When I ministered last, on the 20th of October, before going on vacation, I addressed the subject of voting, Christians and voting. And we raised and answered three questions in that message. Should a Christian vote? And then I brought answers to arguments that Christians have used against voting. Voting isn't commanded or taught in the Bible. Some would argue. Others, why vote? Because God has determined the outcome already. And voting displays trust in men rather than trust in God, and we sought to answer those arguments. And then we considered arguments for voting taken from our role as citizens of a free nation. just two, that we should vote since voting may prove a means of benefiting fellow Americans, and that we should vote since voting is a way to help other Christians. And I sought to prove that from the scriptures. And then the next question was, how should a Christian vote? And I brought three answers. A Christian should vote his biblically informed convictions. Secondly, a Christian should vote with knowing that all the candidates are flawed. There's none perfect, we know that. Thirdly, a Christian should vote being content if God does not put our candidate, yours or mine, in office. And then I sought to answer, for whom should a Christian vote? Well, this morning we returned to this subject, not of voting, but of the results of the election. We've just come through a very tumultuous buildup to last Tuesday's presidential election. And last time I spoke, I sought to briefly answer those questions that we just considered regarding the upcoming election. But today, I follow that message with a few post-election exhortations. And I have four of them. First of all, brethren, we'll just dive right in. Let us bow in reverent submission to God's righteous rule over our nation, displayed in whom he put into office. Prophets, psalmists, and apostles all give solemn testimony to God's universal sovereignty in the raising up and putting down of rulers. Listen to Daniel as he says in chapter 2 in verse 21, And it is he, speaking of Jehovah, it is he who changes the times and epochs. He removes kings and establishes kings. And Daniel was to see that over the course of about 70 years while he was in Babylon. The psalmist says in Psalm 75, verses six and seven, for not from the East, nor from the West, nor from the desert comes exaltation. But God is the judge. He puts down one and exalts another. God ultimately is the one who puts men and women in power and removes them from power. Well, we see that he does that in democratic countries through voting, but ultimately it's the God of heaven that throws the lever. Romans 13 in verse one. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. And so you have the Apostle Paul in the New Testament echoing the teaching of prophets and psalmists in the Old Testament. And we could multiply examples, but I give only these three. Now, brethren, we live in a fallen world where men are at war with God. Sometimes it seems that evil swallows up everything that is right and good. But brethren, we need to remember who's on the throne, the kind of God who is seated in the heavenly places. If we conclude that evil swallows up everything that is right and good, such a conclusion is skewed and it is short-sighted, even in this fallen world, because it tends to exaggerate the evil and minimize the good. And worse yet, such a negative outlook forgets God by leaving him out of the equation. Yes, I testify that evil is real. That cannot be denied. It is prevalent. It is powerful. But let us not forget God is seated on a throne of grace as well as of justice. Now, I confess to you that I need to be reminded of this continually. But when I ponder the sovereignty of God in light of all of the sad and the wicked circumstances of this world. When I ponder the doctrine of God's sovereignty, instead of biting my nails, I find great comfort, especially when the world seems to be careening out of control. I need to sing the heart-cheering truth. This is my Father's world. Well, let me ne'er forget that though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet. Brethren, let us apply this perspective and truth to the subject of elections. How can we live with the results? How can we bow reverently before God's rule no matter the candidate that he places in office. Now, one that's put in office might not be our choice. We must remember that God is sovereign, even in the outcome of important ballot measures that we have voted for. You see, whatever happens, we must remember that God's sovereign hand has determined the results. His ways are higher than our ways, and we need to constantly keep that in mind. Now, we may have very good reasons to challenge a leader's principles and scrutinize his policies, and yet we are not at liberty to resist their authority as long as they don't require us to violate the principles and the precepts of the Word of God. Now that, you know, you tap that and it goes in a lot of different directions, but I'm not here to open that up this morning. Embracing God's providence sometimes means bowing to unhappy outcomes. For instance, would we be willing to say with Eli, Even after he received Samuel's dreadful prophecy of the soon death of his sons and the capture of the Ark of God by pagan enemies, would we say with Samuel, it is the Lord, let him do what seems good to him. He's saying in effect, I wouldn't have chosen these things. I wouldn't have chosen the death of my two sons. I wouldn't have chosen the Ark of God to be captured by the Philistines. But this is of God and I am not going to argue with him. We must ever remember that God's mercies are great. even when he must inflict painful punishment upon us as individuals or as a nation because of our sin. And this was Jeremiah's conclusion as he surveyed the rubble that was once the glorious city of Jerusalem. He looked about him, the smoking rubble, the once glorious city reduced to ashes. And he said, why should any living mortal or any man offer complaint in view of his sins? We deserve this. We deserve worse than what we got. Brethren, we have no room to complain about God's dealings with our sinful nation. We've tasted little in the way of bitter judgment, but much in the way of sweet mercies. Such was Abraham's conclusion as he pondered God's impending judgment upon the wicked city of Sodom. Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? It's going to be reduced to ashes, smoldering ashes. Hell is going to be rained down from heaven. They're all going to be destroyed. It wasn't even five righteous in this city or God would have spared it, but he destroyed it. Brethren, we must be willing to kiss the The just hand that strikes no less than the merciful hand that strokes. God always does what is right. I believe that the outcome of the election displays God's undeserved mercy upon us, especially upon our wayward nation, which seems hell-bent for destruction. May that mercy move us not to squander these things, but may it move us to repentance as Christians and as a nation. So let us bow in reverent submission to God's righteous rule over our nation. Secondly, let us tangibly love our neighbor who may disagree with us politically. We are commanded to love our neighbor as ourself, and not every neighbor do we agree with. Leviticus 19 and verse 17. You shall not hate your fellow countrymen in your heart. Yeah, but he's on the other side of a fence. And the difference between his views and the outcome, if they were to be followed through to their conclusion, are far different than mine. That would lead us to destruction. Mine would lead us to blessing. How can I be kind to such a person as that? He's my enemy. You shall surely reprove your neighbor, but you shall not incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. You know, there's some texts in the Bible we wish weren't there, and sometimes we might wish that this wasn't there. We have just emerged from a contentious, eventful, highly charged pre-election season. Vicious slurs dominated the political discourse. We witnessed not one, but two assassination attempts. Neighbor has been said against neighbor, and in some cases, family member against family member. And I suggest to you that emotions may run high and they may run high the closer we get to the installation of Mr. Trump. Yet even amidst real and substantial differences between ourselves and others, we must treat our neighbor with respect. We must love him as we love ourselves. We must seek to do good to him, we must do unto him as we would have him do unto us. Yes, we must even love our enemies as God loves his enemies. We must seek to do them good. We must seek to emulate God in his gracious treatment of his enemies. Let us seek to treat them as God has treated us. And that's hard to do, even with grace, because of the power of remaining sin. I suggest that before us is an opportunity, without compromising inflexible biblical principles, to be the blessed peacemakers who prove themselves to be the sons of God. If possible, Paul says, so far as depends upon you, seek to be at peace with all men, even those whom we may regard rightly as being very seriously wrong. Pride rather than principle and emotion rather than reason often dominates political discussion. But I suggest to you that political hills are usually not high enough to die on. As Christians, we must not be spineless milquetoasts. I'm not suggesting that at all. We must stand unashamedly for the principles and the precepts of the word of God. But brethren, we must not become scrappy. It is not a badge of faithfulness to be ready to argue at the drop of a hat. A respectful dignity should characterize our demeanor and dialogue. Wisdom sets a gate on our lips. Doesn't the Bible teach that there's a time to speak and there's a time to remain silent? And we need the wisdom of Solomon's greater son to know when to speak and when not to speak. But when the time comes to open our mouth, may we speak wisely in exposing error and defending truth, but to do so graciously. Listen to a wise king who said in Proverbs 15 in verse two, the tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable. That means you have to think about what you say and you seek to be gracious in the way that you say it. The tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable. That assumes that it might not be acceptable if it wasn't graciously spoken. And it may yet not be, but it needs to be graciously spoken. The tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable, but the mouth of fools spouts folly. Proverbs 17, verses 27 and 28. He who restrains his words has knowledge. And he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is considered wise. When he closes his lips, he is counted prudent. But oftentimes we open our lips and we remove any doubt whether we're wise or foolish. Proverbs 20 and verse 3, keeping away from strife is an honor for a man, but any fool will quarrel. I had to preach this to myself before I preached it to you. There's been times in the past when I've been scrappy and I regarded, you know, that readiness to argue as just proof of my faithfulness to God. In fact, we don't see Jesus ever arguing. Even in Matthew 23, when he indicts the Pharisees, he speaks very plainly to them, but he doesn't get into arguments with them. Brethren, we love others with our speech, no less than with our actions. May grace enable us to emulate our loving Lord who made hard truths palatable to all kinds of people. They were wondering at the gracious things that fell from his lips, even when he was speaking hard things for them to hear. So let us bow in reverent submission to God's righteous rule over our nation. Let us tangibly love our neighbor who may disagree with us politically. Thirdly, let us fervently pray for our nation and for the leaders whom God has placed over us. If you have an outline, you have these texts of Scripture there, but if you don't, turn in your Bibles to 1 Timothy 2. 