Mixing Politics and Religion | Part 1 | I Pledge Allegiance
We’re there in Joshua Chapter 5 and I’d like you to keep your place right there. We’re going to come right back to it but go with me to Psalm 33. Today as we’ve already announced, we are beginning a brand-new series entitled “Mixing Politics and Religion”. And the reason I chose that title is because today you talk to people and they act like it’s the unpardonable sin to mix politics and religion. They say that you shouldn’t do that and separation of Church and state and all of that. We’re going to spend the next several weeks as we go into this election talking about this. And the only reason I’m doing this during the election time is because during this time people are thinking about politics and thinking about these things. I want us to learn about what the Bible teaches about politics. The Bible teaches us everything we need to know about everything. And the Bible is what we need to always reference back to when it comes to what we should think and what we should believe and how we should act. We should always go back to the Bible.
In this series, what we’re going to do is we’re going to learn from the Word of God how we should feel about this topic as Bible Believing Christians regarding politics. We’re going to talk about how we should think about these things and also our actions and what we should do in regards to politics. Now let me just go ahead and say this. When it comes to our type of Churches and within Christianity there are a lot of different extremes when it comes to politics. We’re going to talk about some of those throughout the series. But I will say that within the realm of conservative Christianity, there is a major imbalance that many conservative Christians have. Many conservative Christian Churches and many conservative Christian Pastors are really into Patriotism and almost to the same level as the Word of God.
What I want to do this morning is just kind of give an introductory sermon to get us grounded in this idea of politics and religion. I want to begin this morning by just helping us understand what the Bible teaches about these things. We’re going to talk about 3 terms today. Those terms are God, Country and government. God, Country and government. And let me just say this. If you are not used to a Bible Believing Church or a Bible Believing preacher that checks all of its theology based off the Word of God says and a Church that is not interested in just formatting itself to what the average Church believes or the average American believes then you need to just mentally prepare yourself right now. Because look, everything we believe around here needs to be proven from the Word of God. It needs to come from the Bible.
Psalm 33:12 “12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord;”. Today you have a lot of people that will say “God bless America”. And now let me ask you a question. Is God really the God of America? Because the Bible says “12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.”. We’re going to begin today by just this introductory sermon on the subject of God, Country and government.
Go back to Joshua. Let me just begin by defining the terms of God, Country and government. Why do we need to differentiate them? Number one, we must understand God. And God is not the same as Country. They are not on the same level. Now you might say “Well nobody puts God and Country on the same level.”. Oh really? Have you ever heard this term before? “We need to go do this for God and Country.”. Well when people say that they’re going to fight a battle for God and Country or build this economy for God and Country, they’re placing God and Country on the same level. Please understand something. God is not the same as Country. They are not on the same level. Let me say this Country is not the same as government. We are to differentiate the two. There’s a quote by one of our founding fathers which is commonly attributed to Thomas Paine though there is no proof that he said it. But the quote says this “The duty of a true patriot is to protect his Country from its government.”. Please understand that there is a difference between God and Country. And there is a difference between Country and government. Government is the system, the structure of the authority to conduct policy, actions and affairs of the state. That is different than Country and that is different than God.
So with those introductory statements let’s go ahead and jump into the sermon. I’d encourage you to write some of these things down and then you can go home and study it and look at it. Now if going home and studying it is watching YouTube videos then just quit fooling yourself. Studying is harder than watching a video. Studying means you open up the Bible that God gave you and you actually read and study the Word of God. Let me give you some statements in regards to what the Bible teaches about these things. Number one. We should give our allegiance to God. This is what the Bible teaches. And please understand this. And you’re not going to hear this in many Churches today but God is above countries. God is above all countries and God is above all nations.
In Joshua Chapter 5 we actually have a perfect example of this. And we could look at many passages and look at many illustrations. But Joshua Chapter 5 is a great example of this. Joshua is leading the children of Israel. And by the way the children of Israel in the Old Testament were God’s people; not the Synagogue of Satan like today. But these are actually God’s people, the children of Israel, doing what God has called them to do. Joshua has led them into Canaan land, crossed over the Jordan river, and he’s getting ready to fight the first battle at Jericho.
