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Proverbs 21, verse 1. And our
subject is a biblical perspective regarding governmental elections. And the question that I want
to answer is, what is the proper attitude toward politics from
a Christian? And what better night to address
such a question than the night of the vice presidential election
going on as we speak? Proverbs 21, verse 1. The Bible
says, The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the
rivers of water he, God, turneth it whithersoever he will. And it's almost worth reading
it twice. The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, As the
rivers of water, he turneth it whithersoever he will. We are only 27 days until the
presidential election, and everyone is being bombarded with politics
on every platform. You cannot escape it, despite
what political party you identify with. If you own a television,
you will inevitably watch something that directly ties into the political
opinions through news channels, morning talk shows, commercials,
and now even sports networks. If you listen to the radio, viewpoints
from radio announcers, commentators, and ads will, at some occasion,
bring up their various political beliefs. If you read the newspaper,
browse the news on websites online, and use social media, you are
going to be showered with political sentiments If you listen to the
conversation of others in the community, the topic of politics
is likely to surface. If you belong to a family, if
you have friends, it will be at some time a focus of conversation. And now in October, every time
you check the mail, oversized political ads will be waiting
for you to briefly glance at only so that you can file it
in your trash can in 30 seconds. Now, whether we like politics
or not, the reality is we are confronted with it everywhere,
daily, and there is no escaping it unless you force yourself
to be a hermit and completely isolate yourself from everything
and everyone in this world. And while being a hermit does
sound inviting at times, we know that God never intended for his
children to be completely disconnected from society. So going back to
our original question and topic for this evening, how are we
as followers of Christ supposed to navigate through the political
world that seems to run our world? What is the proper Christian
perspective regarding governmental elections? We should have an
answer. There should be principles that flow from scripture that
help us think through these things and act accordingly. So let me
give you what I believe to be six biblical attitudes that a
Christian should develop to maintain a balanced perspective regarding
politics. And we begin with the first and
most important. In thinking and speaking of politics,
a Christian needs a high view of God. We have to start there. What do we need as believers?
in addressing this political world in our world. We need,
first and foremost, a high view of God. In our first text, Proverbs
21.1 has been inspired by God and recorded in the Bible to
help us gain such an outlook. Let's look at it again. The king's
heart is in the hand of the Lord. As the rivers of water, he turneth
it whithersoever he will. The principle of this verse is
that God is sovereign. And God is sovereign over the
most powerful men of this world. The heart of every king, every
president, every prime minister, the heart of every ruler and
politician, all their thoughts, their counsels, their purposes,
their power and designs are under the direct influence of God. That's what Proverbs 21.1 assures
us of. God does what He wants, when He wants, to whomever He
wants, however He wants, and no man can resist Him. Rulers
are only a channel used to accomplish God's divine will. Psalm 75,
6 and 7, the Bible says, For promotion come neither from the
east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the
judge, He putteth down one and setteth up another. And we see
this truth scattered throughout the entirety of Scripture, from
Genesis to Revelation. The theme of Scripture, besides
the gospel and the good news that Jesus Christ has come to
die for sinners, is the theme that God is in control over all. It was God who gave Joseph favor
in the eyes of Pharaoh. It was God who hardened Pharaoh's
heart so that he would not let Israel go. It was the Lord who
stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, to release the
Jewish people to return to Israel after 70 years of captivity.
