But every believer is to invest what they've been given.
You're going to be held accountable for how well you invested in those fears for the Lord Jesus Christ, how well you invested in your own life for the Lord Jesus Christ, in your family for the Lord Jesus Christ, in your church for the Lord Jesus Christ, and in your government for the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what you'll be held accountable to. And just so you know, if you're an american citizen, you've been given a five talent homeland, the best nation in the world. And it starts in our preamble of the constitution with we the people, which means who runs our government as american citizens is you. Amen.
So we must take steps of faith, both in our discipleship in the church and advancing the kingdom, principles in the world. That's what God calls us to do. Now, as that is a backdrop for what I want to talk about today, you need to understand that Jesus Christ is king over his kingdom. He demands 100% allegiance, and he holds you accountable and responsible for how you are in those four spheres. Now, let's talk about politics.
I can't believe pastor is going to talk about politics. I can't believe. You're welcome to leave.
The greek word politics simply means this. It means relating to the citizens or the affairs of the city. What we do affects citizens and what we do affects the affairs of the city. So I should be able to talk about it. What about separation of church and state?
I'm glad you asked. There is not one word about the separation of church and state in our United States Constitution, declaration of independence, or the Bill of Rights. Not one. Not one.
And just so you know, I'm passionate about this stuff. I have a great grandfather signed. One of six men that signed both the declaration and the US Constitution, named George Reed was governor of Delaware. But where does this separation church and state come from? It comes from a letter that Thomas Jefferson wrote on January 1, 1802 in response to the Baptist association in Danbury, Connecticut.
They wrote to Thomas Jefferson when he was president to ask, hey, hey, hey. We're concerned about the First Amendment, this whole freedom of speech and freedom of worship. Can you assure us that the government won't infringe upon that? And so Thomas Jefferson on January 1, 1802, wrote him back a letter. You can read this letter, pull it up on the Internet and read it for yourself.
But in that, that's where you get the quote, the wall of separation between church and state. And what was it to ensure? It was to ensure that the government would never infringe upon the church. But it was never intended to keep the church out of the government. That's what it was for.
So the very way that that's got twisted is all out of whack. Christians have to be involved in the government. If Christians aren't involved in the government, guess who's involved in the government? Non Christians. And non Christians make non christian decisions.
And a nation groans when those are in power that don't do things God's way. Some of you are sitting there. What about the Johnson amendment in 1954? I'm aware of the Johnson amendment. Johnson amendment was given so that pastors of charitable organizations like churches and other charitable organizations.
Pastors like me can't endorse a candidate without losing your 501 status, potentially. A couple of comments on that. Number one, I think it's a great benefit to get a tax break to give to a local church. I like it. Why wouldn't you like it?
Take the break. But if that's the only reason you give to your local church, shame on you. And I'm not going to let some governmental benefit keep me from proclaiming the whole truth of God to you as people that brave amenity. A little bit about me. Just so you know, I've been very apolitical my whole life.
I grew up in a town called Peoria, Illinois. Peoria, Illinois, is a test market for everything because of the diversity of people that live there, right? Any company that wants to test any product always comes to Peoria. They say, if you can play in Peoria, you can play anywhere. So I drank cherry seven up and ate a McRib sandwich before any of y'all, okay?
That's what that means. And growing up, we were pretty apolitical because I had jewish friends and christian friends and atheistic friends. Caterpillar, the international headquarters of Caterpillar, was in Peoria, Illinois at the time. Had friends of mine whose dad worked in management, whose other dads worked on the assembly line. Different people were on strike.
Different people had different opinions. People went in the voting booth, they voted different ways. And we still all ate Thanksgiving dinner together. We still all played on the same sports teams, and nobody really cared. But we live in a different era between 1980, when we're voting between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, than we are voting between the two candidates that we have this year.
We're no longer in a season of right versus left. We're in a season of right versus wrong.