Joshua 5:13 “13 And it came to pass, when Joshua” Joshua is the commander-in-chief, the boss, the leader. He’s not a King or President but he’s the one who God put in charge. The Bible says “13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?”. Now let me say this that this man who appears to Joshua is the Lord Jesus Christ. This is called a Christophany when Christ appears in the Old Testament. You say “Christ wasn’t even born until the New Testament”. Yes, but he is God. He is the “I am”. He has always existed. And here we have Jesus appearing to Joshua on the plains of Jericho.
Joshua asked a very specific question. “Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?”. Joshua is asking if he is for Israel or for the nations of Canaan because that is who they are going to battle with. If Joshua was alive today and he was an American then he would say “Are you for the Americans or the Muslims? Are you for the Americans or are you for the Russians? Are you for the Americans or are you for the North Koreans? Are you for the Americans or are you for Hitler?”. Whatever illustration you want to use. Joshua’s asking a very specific question. By the way, I don’t fault Joshua. If I’m the commander-in-chief and I’m out praying and meditating on the field and some guy shows up with a sword, I want to ask which side he is on. Now it’s a question that has a specific answer. Are you with us or against us?
Notice what Jesus says in verse 14. “14 And he said, Nay;” What he’s saying is neither or rather. It would be like if you asked “Are you for America or Russia?”. Nay. Notice verse 14 “14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come.”. What we can learn from that is that God is above countries and nations. You say “God is for us against our enemies”. God is not for any nation. Look, I understand that this sermon and this series is going to get me all sorts of emails and attacks and people are going to say that I’m a Communist from Venezuela. The fact that I served the United States Air Force and received an honorable discharge doesn’t count for anything.
And by the way, we have a lot of veterans here in our Church and many of them agree with this sermon and this philosophy. It has nothing to do with being a Communist. But please understand something. If the question is “Do you give your allegiance to a Country?”. The answer is nay. Because our allegiance belongs to God. We should give our allegiance to God. “Art thou for us or for our adversaries?”. And he said nay. He said but as the captain of the host of the Lord am I come. Notice the reaction of Joshua. “15 And the captain of the Lord‘s host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.”. See, God is above countries. God is above nations.
In Isaiah 40:17 the Bible says this “17 All nations before him are as nothing;”. We’re not Calvinists. When the Bible says all, it means all. It means all nations here. “and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.”. Please understand this. God is above all nations. And let me just point something out for you and help you understand just in case this bothers you. God is above North Korea. God is above Russia. God is above Cuba. God is above America. That comment will get emails and complaints. Why do we get that reaction? Why does it bother you that the Bible says that all nations before him are as nothing and they are counted to him as less than nothing? Please understand that God does not get on the agenda of nations. Nations get on the agenda of God. God is above countries and nations.
Yesterday my wife and I were driving down the road. We saw that Street Preacher on San Juan. He used to visit our Church for a while. Then he actually protested against us during the protests. And he’s out there always preaching all sorts of silly things and repentance of sins garbage. He’s out there yesterday and we see him and he’s got a little bull horn and he’s preaching. He has this Mexican flag that he is waving. I’m thinking to myself, I love Mexico and I love Mexican People but what does that have to do with God? What does that have to do with the gospel of Jesus Christ? He’s out there preaching the gospel supposedly while waving this huge Mexican flag. And you have to ask what these things have to do with one another. But the average Independent Fundamental Church in America today has a huge American flag as their background on their pulpit. And you have to ask what does the American flag have to do with Christianity?
I’m not sure why but the sermon I preached called “God is not an American” has been one of the sermons where I got the most complaints. I didn’t think that was a deep theological topic. Look, God is not and American. God is not a Mexican. God is above countries and nations. All nations before him are as nothing and they are accounted to him as less than nothing and vanity. God is above all countries. Let me just say this. As Bible Believing Christians, God requires complete allegiance to him. I’ll show you some verses in Deuteronomy but honestly, we can spend the whole morning going over verse after verse after verse throughout the Old Testament and New Testament. They both teach the same concept. I’m just going to show it to you from Deuteronomy to save time. But there are lots of verses like this throughout the entire Bible. You can study it on your own.