And on that note, it was the Lord who raised up Cyrus in the
first place. Isaiah 44, 28 records God's benevolence
to the Jews through Cyrus 150 years before Cyrus was even born. It was the Lord who permitted
King Saul to reign over Israel as their first king, and it was
the Lord who stripped away Saul's kingship and chose David to follow
after Saul. It was the Lord who allowed Esther
to become the queen of Persia so that she might be a hero to
the Jewish people in rescuing the Jews from the murderous plot
of Haman. It was the Lord who allowed Nebuchadnezzar
to reign, and it was the Lord who humbled Nebuchadnezzar and
caused him to eat grass as an oxen. Acts chapter 12, the Bible
says, it was the Lord who took Herod's life in an instant. when he was being worshipped
as a god. This is only scratching the surfaces
of the instances in our Bibles that record God governing the
ways of rulers to accomplish his divine purpose. The Lord
has purposely put so many examples in the Bible of his sovereign
ruling over all people in all circumstances to remind us of
the bedrock truth of Christianity that God is God and he is God
alone. He does according to his will
and the army of heaven. He is God and he does as he pleases. This is true not only in the
area of politics, but in every sphere of life. Man plans. but the Lord directs. God is
over all and in all. Romans 8, 28, we know that all
things work together for good, especially to those who love
him and those who are the called according to his purpose. So
despite who is in office, who wins the election, how things
turn out, God will not allow humanity to hinder his sovereign
plan. And this does sometimes include
circumstances that are difficult. We need to swallow this pill
of truth. God allowing evil men to rule as his channel of judgment
is a reality that the Bible speaks of and speaks about often. And I believe we are in that
place as a nation as we speak. I believe that we are in that
place in the current state that we live in. the perverseness
that is celebrated, the murder of unborn babies, the lies and
hypocrisy that reigns in the political sphere is only a form
of God's judgment on a people who have turned their back on
Him. But even so, knowing that God is holding the reins of men's
heart, and that God will do only as he pleases takes away a great
weight of anxiety, doesn't it? To know that God is in control
is the only thing that causes us to sleep peacefully at night. And Psalm 46.10 assures us of
this. The Bible says, be still and
know that I am God. And the context of Psalm 46.10
is a context of calamity. A context of the heathen raging
and the earth being removed and cast into the sea. And when everything
around us seems to be destroyed and everything around us seems
to be going in a direction that causes our heart to fear, the
Bible assures us that we have an anchor, the anchor of hope
in the Lord. We can be still knowing that
God is over all. Now the unbeliever doesn't have
such a hope. The unbeliever's hope is in man and man's policies,
but if you are a Christian, our hope is in the Lord who made
heaven and earth. So when it comes to thinking
about politics and elections, we see first that a Christian
needs to develop a high view of God. The second needed attitude
that a Christian needs to cultivate is a low view of man. These things
are hand in hand. It's the heads and tails on the
back of a quarter. You can't have a quarter without
the heads and tails unless it's a deceiving quarter, a false
quarter. But these two truths are needed
in life as we seek to walk in a balanced way. You could say
these are the two feet that move us onward in being wise as a
serpent and harmless as a dove. We need a high view of God and
we need a low view of man. That is to say, we must never
place our hope in finite men, specifically governmental rulers. Let me give you several verses
that speak on this point directly. Isaiah 2, 22, the Bible says,
"'Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for wherein
is he to be accounted of?' Psalm 118, 8, 9. It is better to trust
in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust
in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. Psalm 146, 3, Put
not your trust in princes, nor in the Son of Man, in whom there
is no help. Jeremiah 17, 5 and 6, Thus saith
the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh
his arm. and whose heart departed from
the Lord. But blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord,
and whose hope the Lord is." Isaiah 31.1. Woe to them that
go down to Egypt for help, and stay on horses, and trust in
chariots, because they are many, and in horsemen, because they
are very strong. But they look not unto the Holy
One of Israel, neither seek the Lord. Now the Egyptians are men
and not God, and their horses flesh and not spirit. When the
Lord shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall,
and he that is hopin' shall fall down, and they all shall fail
together." And all these verses highlight a reality that humanity
is naturally prone to, and it is the reality that humanity
is naturally prone to look to man as a source of confidence. The tendency is to lean on man
for confidence in every realm of life. Others trust that romantic
relationships will provide them with happiness and purpose. And so they look for happiness
and purpose in other people rather than the Lord. Others trust that
friends will be their crutch to lean on during difficult times. Rather than looking to the Lord,
they look to their friends. Others trust that religious men
will be sources of forgiveness and spiritual assistance. Rather
than looking to the Lord, they look to religious men. Others
trust in higher-ranked employees and employer as a means of obtaining
more money and higher position. And we sometimes look to ourselves. We find self-confidence upon
our strength, our knowledge, our personality, and our talents. The Bible affirms that since
the beginning of time, people have had a propensity toward
trusting in princes, the most powerful people in the world.