And 2020 changed me because I saw the effects of what happens when you keep your mouth shut for too long. And so I want to educate you today so that you'll be ready to vote and that you will vote. And I don't really feel like I need to tell you who to vote for. If you've been at our church for the last 14 years, I have not shirked back from preaching you, the whole council of God, and would encourage you, when you go into the voting booth, to align your decision with the word of God. Well, it's going to bring him the greatest honor and joy so that he can reign as kingdom.
We can give them 100% allegiance, and we'll be responsible for what comes. Amen.
But I am going to share some things with you this morning, and some of them you may agree with, and some of them you may not, but they're just observations that I'm making. But before I do, I want to tell you something. Everybody that you read about in the Bible was political because they were involved in culture. And if all we do is sit around in the buy and buy and go to church services and watch God do, and, uh, we missed out on the whole gospel. Our job is to get the gospel out into our cities and proclaim truth.
And the people you read about in the Bible understood that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were not at a church service. They were standing up to King Nebuchadnezzar, who said, if you don't do what I want you to do, I will throw you into the fiery furnace. And they said, o king, do whatever you want, but we're not going to worship you or your gods. We're only going to serve the God of Jacob. And they got thrown into the fiery furnace.
Daniel. They asked him to bow to a statue and bow to Nebuchadnezzar, said, no, I'm not doing it either. And he got a knight in the lion's den. John the Baptist was not beheaded for writing a kind letter to King Herod about his marital practices. He stood outside the king's palace every day and told him to repent for taking his brother's wife and how it was immoral and wrong, and God was going to judge him.
And the reason he ended up with his head on a platter is because he was politically involved. Or how about Stephen, when he stood up to the Pharisees and said, you stiff necked people, when are you ever going to learn you've killed all the prophets and now you killed the messiah, who is now both lord and Christ, and he was stoned to death. Or how about Jesus? How political was he? It's really interesting because at the end of his life, in Mark, chapter 14, when he's being questioned by the high priest about, are you really the Christ?
Are you really the messiah? Are you really the son of goddess? What does Jesus say I am? Which reminds them of Exodus, where he says, I am who I am because I've always been, and you shall see the son of man sitting at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven. What was he telling the high priest?
He said, you think you're judging me? I'm God. I rule over all spheres. I'm king of the world, I'm king of the government, I'm king of the church, I'm king of the family, and I'm king over you. And the next time you see me, I'm coming to judge you and everybody else who hasn't repented.
And at that point, what does he say? Tearing his clothes, the high priest says, what further need do we have of witnesses? And off to the crucifixion he went. Now, we live in a world that thinks that crucifixion would be somewhat glorious. Like everybody would know.
If you get martyred, nobody will know. Nobody would know. Nobody would know that Stephen was martyred unless the Holy Spirit had chosen to put it in the word of God. Nobody would know that Jesus was even crucified if the Holy Spirit hadn't put it in the word of God, it was the fact that Jesus rose from the dead. And the Holy Spirit gave us witnesses to testify that he's lord.
Otherwise, it would have just been some jewish pretender that was killed in Jerusalem, which happened all the time. Martyrdom is not glorious. And for those of you that say, I'm so ready to be martyred, most of you can't even make it to church four Sundays in a row. So stop talking.
If God gives you the gift of martyrdom, you'll only exercise it once. Nobody will probably know. It will be in an obscure way somewhere that nobody ever sees you, and it'll be for God's glory, and nobody else will even know about it. But what was going. They were fighting for righteousness and truth.
Here's what I would say. Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is an abomination to all people. That's proverbs 1434. So what do we do? You need to understand a couple things, and that's this.
One is that politics is downstream from culture, meaning culture chooses our candidates. Politics is downstream from culture. Culture is downstream from the family. So the culture becomes what the family makes it. Family's downstream from the men that you have in that culture.
Men are downstream from the men that actually attend church, that do things God's way, and churches down the churches downstream from the pastors that stand in the pulpit, that prophetically give the word of God. So if you've got a problem with the candidates that you have, it's because the culture is jacked up, because families are jacked up, because men are jacked up, because churches are jacked up, because we don't have enough men that stand in the pulpit and preach the whole council of God.