Deuteronomy 6:5 “5 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”. He says look, you need to love the Lord God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. Now when you look at that, you have to realize that if we’re supposed to love God in that way, what does that leave. And the answer is not much. God requires complete allegiance. Deuteronomy 11:13 “13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,”.
Look at verse 22 in the same chapter. Deuteronomy 11:22, the Bible says “22 For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him;”. Go to Deuteronomy 30:6. I’m just showing you that God demands everything. Paul said “Christ which is my life”. God requires and God commands and God demands complete allegiance. Deuteronomy chapter 30:6 “6 And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.”. Look, he says to love God in all ways. It says cleave unto him with all your heart with all your soul. What does that leave? Nothing. Please understand that God requires allegiance. What does the word allegiance mean? It means loyalty or commitment of a subordinate to a superior or of an individual to a group or cause. God requires loyalty and commitment. He requires complete allegiance to him.
The sermon this morning is entitled “I Pledge Allegiance”. And we’re going to be talking about what it is and who it is that we should honestly pledge our allegiance to. I’m not necessarily preaching on the Pledge of Allegiance that is recited by Americans. But let me just go ahead and say that the Bible says that we should pledge our allegiance to God. And by the way, the Bible actually tells us, Jesus actually tells us that we should not swear. He tells us that we should not make vows or make an oath. Can somebody please explain to me why across the United States of America today that Church after Church after Church are standing together and pledging their allegiance to the flag? Conservative Christian Churches all across the nation have entire congregations standing and saying “I pledge allegiance to the United States of America…One nation under God”.
Sorry to mess you up with the Bible but Matthew 5:34 says “34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: 35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. 36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. 37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.” Jesus said don’t swear, don’t vow, don’t make an oath. Just say yes or no. He says “let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay:”. What’s a swear? What does it mean to swear? Here’s the definition: to make a solemn statement or promise undertaking to do something or affirming that something is the case. What’s a pledge? Here’s the definition: a solemn promise or undertaking. A swear and pledge is the same thing. In fact, the synonym for the word pledge is oath, promise, or vow. All of these words mean the same thing. The Bible tells us that we’re not supposed to swear.
When it comes to Bible believing Christians, we shouldn’t have to swear. You should have enough character and integrity that when you say yes, it’s yes and when you say no it’s no. In fact, in our nation, because of the fact that there used to be a time where many Christians understood the Bible and believed it, when you had to make an oath before a judge or jury, you could just do it by affirmation. What does affirmation mean? It means that you’re just affirming yes or no and that your religious convictions keep you from searing. But now they ask “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth…”. I’m not really preaching about the Pledge of Allegiance but if you ask is it ok, well Jesus said swear not.
God requires complete allegiance. Now, if you want to try to disprove that from the Bible and show me where it says to have allegiance to a nation then go ahead. God also told us not to swear. God is above nations. Here’s point number two. Point number 1 was that we should give allegiance to God. Point number 2, we can have affection for our Country. Please understand this. I’m not standing up here saying I hate America and we need to fight the government. And if you think you’re going to fight the government today then you’re crazy. We’re going into an end times world government, a police state. It’s a little different now. The Bible says there’s coming a one world government, a one world religion. It’s the truth. It’s a reality. And I’m here to tell you something. Your little “God Bless America” is going to be leading the way for the Antichrist.
But please understand this. We should give our allegiance to God. However, we can have affection for our Country. What I really mean is that you can have affection for your earthly Countrymen. I don’t love America. I love Americans. That’s why we’ve given the last 10 years to create a Church, an army of soul winners that goes out every week and knocks doors and preaches the truth. There is nothing more loving you can do than trying to save a soul from hell. Romans 9:1, notice what the Apostle Paul says “I say the truth in Christ, I lie not,”. Paul prefaces his statement because he is going to say something so radical that we would think he is lying or mistaken. “I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, 2 That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. 3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:”. Paul is saying that he could wish that he would die and go to hell for the sake of his brethren. He says that his heart is burdened, his heart is broken because they have rejected the gospel. He’s saying he would go to hell so they could be saved.