And they've had a propensity to trust in princes or rulers
as a channel of those who will bring life. And not so much physical
life, Not so much spiritual life, but purpose and meaning to life. This is a great problem and we
need to be mindful of it. Let me explain. I'm a great supporter
of our current president. And from what I have observed,
I am persuaded that he passionately loves our nation. He only wants
the best for the American people. And the Lord has used him to
stand up against malicious people who stand for devilish values. And in my personal opinion, I
hope he wins four more years. But we are foolish to think that
any one man can bring hope, peace, and even physical prosperity
to a nation. So that's the balanced perspective.
Only God can bring peace. Only God can change the hearts
of men. Only God controls a nation's
economic prosperity or famine. Now God is a God of means. We
know that. We see that from Scripture. But
what I am saying is our eyes need to be on God more than man. And if our president, for whatever
reason, is not elected, I will be disheartened knowing the direction
our nation will go, but my faith will not be shaken because God
is still on the throne. So we need to constantly remind
ourselves. that God is God and man is not. We need to constantly remind
ourselves that the best of men are men at best. The best of
men are capable of making foolish decisions and executing the most
foolish behaviors. The best of men are capable of
being proud. The best of men are capable of
being humbled by God in their pride to show the world that
God is God and man is not, and that's exactly what happened
to King Nebuchadnezzar. the ruler over one of the greatest
kingdoms the world has ever known, and God humbled him to be like
an oxen and eat grass. Here, Nebuchadnezzar commanded
Daniel chapter three, all people to fall down and worship him. And God says, watch this. Now
who's gonna bow down to the ground and eat grass? So do not let politics tiptoe
near the throne of heaven in your mind. God is in heaven and
the earth is his footstool. And all men are like grass that
are slowly withering away. God is infinite. Man is finite. God is holy. Man is sinful. We need a high view of God and
a low view of man. The third attitude that is needed
as we consider these things is a needed zeal for truth. A needed
zeal for truth. God's people are to be a people
who uphold the truth assertively and unapologetically. And this
obviously means those truths that God has given to us in his
word. We need to know the mind of God and various issues that
are among the political arena and be passionately persuaded
of their implications on our life and our society. In other
words, we need to love the things that God loves and we need to
hate the things that God hates. We need to agree with God on
those things He has already made a judgment about. To give a few
examples, We need to be convinced from Scripture that abortion
is murder and it is loathed by God. God hates the shedding of
innocent blood. We need to be convinced by scripture
that marriage has been defined by God as a union of one man
and one woman. Anything else besides true marriage
as defined by God is not marriage, it is only a mirage. We need
to be convinced that there are only two genders. We're not convinced
by science alone, we're convinced by Holy Scripture. God, from
the beginning, made them male and female. We need to be convinced
that the church is essential. God has established his church.