1 Timothy 2, verses 1 through 4. Paul is telling the church how to engage in its public worship, and the first thing that he deals with here is prayer. First of all then, I urge that in treaties 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. Now keep in mind, that Paul's not just giving general directions for Christians, but he's giving specific directions for the church and engaging in prayer in the services of the church as he does throughout chapter two. Notice first from the apostle, notice the parameters of our prayer. We are to pray for all men. Our enemies know less than our friends and everyone in between that God brings into our lives. None of them are to be excluded. Even the most wicked, they especially need our prayers, don't they? Second, the apostle lists kinds of prayers that we should offer before the Lord on behalf of all men, especially rulers. Entreaties. If you have a New King James, I think it reads supplications. Those express our sense of need. We petition God on behalf of the needs of other people. Oh Lord, give them clear thinking, enable them to make wise decisions. And then the word prayers, that indicates our request for help. We can't provide what we're praying for. And this word for prayer, it's a supplication offered to a deity. It's used even in pagan worship. Here it's offered to the one and true, the living God. It acknowledges that only God can answer our needs. And thirdly, petitions. carries the idea of intercession, of conversing with God. And then thanksgivings, thanking God, from whom all blessings flow, and thanking God even for civil leaders. Well, you might be thinking, I can thank God for a lot of things in my life, but how can I thank God for this person or that person who is a wicked one seated in a place of authority and is only doing harm rather than good? Well, how do we pray for them? God changed their heart. We're to pray for our president and our governor and our mayor. We're to pray for those who are in authority. And then Paul presents the practical goal of such prayers for leaders and for all men. Notice in order that, that's a purpose statement. In order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. You see, we should pray that our leaders and all men following them, that they would nurture a climate of civility under God's blessing. a climate that would protect the rights of all men, including Christians, which in turn would not impede, but rather allow the furtherance of the gospel. Lord, bring peace so that the gospel of peace may be promoted in the world. And as we pray these things and we demonstrate this gracious, peaceful demeanor, God hears and he watches. And then the apostle concludes with a statement of God's approval of such prayers. And it gives us a glimpse into the evangelistic heart of God. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our Savior, to pray this way for these people in these ways. This is good and acceptable. Do we want to know the will of God? This is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our Savior. Paul understates it. This is good and acceptable. Actually, this is God's command, and all his commands are good. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our Savior. Notice he calls God not the ruler, he calls God the Savior. God is the ruler, but he's a ruler who saves, who desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Let us pray that God would save our president, he would save our governor, that he would save our mayor, that he would save all that are in places of authority that sway some kind of scepter that impacts our society and us as individuals. This revelation of God's earnest desire for men's salvation should move us to pray with hope that he will hear an answer. Dear ones, we must never conclude that even the most wicked civil rulers are beyond the reach of God's saving hand. Paul was the chief of sinners and God saved him. He can save those in very high places. He can bring them down to his feet and give them faith in Christ. This means that Paul urged the church in Ephesus and all churches to pray for wicked leaders. He urged that church in Ephesus to pray for Nero, who would one day give the order to take Paul's head off. Paul knew it was coming. Daniel before him no doubt prayed for the Babylonian potentates under whom he served. Brethren, such prayers are never vain. God delights to hear them and in his good time and in his way, he will answer them in one way or another. So let us pray for our leaders. God heard Daniel, Persian King Cyrus, 70 years after he was in Babylon. King Cyrus sent the Babylonian exiles back to Judah. God responded to his people's fervent prayers on behalf of Roman Emperor Constantine, who became a friend of the church and brought persecutions to an end. Brethren, let us pray for our President, even as William Tyndale did before his death for King Henry VIII. Lord, open the King of England's eyes. Lord, open our President's eyes. God sometimes suspends great blessings upon the frequent and fervent prayers of his people. After his death, Tyndale's New Testament was published in England. The Bible we hold in our hands is in no small part due to God's answers to his prayers. Brethren, let us not have because we do not ask. What's the use? He's only gonna continue on in his wickedness. Are we omniscient? Do we know? We can't change his heart, but there's one seated in heaven who can. Rather, let us ask and seek and knock in Christ's name that God may hear our prayers and answer the very petitions that he's commanded us to pray. And finally, let us turn from this election season to our ordinary duties with renewed diligence. That's behind us now. We have our responsibilities ever before us. Let us keep our priorities in perspective. Elections come and elections go, but our daily duties, they continue on and on. A brother wisely reminded us last Lord's Day that no matter the election's outcome, life goes on. We're here today. Life goes on. Our duty to God is still the same. Our vocations await our diligence and determination to improve our work. Our family responsibilities remain unchanged. Let us attend to our personal devotions, our family worship, and our commitment to the local church with renewed zeal. No election or its outcome alters these daily duties. Ultimately, it matters not who occupies the White House or seats in Congress or how ballot measures are settled. What matters is this. Let us live to the glory of God. Let us plead for his grace to serve him acceptably, no matter who rules our country. The