He’s referring to his countrymen. Verse 4 “4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;”. See, Paul wrote a lot of negative things about the Jews. If you don’t realize that then you need to read the New Testament. He says a lot of negative things about the Jews and the Jewish Religion and all the wicked things they did. He didn’t love their religious system and their government system but he loved the people. He said that he could die and go to hell so they could be saved. We’re kind of laying the foundation for how we should think about these things. Number one, we should give our allegiance completely to God but we can have affection for our Country. Look, you can have love for your earthly Countrymen and you should love the people around you. We should want to see them get saved and walk with God. But please understand this, I can love my Countrymen and have allegiance to God.
The Bible teaches that we can have love for our earthly Countrymen. In fact I think that we should. Why did we have 82 soul winners go out knocking doors yesterday? Because we have love for our earthly Country. Why have we planted five Churches over the last 10 years up and down this state on the west coast? Why have we done that and in other parts? Because we have love for our earthly Countrymen and other Countrymen. Why do we do what we do? Because we love people. So saying our allegiance belongs completely to God doesn’t mean that we cannot have affection for our Country. You can have affection for your Country. You can have love for your Countrymen. But please understand this. When you got saved, you became a citizen of a different Country. You became a citizen of a heavenly Country.
John 15:19 “19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own:”. Some of you wonder why everyone hates me as the Pastor. Well, the Bible says that if everyone speaks well of you then there’s a problem. They crucified Jesus Christ. But as a minister and follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, they aren’t going to hate me? The world will hate us as we are preaching the message of Jesus Christ. And by the way, let me just say this. I’m preaching about this but when you’re supposedly a minister and a follower of Jesus Christ and everybody loves you like Billy Graham and Joel Osteen, there’s a problem. They didn’t love Jesus. John 15:19 “19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”.
John 17:14, the Bible says this “14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”. John 18:36. “36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world,”. Please understand this. We had a group that quit our Church and tried to take as many people out of the Church as possible. And their whole thing was that this is a wicked Country and we have to raise arms against the government and that I need to lead it. But our Bible is not an earthly kingdom. The Bible says “if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.”. Jesus actually said not to fight for this kingdom. One day we’re going to fight with the lord Jesus Christ on a white throne at the Battle of Armageddon. When you got saved, you became a citizen of a heavenly Country.
Go to Ephesians 2. You say, all these passages are symbolic or hyperbole but actually legally we are part of a different nation. Ephesians 2:19 “19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;”. If you look at its context, this is referencing the Gentiles or uncircumcision as the strangers. He says you used to be strangers and foreigners, you used to be strangers to the nation of Israel, but now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God. Not only did you get saved and you became a child of God and you’re part of the household of God but you became a fellow citizen with the saints, with a heavenly Country at the moment you got saved. You not only got a new family but you also got a new Country.
Go to Hebrews 11. You can have love for your earthly countrymen but never forget that you are a citizen of another country. What I’m going to say they will probably post all over Facebook but I was born in Venezuela and moved here when I was four years old. I thank the Lord that we didn’t have parents that flew the Venezuelan flag. We also didn’t fly the American flag growing up. This is what we were taught. As Christians, our allegiance belongs to God. When we got saved, we became citizens of a new Country. People say, “I don’t think this is very scriptural.”. Really? I’m showing a lot of verses.
Hebrews 11:13, this is the chapter on the great “Hall of Faith” of believers. “13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”. A stranger is a foreigner and a pilgrim is someone just passing through. When you got saved, you became a stranger and a pilgrim. You are on a journey to your heavenly Country. I don’t know why some of you get so concerned with this world and what the world has to offer. When you’re passing through somewhere and you’re not going to stay there very long, you don’t try to take a bunch of stuff with you. They confessed that they were just strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
Verse 14 “14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. 15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.”. That’s what a lot of conservative Christians are doing today. “16 But now they desire a better country,”. What’s a better Country? One where Jesus is the king and not Trump. A better Country is one which will uphold the laws of God and not destroy the laws of God. “16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.”. Here’s all I’m trying to tell you. I’m not trying to offend you. I’m not trying to start a fight with you. But please understand this, when you got saved you became a citizen of a different Country, a heavenly Country. Now you can have affection for your earthly Country men and you should.
You say, “I love America.”. Ok. Well love soulwinning and reaching Americans but don’t put a flag in your front yard. Don’t say that you love America as a Christian when you don’t try to get any Americans saved. If you love America, let’s go out soul winning and reach this country. You know what would have helped America and what would have saved America and would have been great for America is a Bible-believing Christian standing up and saying that our allegiance belongs to God. The best citizens this Country will ever know are citizens who say that they won’t pledge allegiance to the flag but give their allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ. That will make you the greatest citizen the world has ever known.