So what needs to change is we proclaim the truth of God's word. Now our culture's changed. I think you know this. I'm gonna have you take a little quiz. Doctor Mark Bailey, who was the former president of Dallas theological seminary, he was there from the last year I was there up until recently, was at a chapel service, and he gave this quiz.
I want to see how we do on this quiz. I want to ask you the question, is this the NBA or the NFL? NBA or NFL? I'm going to ask you to vote when we're done. 36 have been accused for spousal abuse.
Seven have been arrested for fraud. 19 have been accused of writing bad checks. 117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least two businesses. Three have done time for assault. 71, listen to this.
71 cannot get a credit card due to their bad credit. 14 have been arrested on drug related charges. Eight have been arrested for shoplifting. 21 are currently defendants in lawsuits, and 84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year. Ready?
Who says NBA vote? Who says NFL?
You'd both be wrong. It's neither. The answer is, it's 435 members of the United States Congress.
So why vote? Why vote? I listened to some people say on one side, you have Donald Trump, who's running for the republican party, and you have Kamala Harris, who's running for the democratic party. Why vote? I mean, I've heard people say, I'm just telling you what I've heard people say.
Some people will say, well, he is a narcissist with mean tweets and degrading comments. I've heard some say that she's a simpleton with an annoying cackle and unintelligible word salads. So you have a convicted criminal and a cackling clown. And why are we going to vote? For either one.
Here's why. Because God only uses flawed people. He only uses flawed people. You'll never have a political candidate that you agree with 100% of the time. You'll never have a church that you agree with 100% of the time.
Even if you marry the perfect spouse, you will not agree with them 100% of the time. There's nothing we agree on 100%. And those people have other people that they're gonna partner with to get their job done. I'm being honest with you. I mean, as I've studied both of them, I've never met either one of them personally.
I've been on a phone call with former President Donald Trump to watch different pastors pray with him, but I've never met him. I don't know him personally. I don't know Kamala personally. I don't know them. But from what I've seen, neither one would be qualified to lead a cadre at brave.
Just being serious. So why vote? Because God uses broken people. I'm a broken person. God uses me.
Y'all are broken people. God uses you. So we need to be involved in what God is doing so that we can do it his way. So I'm not going to tell you who to vote for. If you're undecided, I don't know how you can be undecided, but if you're undecided, I hope this helps.
And because I'm not allowed to tell you who to vote for, I'm just going to tell you some of my observations. Now. You don't have to agree with any of my observations. These observations are not biblical. They're not authoritative.
I'm just telling you as your pastor, and I believe it's my job as a pastor to warn you about what could come, because you want to vote for the candidate that gives us the greatest chance to honor Jesus Christ as Lord, give him 100% allegiance, and be responsible and accountable for what we do. That's all. But here's what I've noticed. When it comes to freedoms, here's just what I've noticed. Biblically, we're to have freedom to serve the Lord.
The world is the Lord's, and everything in it says psalm 24. God tells me I'm to preach the word in season and out of season with everything. Ezekiel tells me to warn people, and if I don't warn people, their blood's on my head. But if I warn them and they don't listen, the blood's on their own head. I'm called to preach the truth.
And I'm called to have freedom to serve the Lord Jesus Christ to the full. So here's some observations. It seems to me that one party is for the freedom of worship, freedom of speech, freedoms for the church together, and freedom for a pastor to declare the whole council of God without concern. This party seems to believe that freedom is a right. The party also desires to put an end to the Johnson amendment.
It also seems that no matter what this party says or does, the legacy media lies and says they are bad, racist, awful, deplorable people. Just an observation on the other side. It seems to me that one party, no matter how bad, racist, evil their behaviors are or how marxist their policies may be, the legacy media lies to show how wonderful and caring they are. It seems that the good news is that if you change your allegiance and become part of their party, they'll immediately change their opinion of you from awful to good. This party wants to shut down Twitter and ban any form of free speech, calling it misinformation if they believe that it goes against what what they think is helpful to their own personal agendas.