most magnificent king ever to occupy an earthly throne wisely regarded the pursuit of all distractions like these who run after them away from their ordinary responsibilities as vanity. All is vanity. He put all the matters of time in eternal perspective. The conclusion, when all has been heard, is fear God and keep his commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil. So what does it say to us by a few words of concluding application? First of all, let each believer rest comfortably upon the bosom of divine sovereignty. That is a comfortable place to pillow our heads, no matter what's going on around us. The God who orders the outcome of election also orders all the details of our lives. In fact, a hair doesn't fall from our head apart from our Heavenly Father. He's intimately acquainted with all of our ways and he's working all things together for our good. We need to keep this forever in our forefront of our thinking. Let me ask, do you believe this? Well, maybe you don't. Well, there's a word here for you. Until you come to Christ seeking a new heart and the forgiveness of your sin, you will never find rest for your troubled soul, no matter how well it might go for you. Jesus promises only his disciples, John 14 and verse 27. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. Do you have the peace of Christ ruling in your heart? No matter what's going on in your life, from the elections right down to health issues, your job, all of these things, we can have peace in the midst of all kinds of turmoil because Christ's peace is our peace. And his peace passes all understanding. But you must first be at peace with God before you will enjoy the peace of God. Romans 5 in verse 1, therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And when we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, peace will rule in our hearts. Secondly, let us look beyond political differences to see the spiritual need of our neighbors. Despite what all the pundits say, God views us not according to our politics, but according to our true condition. He views us as needy sinners with never dying souls that must be redeemed or be forever damned. And that is how we should view ourselves. That is how we should view our neighbors. How one votes or whether one votes, it means nothing to God ultimately. What matters is our spiritual condition before Him. Civil rulers come and go, nations come and go, but where are we going ultimately? Where are we gonna spend eternity? Is it gonna be in the fire or is it gonna be in the bosom of Christ? Are you trusting Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and of your acceptance before God? This is what truly and eternally matters. Let me ask you, how is it with you and the Lord? We are right with God only as we are trusting Christ, the only savior of believing sinners. What did Paul say in the midst of all of his turmoil and the greater turmoil of the Philippian jailer who was ready to kill himself? Believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. All this turmoil going around Paul, he has peace and he calls upon the Philippian jailer who's ready to fall upon his sword to believe on Christ and be saved. Thirdly, let us not fret about civil leaders and political matters, but take these things to God in prayer. Let us learn by grace to thank God for those whom he has placed in office. And even if we have a hard time thanking him for them, let us thank him that he's sovereign and he puts in place those that he wills. We may not agree with them in order to be grateful to God for them. Let us never forget imperfect rulers are to be preferred to no rulers and imperfect laws to lawlessness. Let us pray for Mr. Trump. Let us pray for a peaceful transfer of power, that our leaders would punish wickedness and reward righteousness, that they would pass laws favorable to peace and the promotion of the gospel for the protection of life and biblical morality, indeed, for the preservation rather than the destruction of our country. May God bring our nation to its knees in repentance, beginning with each one of us. Judgment begins with the house of God. Fourthly and finally, let us seek by God's grace to glorify God by lighting the way to Christ. Matthew 5, 16, let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your father who is in heaven. He's the one that produced them. Let us show them and let us give all glory to God. We are what we are by the grace of God. The good that we do, we do by the power of God. The way we are to others in kindness is because God has loved us first. Brethren, whoever we are, whatever station of life we may be, let us regard ourselves ultimately as citizens of heaven, entrusted with a mission, and that mission is to advance the kingdom of God by our lives and by our lips that recommend our Savior to this sin-darkened world. Let us be Christian neighbors to our disagreeable friends that they might be brought to Christ. Let's pray. Our Father, we are reminded that this is your world. Indeed, you are seated upon heaven. You raise up one, you put down another. Indeed, you cause all things to work after the counsel of your own will. And Lord, you not only are sovereign in all things that take place in the world, but you command us to live with our eyes upon you, to live in such a way before others, is that they might see our good works and glorify you who are in heaven. Lord, let us not be a part of the problem, but a part of the solution by your grace. We pray you would open our mouths in praise, even as we read from the 145th Psalm, to speak of your greatness and your goodness, your generosity, that others might see in our lives something that they want in theirs. So let us recommend our Savior, both by our demeanor and by the things that we say. So Lord Jesus, help us in this hour and in the weeks and months to come, not just when the transfer of power takes place in January. And we're not to look to the new president. He's not our Savior. You placed him there as your servant, but Lord, we are servants of you who are our savior. Help us to live, to please you. We can only do so by your grace. We ask great measures of it, in Jesus' name, amen.