Do you realize that the husband who says he will give his love completely to God and his wife will come second will be a much better husband than the one who say that he will give all of his time and energy to his wife? Ok, we’ll see you in divorce court. You’ll be a better parent if you love God more than you love your children. I know that doesn’t seem to make sense to you but it’s true. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you. We should give our allegiance to God. God is above countries and nations. God requires complete allegiance. We can give our affection to our Country. You can have love for your Country and Countrymen. And I think you should. But you are a citizen of a heavenly Country. Go to Romans 13.
This is the big passage that is controversial. Number one, we should give our allegiance to God. Number two, we can have affection for our Country or our Countrymen. Please understand that I’m not preaching we should hate this country. We should love America and I’m preaching this because I love America. America does not need a bunch of preachers getting up and affirming her. America needs a bunch of preachers getting up and rebuking her. You can have affection for your Country.
Number three, we are under limited authority of government. People will call me a Communist for this but I base my beliefs on what the Bible says. The Bible is my boss. I don’t care what you say or what people think or what your Bible College degree taught you. The Bible says that we are under the limited authority of government. The keyword there is limited. But please understand this. We do not believe in anarchy. So before you come with your muskets and say “Pastor, lead the charge.”. Look, we don’t believe in anarchy. The Bible doesn’t teach that.
Romans 13:1 “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers.”. You say “Pastor, I don’t think you should be reading this right now. This is not going to go well with all the conspiracy people out there.”. Look, I never try to build a Church off of conspiracy theories. I’m going to read to you the Word of God. This is what the Bible says. You can like it or you can lump it. This is the Word of God. “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. 2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.”. The Bible does not teach anarchy. The Bible teaches that government was created by God. Now please understand this and don’t lose me here. The Bible teaches that God created government. Today I am teaching a sermon, preaching a sermon. Today I’m preaching about how we should think about things. Because look, you cannot understand what the Bible teaches about politics if you don’t understand that as a Christian your allegiance belongs to God. But I can have affection for my Country. In fact I should. God has given limited authority to government. We’re not anarchists.
And please understand this. There are two extremes within the conservative Christian movement. One extreme is the “Fox News Baptists” where just basically anything Fox News says is correct. Let me tell you something. Trump is bad. Biden is bad. Pelosi is bad. They’re all bad. They’re all wicked as hell. You have the Chuck Baldwins of this world and the Libertarians. With them, every sermon is about citizenship and America and the constitution. If you stand with the Fox News Baptists everyone else gets mad. If you stand against them then the Fox News Baptists get mad at you. I don’t stand with either one of them. They’re all wrong. All of them are wrong. Chuck Baldwin makes fund of the Fox News Baptists wrapping themselves with the American Flag while he wraps himself with the Constitution. There’s something wrong with the Church when every sermon is about the constitution and your personal rights. Look, the Bible teaches that the government has been instituted by God and government biblically speaking has limited authority. The key word there is limited.
Acts 5:29 “29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.”. Now look, don’t take that to the extreme. This doesn’t mean that we should never obey anything that the government says. Don’t have the default attitude that the government is always wrong because it’s wicked so you automatically disobey them. That’s how some conservative Christians are. You say, “The government is evil. They are telling me not to go over 45 but I’m going to go 55.”. Then you have a problem with God because God instituted government. Now God didn’t institute the government we live in but we’re not anarchists. Don’t come in here and think we’re going to war with the government. We’re not Fox News Baptists where America is always right but we’re also not the Church Baldwin Constitution group. The Bible teaches that we are under the limited authority of government. There comes a time when we ought to obey God rather than man.
Let me explain to you where we’re going with this series. Next week I’m going to preach a sermon called separation of Church and state. We’ll tie in the first amendment of religious freedom. And let me just entice you to come back. Religious freedom might be an American concept but you didn’t get it from the Bible. I’m sorry to mess you up with the Bible but the Bible does not say that. I missed the verse where God says that Muslims should have the freedom to worship their God. Separation of Church of state is not a concept found in the Bible. By the way, let me mess you up with this also. It’s not even a concept found in our Constitution and it’s not a concept even practiced by our Country. And we’ll talk about that next week.