It seems this party also believes that freedom is not a right, but is only earned if you believe what they tell you that you need to. Those are just observations. I would tell you this vote for the party that gives you the greatest freedom to be who you are in Christ with no limitations.
Secondly, let's talk about life, gender and marriage. God established all of them. God is the giver of life. He forms every life in utero. He created male and female.
He created marriage between a man and a woman. And here's what I've observed. It seems that one party will allow you to believe that there are two genders, will allow christians to hold biblical views of family, do not want men participating in women's sports, had at one time the most pro life president in her lifetime, and desires to prevent genital mutilation to young children. It will allow the church to hold biblical conviction that marriage is between a man and a woman. However, in all fairness, this party has also taken a more moderate position on abortion and no longer has a strong statement on marriage.
It's shifted my belief in marriage, my belief in life come all out of the bible. I don't think either party is great on this issue. However, it does seem that one party believes that your opinions on gender and marriage are welcomed unless they are biblical ones. To this they are intolerant. The party has held LG TBQ parties on the White House lawn, making a mockery of God in our country.
They also seem to believe that children belong to the government and that children, even though not old enough to vote, get a tattoo or drink alcohol without the consent of their parents, have the right to mutilate themselves. It should be said that this party also cannot define what a woman is, but believes that women have the right to murder babies in utero. It seems this party also cares little about women, so little about women that they will allow men to compete against them in sports. And while we're on this topic, this same group believes that my body, my choice for the murder of innocent children do not believe that individuals have the right to say no to experimental vaccines and medicines, or question the validity of masks and social distancing for Covid, but ranted all throughout the pandemic that unvaxed people were the problem. And churches should close, but not strip clubs, liquor stores or places selling marijuana, as those are essential.
However, it seems that social distancing masks, if social distancing masks in the vaccine actually work, then those who took the vaccine would have nothing to be afraid of. And if it actually worked, then some of today's actuarial scientists would not declare that if you took the Covid-19 vaccine that you were more likely to die early. I'm personally still waiting for an apology or some humble measure of accountability for the way churches and unvaxed people were treated, as well as the people who died of myocarditis while family members were not allowed to see them. But I digress.
Again, you've got to study this stuff for yourself and see if you agree. But you need to vote for the party that best aligns with life and gender and marriage and family. Let me give you a third one. Let's talk about Israel. Genesis twelve three.
God established the nation of Israel to be a light to all the other nations of the world. He said, I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. Jesus loves all people and Jesus is Lord over all the nations. But Jesus has a special affinity for Israel because he himself is jewish and is coming back and establishing that nation. Amen.
One party seems to be pro Israel even, and even move the us embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. They want Israel to be able to defend herself and protect herself from Hamas, Iran and her enemies, and see Israel as a primary ally. You want to vote for a party that believes that. It doesn't mean that every decision Israel makes is a good decision, and it doesn't mean that Palestinians are bad people. It means that God is for the nation of Israel.
He reestablished it on May 14, 1948. And our job is to partner and support them with no room to spare.
On the other hand, one party talks pro Israel, but also sympathizes with the Palestinians. They botched the departure from Afghanistan, resulting in the death of Americans, as well as leaving billions of dollars of military equipment to the enemies of Israel and the United States with no accountability nor apology. Friends, you have to vote for the party that will defend Israel. You have to. Let's talk about leadership, fairness, those kinds of things.
God delights in equal scales. God delights when things are done his way. I mean, if you think about in the proverbs what God says, I'm looking it up here in proverbs, chapter 1611. Here's what he says. He says a just balance and scales belong to the Lord.
All the weights of the bag are his concern. And in proverbs chapter eleven and verse one, he says it this a false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight. Who has fairness? Who has equity? You need to vote for the party that closest aligns with that.
It seems to me that one party sees government as a way to protect citizens and punish evil, having limited government and wanting citizens to have equal opportunities for advancement. This party also seems to believe in conservative judges and under this party's last term installed three conservative Supreme Court justices. This party seems to believe in the constitution, the Bill of Rights, and wants citizens to be protected. This party has a candidate that actually won their primary in the party by receiving the most votes.
