HWJV?

Introduction

Here are some truths I hope everyone can agree on:

There is a God … and you are not Him.

As a Christian, you are first and foremost a citizen of heaven.

As a Christian, you are also a citizen of the nation God has placed you in.

Nothing short of returning to Jesus Christ will bring about revival in our homes, states, and nation.

Last week, the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University released a report indicating that:

“104 million ‘people of faith’ — including 32 million Christian regular churchgoers — [are] projected to abstain from voting in November.”

https://www.arizonachristian.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/CRC-Release-Pre-Election-1-Oct-12-2024-Final.pdf

The most common reasons for not voting were as follows:

68% claimed they were not interested in politics or elections

57% claimed disliking of all the major candidates

55% claimed feeling that none of the candidates reflect their most important views

52% claimed believing their vote will not make a difference

50% claimed the election has become too controversial

48% claimed believing the election outcome will be rigged

48% claimed not knowing enough about the candidates to choose one

Following the stats, there is a good chance some of you here in this room feel the same way about some of these. I am here to tell you as your pastor not one of those is a valid reason for not voting.

When church-going Christians were asked “how much difference will the outcome of the 2024 election make in your life,” over half (57%) declared it would make a big difference and more than a quarter (29%) said it would make some difference.

Over three-quarters of church-going Christians claim the outcome of election will significantly impact their life, but yet 32 million Christian regular churchgoers do not plan to vote.

Can I just tell you how foolish that is? The reality is this:

God established government.

As an American, you have the unique ability to directly influence the direction of your nation.

As Christians, we are called to demand the welfare of the nation God has placed us in, and pray to God on its behalf, because our welfare is tied to our nation’s welfare (Jer. 29:7).

Why are we talking about this?

Because somewhere along the way, the American church and American society was deceived into thinking that churches and pastors should have no voice in the political realm. Today, there are many Christians(!) who don’t want their pastor or churches to “get political.” Churches aren’t getting more political, politics is getting more theological and spiritual.

Every issue we will discuss today is first and foremost a biblical issue, not a political issue.

The moment the political realm moved from building roads, establishing schools, and issuing identification, to advocating for the slaughter of children, redefining marriage, erasing biological sex, encouraging the mutilation of young bodies, seeking to destroy the nuclear family, and failing to uphold law and order in society, was the moment the church was obligated to step in.

The church hasn’t moved. Our society has radically moved.

And if many Christians had their way of removing the godly voices and influence of churches, pastors, and individual Christians in the political realm, the effect is not no influence in politics, the effect is only godless influence in politics.

Matthew 22:36–40 NASB95

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 “This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

I. Government Was God’s Idea

1. In the family

Ephesians 6:1–3 NASB95

1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), 3 so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.

Submitting to God’s governing structure in the family is for your benefit.

2. In the church

Ephesians 4:11 NASB95

11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,

Hebrews 13:17 NASB95

17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.

Submitting to God’s governing structure in the church is for your benefit.

3. In society

Acts 17:26 NASB95

26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation,

Romans 13:1–2 NASB95

1 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.

Submitting to God’s governing structure in society is for your benefit.

Another way of putting verse 2 is that when you resist the authority structures that God has established (in the family, the church, or society), you are responsible for the suffering you experience because of that choice.

Contrary to widely held belief, you do not live in a democracy. You live in a constitutional republic.

You elect representatives to lead and enact legislation on your behalf.

This isn’t a trick question. If the people elect representatives to lead on their behalf, who are the governing authorities?

Rebelling against authority

The most common way we rebel against authority is through passivity.

II. What Voting is Not

1. A vote is not a valentine

The debate that changed politics forever.

In 1960, Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy debated one another on live television.

Before this, presidents had debated and appeared on live TV, but this was the first time the American population was able to see two presidential candidates interacting together in a live setting.

Going into the debate, Nixon was the favorite to win.

However, when viewers saw the youthful, energetic Kennedy next to the old, sickly Nixon, the perception of voters radically shifted.

Kennedy would go on to win the presidential election.

1 Samuel 16:7 NASB95

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Mature Christians do not vote based on:

Skin color

Gender

Personality

Mature Christians do not vote on whether or not they like a candidate. Mature Christians vote for whichever candidate will lead best.

2. A ballet box is not a mailbox to “send a message”

Whether you like it or not, America is primarily represented by a two-party system.

In the last 100 years, the highest percentage of the popular vote that a third-party candidate received was 19% in 1992.

Even then, he received none of the electoral college votes.

Well, that’s why we should do away with the electoral college.