Jesus Christ has died for the church. We have been commanded
to meet as a church, and in a physical sense, since the founding of
our nation, our gathering has been protected by the Constitution,
and this has been a direct blessing of God to our nation as American
citizens. Knowing these truths are authorized
by God and not man, we should never fear from believing in
them. We should never fear of speaking
about them and standing up for them as God gives us opportunity. Our nation has failed because
churches have failed. Churches have compromised. Let's just become soft. Let's
just welcome people in so we can be successful. Let's take
the edge off the sword of the Spirit Let's just put our doctrinal
guard down so that we can quote, love as Jesus loved. And our
nation is only a reflection of our Christianity. I mean, if
you think about the last 50 years and the supposed numbers that
preachers and churches boast of in converting in their community,
millions and millions of people supposedly, my question is, where
are they and where is the effect? Somebody might ask, well, isn't
that bringing politics into the church? My answer is no. It is not bringing politics into
the church. It is bringing the truth that
the church stands upon into the world. Jesus said in Matthew
chapter 5 that Christians are the salt of the earth and the
light of the world. When we speak about biblical
truths that directly relate to moral issues in our society,
it is the way that we can influence our society for better. You look at the nations that
have prospered, you look at those nations that have been blessed
by God, and it is those nations who fear the Lord. It is those
nations who have a heavy Light for the sake of Christ. And I
can't help but think of the Hebrew midwives in Exodus chapter one,
when they refused to perform after birth abortions as the
Pharaoh commanded them, was it spiritual or political? The answer is yes. They wouldn't
bow. Their convictions were strong.
Their convictions were rooted in what God said, and when those
convictions were then pressed on by the rulers of their society,
they stood firm for what God had said and God approved of
it. They weren't trying to be political
activists, but their beliefs, when pressed by political leaders,
just automatically came out to society, and that was God's will. The fourth attitude that Christians
should develop to maintain a balanced perspective regarding politics
is number four, a privileged voice. Christians, especially
those living in a nation that gives them the opportunity to
speak freely and vote, must understand that we have God-given freedoms
that allow our voice to be heard. In some nations, Christians do
not have this privilege. In fact, in some nations, the
average citizen doesn't have this privilege, but we do. We
have the privilege of voicing our opinions. We have the privilege
of speaking at city council meetings. We have the privilege of signing
petitions, and we have the privilege to vote. We may not have that
privilege in the future. Only God knows, but we have it
now, and the Bible says that we need to redeem the time because
the days are evil. We do not take for granted that
God has given us the opportunity to be a people who are free,
who can voice their opinions and vote. What we say does have
an effect on how things are done. Now, it may not seem like it
in some ways, but it does. It will shape the future of our
children and grandchildren if we voice our opinions. And if
we don't voice our opinions, Where will we be? Do we want
our children learning to be lazy bums, receiving free money from
the government? Or do we want them to go to work
and earn an honest living? Do we want to teach them that
police officers help our communities or hurt our communities? Do we
want to teach them that it is fair to close down churches during
a pandemic while marijuana dispensaries, liquor stores, and abortion clinics
remain open? What do we want to teach our
children and grandchildren? Church, we cannot stand back
and watch evil prevail when God has given us a voice. If you're
at Stater Brothers and you see a gathering of three or four
teenagers beat on an elderly woman, a woman, do you just stand
there? Do you just watch? Maybe do you
just pray? Or do you say something? Do you approach them and try
to stop it? Let me bring it closer to home. If your spouse or your
child was being lured by evil men, are you going to let them
be taken without a fight? If somebody breaks into your
home tonight, are you just gonna drop down to your bed and just
say, Lord, help me? You shouldn't be praying, Lord,
help me, but you should be actively engaging them to leave. I'm grabbing
your handgun, by the way. Did Esther stand back and watch
the Jews be destroyed? Evil triumphs when good men do
nothing. And I would even insert there,
evil triumphs when Christians do nothing. Solomon tells us
there is a time to be silent, but he also tells us there's
a time to speak. Don't forget that John the Baptist
spoke out against Herod's unlawful marriage. Again, we ask, was
he being political? Who is he to call out this ruler? Are Christians supposed to hide
in a corner about what is right and what is wrong? Or should