It seems to me that one party has marxist ideologies and wants to use government as a way to make everybody equal and have a few ruling elite. It seems this party wants to get rid of the filibuster in the Senate, pack the Supreme Court, potentially ban the electoral college. This party also wants freedom of speech as long as it doesn't hurt anybody's feelings and are also willing to have discussions about taking guns away from citizens. It should be noticed that this party has a candidate that received zero primary votes and was appointed. The candidate from the very party that thinks that their opponent is an existential threat to democracy, but cannot likely tell you what existential means.
This party does not intend to provide equal opportunities, but wants equal outcomes. They believe in Dei, diversity, equity, inclusion. Dei to me means didn't earn it, and CRT, which is critical race theory, but it's christian resistance training, providing handouts for the less fortunate based on the skin color, which is racism. Let me say something about this. There's one race, the human race.
This does not mean I don't believe there have been inequities in our culture. There have been. Our job as christians is to write those. But it doesn't mean that everybody's a racist just because you don't agree with what they have to say. I started watching this in the 1990s when I was a student at the University of Illinois.
I took a racism and rhetoric class, and everybody's pushing for affirmative action. I was the only white guy in the class, and they were like. And I was, like, trying to figure out what they were trying to say. So if you're darker skinned, you should get into the university easier than if you're lighter skinned. Yeah, that's totally right.
I'm like, do you believe that in all aspects of life? Yeah. I'm like, good. Then why don't you make a rule that four white guys should be on the court for every NBA game at all times? And the place erupted and yelled at me and got mad.
You don't use skin color as a way to make things fair. God gave you your skin color, loves you unconditionally, loves everybody regardless of skin color, and we are to love and value everybody regardless of that. Period. End of story.
It should be said that this party also wants to give out government handouts, as if there's a national bank with lots of money in it and there's not, which means, guess who pays for it? Those of you that work, do your own research. I may be wrong on all these things.
I'm just saying, do your research. You vote. You vote your political convictions, but you better vote for the party that most aligns with Christ. And then let's talk about one final one. Let's talk about our national sovereignty.
God is the one that established nations all the way back. In the book of Genesis. And in acts, chapter 17 and verse 26, he tells us how everything came to be in acts. Chapter 1726, he made from one man every nation. From Adam came everybody of mankind to live on the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their inhabitation.
In order to have a nation, you have to have boundaries for that nation. If you don't have boundaries for the nation, you don't have a nation according to the word of God. He spoke on this a long time before our political candidates ever did. And you, if you're an american citizen, live in these boundaries. Here's what I would say.
It seems to me that under the leadership of one president, we did not enter any wars and strong leadership prevented any evil dictator from picking on us. This same party would like to end the conflict in the Ukraine and has tried very hard to close the southern border so that those who enter the country will do so legally and peacefully as american citizens. Welcome that right. It seems to me that one party is very concerned with sending billions of dollars to secure the borders of Ukraine, is now discussing launching missiles into Russia, placing us at the brink of world war three while allowing untold millions to cross our own southern border and bring drugs and crime here. This party would like you to sympathize for the illegal citizens and those in other countries while not caring at all about what is taking place right in your own neighborhood.
Again, you have to decide if I'm telling the truth or if my observations are correct. I don't know. It just seems to me. And when I see these things, I'm looking for the party that best aligns with Israel, that best aligns with fairness and the constitution, the best aligns with the word of God when it comes to national security, the freedom to obey Christ and life, gender and marriage. And your vote has consequences.
Because I've heard people say stuff like this, well, I'm just not going to vote. I'm in a blue state. It doesn't really matter. For those that are in a red state, that are vote blue, I'm not going to vote in a red state. It doesn't really matter.
It matters. Let me tell you why it matters. Because God's watching and he holds you responsible. He does.
Let me give you my final point. We'll wrap up, and that is that Jesus is coming soon. He's coming soon. You need to understand this. Regardless of what happens on November 5, 2024, and who gets elected, we'll be meeting here because it's first Tuesday to worship the God we serve and to pray and seek his face.