No, the electoral college is what ensures that little tiny towns, like West Union, Iowa, have the ability to influence the outcome of a presidential election and not just being controlled by the millions of people who live in major cities. The electoral college is what gives rural America a voice.

There is no point in “sending a message” if no one hears the message. The goal of voting is not to make a point. The goal of voting is to make a difference.

3. A politician is not a pastor

This is not to say pastors are perfect people.

This is to say that biblically speaking, pastors are held to a higher standard. You can read about those standards in 1 Timothy 3 and 1 Peter 5.

A politician is not a pastor. Every sin for any person requires repentance. But for a pastor, there are certain sins that require repentance and disqualify them from their ministry.

III. 3 Types of Leaders

1. Those Who Embrace, Celebrate, and Promote Righteousness

You can read about King Josiah in 2 Kings 22-23.

2 Kings 23:3 NASB95

3 The king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant.

2. Those Who Embrace, Celebrate, and Promote Wickedness

You can read about King Ahab and Queen Jezebel in the book of 1 Kings.

1 Kings 18:17–18 NASB95

17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is this you, you troubler of Israel?” 18 He said, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and you have followed the Baals.

3. Those Who Are Flawed, But Used for Good

You can read about King Jehu in 2 Kings 9-10. He is anointed to become king and tasked with wiping out the evil in the land.

Jehu zealously carried out God’s judgment against King Ahab, Queen Jezebel, and the prophets of Baal, and God blessed him for it.

But Jehu was still far from perfect.

2 Kings 10:30–31 NASB95

30 The Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in executing what is right in My eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in My heart, your sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.” 31 But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel sin.

IV. What is Voting?

Voting is choosing the best available path forward.

Matthew 5:13–14 NASB95

13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;

Jesus did not say you are the salt of the church, He said you are the salt of the earth.

Salt is a preservative, which means it works to slow decay.

So, when you vote, you are choosing the best option to slow the moral rot and decay that occurs in a society.

AND CHRISTIAN, REMEMBER THIS AS WELL:

When it comes to voting for a president, you have to remember you are not just voting for a single person, but all the cabinet members and judges they will select, the executive orders they will levy, the agency positions they will fill, etc.

People often say, “No political party, candidate, or leader can save America.” But the question is, “Save America from what?”

No political party, candidate, or leader can save America from spending an eternity in hell.

A political party, candidate, or leader can be used by God to spare a nation from experiencing hell on earth.

Proverbs 29:2 NASB95

2 When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, But when a wicked man rules, people groan.

V. How You Should Vote as a Christian

By loving the Lord your God with your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and loving your neighbor as yourself.

This means recognizing that Jesus Christ knows what is best for you and determining to submit to His authority in every area of your personal life

- and -

Desiring that every person will come to realize true life and freedom is found only in Jesus Christ, and striving to elect leaders who will promote life, freedom, and righteousness in the land, not death, bondage, and wickedness.

As a Christian, your allegiance should always be focused on the vertical (between you and God), and the measure by which you influence the horizontal (the society around you).

With that in mind, and I want to be very clear on this, it is impossible for a Christian to honor God, obey His Word, and vote for a Democrat at this point in American history. The Democratic party is a demonic death cult under the power and influence of satan.

They advocate for the slaughter of children in the womb, children womb God formed and fashioned, up until the point of birth.

They promote the homosexual agenda, which God calls an abominations, and seek to redefine marriage, an institution which God alone created, to mean more than “one man and one wife.”

They seek to eradicate the nuclear family and give government the power to take and raise your children.

They push the transgender agenda and promote the bodily mutilation and chemical castration of young children in our society.

They seek to normalize pedophilia and promote pornography in school classrooms and libraries in order to groom and sexualize young children.

They consistently side with the enemies of Israel.

They seek to eradicate the free-market economy and replace it with socialism and communism, which are two ideologies fundamentally opposed to a biblical worldview.

They worship the earth, whereas God designed the earth for humans and gave us dominion and authority over it.

They promote lawlessness, looting, and rioting rather than seeking to uphold true justice and preserving the peace.

They deny that it is God alone who grants rights, believing instead the government bestows right and has the ability to take them away.

It’s not ideal to vote for the “lesser of two evils,” but it’s never permissible to vote for the greater of two evils.

James 4:17 NASB95

17 Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.

VI. Two Important Reminders

1. While the Democratic party, and those who are supporting it, are being used as pawns of satan to steal, kill, and destroy, do not ever let the mission field become your enemy.

Ephesians 6:12 NLT

12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

2. No matter who sits in the White House, Jesus Christ remains on His throne as King of kings and Lord of lords, and one day He is returning. The return of Christ always gives us hope, but never an excuse.