they be the leading voice regarding what God says? I'll let you answer
the question. God is sovereign. Man is responsible. And God is a God of means. God
works through means. And so there is a balance. The
church shouldn't be political in nature, but spiritual in nature. Our focus is not changing policies. Our focus as a church is changing
hearts. But at the same time, we should
not shy away from speaking God's truth and love on the issues
of life. The fifth thing that is needed
among God's people, it's a humble prayer for mercy. A humble prayer
for mercy. Habakkuk 3, 2, O Lord, I have
heard thy speech and was afraid. The speech from the Lord was
a speech of judgment. God's people had rebelled. And
here the prophet is standing in between the people and the
Lord. I have heard thy speech and I
was afraid. Oh Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years,
in the midst of the years make known, in wrath remember mercy. God's wrath was about to fall
and Habakkuk says, in your wrath, oh Lord, be merciful. Notice he doesn't justify the
fact that the nation needs to be spared. He doesn't argue with
the Lord that the people are wicked and deserve God's judgment. He knows God is good and righteous
to bring down wrath on such a rebellious people. But he says, in thy wrath,
remember mercy. And leads us to think of Psalm
127. Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that
build it. Except the Lord keep the city,
the watchman waketh but in vain. As we look at our nation, we
would say, except the Lord intervene, our bold stance will amount to
nothing. Unless the Lord intervene, hypocrites,
liars, evil men are going to take this country and destroy
it. And if God should mark iniquities, should the United States stand
free from God's judgment? Certainly not us, millions of
babies slaughtered, blatant disregard of God, compromising Christianity,
perverseness that reigns in the most perverse ways. And despite
who's in power, seeing the cold condition of our land should
cause us to beg God, Lord, forgive us of our sins and turn our hearts. Turn us again, oh God. And cause
thy face to shine and we shall be saved. The final attitude
that is needed among Christians is an assured hope in the gospel. An assured hope in the gospel.
Our only hope for our nation is the saving power of the gospel. Romans chapter 1, Paul says,
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power
of God unto salvation to everyone that believe it. The message
of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection is the only cure
for humanity because it's the only truth that can change man
in the inward parts. It's the only truth that can
change man's heart man's nature. Politics cannot change the hearts
of men. Politicians can overturn Roe
v. Wade, they can outlaw homosexual
marriage, they can make us financially prosperous, but they cannot give
us everlasting life. And so knowing that, we look
to Jesus. And Jesus has power on earth
to forgive of sins. Jesus has promised that those
who repent and believe on His name will know the forgiveness
of God. And so if that's what Christ
has said, and we've experienced that in our own hearts as Christians,
we need to understand as we talk about the political realm, as
we move forward, responding to the political realm, we move
forward in a spiritual way. Only Jesus can save. And we look at Corinth again,
that wicked, depraved city filled with idolatry, filled with perverseness. Paul going into Corinth, preaching
what? The gospel. The power of God into salvation.
Preaching Christ crucified, which to the Greeks is a stumbling
block, but to those who believe it is the power of God. Christ
went holding up high the message of Jesus and his power. And fornicators,
adulterers, effeminate, abusers, thieves, and drunkards came to
the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Paul says, and such were
some of you before you were justified in the name of the Lord. What
do you think that did to their society? Apart from Christ, their society
was lost, as lost can be. But when Paul came with the light
of truth, Jesus being the way, the truth, and the life, no one
can be saved except by placing their faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. When Paul came preaching that message, as he won one soul
after a time, the community, whether they saw it or not, started
becoming better, started becoming more moral. Homes started becoming
pure that were depraved. So that's our hope and that's
our focus. The focus of our church is not
political or social reform. The focus of our church is Jesus
Christ and the message of salvation. Christ did not command us to
go into the world and make Republicans. Christ commands us to go into
the world and make disciples. What is the proper attitude toward
politics from a Christian? A high view of God, a low view
of man, a needed zeal for truth, a privileged voice, a humble
prayer for mercy, and an assured hope in the gospel.
A Biblical Attitude Toward Politics
Series Questions and Answers
| Sermon ID | 10820451332282 |
| Duration | 33:01 |
| Date | |
| Category | Midweek Service |
| Bible Text | Proverbs 21:1 |
| Language | English |
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