And regardless of what happens, we'll continue to do that. And some might say, well, Pastor Jeff, don't you know about the underground church in China? And if we were a totalitarian government, maybe the gospel would spread more. The gospel will spread under any form of leadership. Not worried about what we're going to.
We're going to do the same thing regardless of who gets elected, but vote for the ones that will allow us to do it without as many repercussions. Right. Jesus is coming soon. It would be a tragedy to me if I heard a story of a young kid in our ministry that was raped. It would break my heart and we would punish that person to the fullest extent of the law if we found out that happened.
But it wouldn't take away the pain and the punishment. I mean, it would just be horrible. But do you know what would be worse? If I knew that one of our pastors was there and was in the other room and knew what was going on. And what would make it even worse than that is if I questioned that pastor.
He said, well, we knew what was going on, but we decided to pray. We formed a prayer meeting. Friends, you can't just pray and not do anything. We're a praying church, but we work, too. Your vote matters.
Your vote matters, you say, well, what does it matter? Because my vote may not even matter. Here's why it matters. Because when God looks down and sees people that vote his way, he comes and makes up the difference. Do you know there's about 90 million Americans, roughly, that would call themselves self proclaimed evangelicals?
And of those, about 15,000 aren't registered to vote. And of those, about 40,000 more won't even vote. So you only have about one out of every three evangelical christians that even votes. If evangelical christians that call the name of the Lord voted biblical convictions, we could turn the heart of our country back to goddess. So here's what I'm going to ask you to do.
On your screens is going to come up and behind you on all your campuses, there's a QR code. I'm going to ask you to take a picture of that and register to vote. Just register to vote. Now, you can go on there and realize I'm already registered to vote. It will tell you if you're registered to vote, but if not and you're 18 years old, vote.
If you don't vote, you are welcoming evil which is right at our doorstep to come. Now, it won't change what we do. It won't change what I do. It won't change the calling I have, but it will change the way in which we get it done. And while we have an opportunity, why not give God our allegiance?
I realize maybe neither candidate is somebody that you're, like, totally jazzed about. That's okay. As a pastor friend of mine said, you may need to hold your nose when you go into the voting booth to place your vote. I get it, I get it. But what a difference it would make to have somebody in office that aligns most with our biblical christian values so we can continue to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We can continue to live with families, we can continue to honor him in our life. And we can see government turn its heart back towards our master and lord. Amen. Now, you're all still looking at me. Did you take a picture of that?
Are you? I mean, we're this part of our service. This is part of our. I ask you to put into practice what the Lord showed you. If you're not registered to vote, register to vote.
Vote. Take a picture of it. Do it later. I mean, register to vote. And then vote.
Vote early, vote the day. I mean, just vote. And then between you and the Lord, you can say, lord, between me and you, I prayed about this. These are the convictions that it seems like your word has. I'm gonna vote this way because this is what you're causing me to do.
Now, here's what you might say to me. Pastor Jeff, there's some born again people on both sides. I don't even see how they could be. They said. I don't either.
But you don't go to heaven based on who you vote for in this election. There's good people that can get things wrong. I want you to know something. If you vote for somebody opposite of what I vote for, I still love you. And you're still welcome here.
We're not for one party. We are for the Lord Jesus Christ.
But we want to do our part to do our best to honor him. Because it's Christ alone. He's our firm foundation. He's our cornerstone. And it's only through him that we have hope in this life.
Amen. Would you stand with me, Father in heaven? We give you all the glory, honor and praise for who you are. Lord, as we sing to you, remind us that you're our firm foundation. You're our cornerstone.
You're the one we're building our lives upon. Lord, help us to study, to show ourselves approved. And devote our conscience before you for your glory so that Jesus Christ has more opportunity to reign and rule with freedom in our nation. Lord, turn our nation back to in God we trust. We give you all the praise, glory and honor in Jesus name.
Amen and amen. Can we give God praise today as we singhe.