The week after that I’m going to preach a sermon called Christian civil disobedience. Though we believe that government is instituted by God, we’re going to talk about how government is instituted by God and which governments are instituted by God. People get this idea that when Obama is the President that isn’t of God but when George Bush is President then that is of God. Well, try to find that concept in the Bible. We’re going to talk about the authority that God has given government and the limits. There is a time when we have to stand up and say that we ought to obey God rather than men. But that’s not every time. Then we’ll talk about the rulers of the darkness of this world leading into Halloween. The only demons you need to be afraid of are the demons in Washington. And then we’ve got some other sermons after that.
Please understand this. I’m not trying to offend you or upset you. But as Bible Believing Christians, we must emphasize what God emphasizes. By the way, one of the reasons that I like to preach expository sermons on Sunday and Wednesday Nights which means verse by verse is because it allows us to emphasize what God emphasizes. We should emphasize what God emphasizes. And please understand this, I know that I’m going to get a lot of blow back from this and a lot of negative feedback. However, if conservative Christians were honest today, they would have to admit that many conservative Christians have overemphasized politics. I get these emails from different people and they say they are doing livestreams and I click on it and they say they are talking about the Coronavirus. It’s like the 50th livestream on the topic or they preach 40 sermons on it. All I’m saying is that what God emphasizes in the Bible is what we should emphasize. Let’s see what God emphasizes.
Acts 1:6 “6 When they therefore were come together,” This is his disciples gathering after his resurrection. “they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?”. This is a political question. Are we going to have a revolution? Should we get our muskets? “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons,”. By the way, that phrase times or seasons is connected to the end times. Jesus is saying that his millennial heavenly kingdom will come but not an earthly kingdom. That’s what he’s saying. “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.”. We have to emphasize what God emphasizes. “8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”. Why do we preach about soul winning so much? Because we emphasize what God emphasizes. Because you can barely preach through two or three chapters in the Bible and not find a connection or illustration to win souls. They ask if Jesus will restore his kingdom and he says no but I’m going to send you out to every nation to be witnesses.
All I’m telling you is that if Jesus was alive today, he wouldn’t be making videos about wearing masks. I don’t like wearing them either but that isn’t what he would focus on. He wouldn’t preach sermon after sermon about the Constitution or the Coronavirus. You know what he’d be doing? He’s be preaching the gospel. As Bible believing Christians we should emphasize what God emphasizes. Throughout the Bible, God does not emphasize believers getting involved in politics. Now the Bible teaches us a lot about government and politics. We’re going to spend the next several weeks talking about it. I’m not an anarchist. There is government that God has created with limited authority. There has been Christian civil disobedience all throughout the Old Testament and New Testament. There are times for us to stand up and say we ought to obey God rather than men. But the Bible still says that we are to be subject unto higher powers.
My allegiance is to God. My affection is to our Country. And the limited authority goes to the government. This is what the Bible says. You won’t find this type of sermon preached at the average conservative Christian Church. I understand that. But here’s the question. Is that what the Bible says? If you should me I’m wrong from the Bible then next week I’ll stand up and admit it.
But the Bible says God is above nations, above countries. God is not for us or against us. “will thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel”. And he says “ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you”. Do you understand that things are put into context for reasons? They ask a political question and he answered with a soul-winning answer. The attack hurled at me is I’m not political enough and always talking about soulwinning. Excuse me for being like the Lord Jesus Christ. We should emphasize what the Bible emphasizes. We should not emphasize what the Bible does not emphasize.
And unfortunately, the reason that the average preacher in America, the average Christian in America can’t tell the difference is because they just don’t spend enough time with the word of God. They spend more time with YouTube and conspiracy theories and political stuff. Then somebody shows up with the Word of God and they say “You’re a Communist”. Call me whatever you want. I’m a Bible believing Christian and my allegiance belongs to God. And my affection to our Countrymen who we love and want to reach with the gospel. Why? Because we emphasize what God has emphasized. There is authority given to government that is limited but as Christians we must emphasize what God emphasizes.
Let’s pray.