Worship Service & Sermon

Who will stand up against evildoers?
Scripture Reading – John 17:13-18

1. As we get started in this sermon I want us to have a back drop, I want to set the stage
  a. In Genesis 1:26-31 we read of God’s creation
    i. “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; 30 and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to everything that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. 31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”
    ii. Everything God made prior to making man that He said it was good
    iii. In verse 31 when God looked all that He had made, which now includes the human race, He said that it was “very good”
  b. In verses 26-31 we see that God has given mankind dominion over all of His creation
    i. All that God has done, all that He has created is for us, mankind, He did it all for the sake of human life.
      1. The food, the majesty (name a few) everything was done for mankind
      2. None of it was for God, He did not need any of it,
    ii. The life of mankind, the ‘very good’ in His creation, is very important to Him
      1. He proves that not only with the awesome creation
      2. But also with His willingness to give His Son for the sake and salvation of mankind.
      3. Human life is of utmost importance to God, the God of Heaven, the God that is our Father.
2. That life which means so much to God the Creator begins at conception
  a. Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.”
    i. Do you suppose that there was some unique about the way Jeremiah was formed or do think that all of us were known by our creator before we had form?
  b. Psalms 139:13, “For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb.”
  c. Psalms 139:16, “Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.”
    i. Same question,,, was there something unique about David, or do you think that would be true of all of us.
      1. Acts 10:34, “Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality.”
      2. Romans 2:11, “For there is no partiality with God.”
  a. Those things that are said of Jeremiah and David would be true of all whom God has put together in the womb.
3. Last week the sermon was on the topic of abortion,
  a. It was in fact a Pro Life sermon, but it was very much a biblical sermon,
  b. Understand the “Pro Life” is not a political position, it is a biblical principle.
  c. I believe there is corruptness on both sides of the political aisle
    i. As such I am not here to endorse a political party nor am I here to endorse any politician.
    ii. Last week I did say something
      1. In my sermon I did encourage Christians to vote, and to vote for godly principles. I do see a phrase in my sermon that I wish I had phased a little differently at one point I said, “stop voting for… the person that looks the most presidential.” It was not my intent to have my listeners think the comment was solely about the presidency. We need to elect godly leaders in every branch of government, at every level, whether federal, state, county or city. This blessed country needs godly leaders in every capacity if it is to remain blessed by God.
4. While I have already and will again mention abortion, this mornings sermon has to with whether or not a Christian should vote, does the Christian have a responsibility to vote?
  a. Many Christians say they do not have to so they don’t, many say we cannot vote, others say that our government and voting are worldly things and that the Christian should not be in worldly things.
5. As I set out to put this sermon together I wanted to look at some of the reasons that Christians claim that they can either just not vote or flat out claim that we cannot vote. I will only look a couple
  a. Daniel 2:21, “It is He who changes the times and the epochs;
He removes kings and establishes kings;
He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding.”
  b. Daniel 4:17, “This sentence is by the decree of the angelic watchers
And the decision is a command of the holy ones,
In order that the living may know
That the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind,
And bestows it on whom He wishes
And sets over it the lowliest of men.”
    i. There you have it, God is in complete control, there is no point in voting, God chooses who rules, not us,
      1. Oh but what about,,,
        c. 1 Samuel 8:4-9, READ “Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah; 5 and they said to him, “Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing was displeasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 The Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them. 8 Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day—in that they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. 9 Now then, listen to their voice; however, you shall solemnly warn them and tell them of the procedure of the king who will reign over them.”
    i. Israel demands a king, who is in control? God is right?
    ii. What does God say in verse 7, I have lost control? NO He is still in control, “Listen to the voice of the people.”
    iii. In 8:22 God who is in complete control tells Samuel to “appoint them a king”
      1. So how is it that Israel has a king?
        a. Because God lost control??? NO
      2. Because God granted them their wish, their will
      3. If we as a nation, express our wish and our will by way of a popular vote, why would a God who is the same yesterday and today not do much the same thing today as He did back then?
6. Another argument against Christians voting is Romans 13
  a. READ verse 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.”
    i. I would go back to the question, “How is it that Israel had a king?”
      1. Oh yah, because the God who is in complete control granted them their will.
    ii. To that I would also point out that in this country in this slice of world history, we are a government “of the people, for the people and by the people”
      1. In the government that is spoken of in Romans 13, the people were to serve their government,
      2. In our government those we elect are to serve us.
      3. Our government has placed the responsibility on it people as to who will be given these positions of service.
  a. If the logic is that we are to be in subjection to our government, and our government leaves it up to us as to who will be in office, how do we by that logic shirk the responsibility of voting?
7. Before I move on I want to point out a biblical hero, a godly man, who does not appear to have live in blind subjection to his government.
  a. READ Daniel 6:4-5
    i. “Then the commissioners and satraps began trying to find a ground of accusation against Daniel in regard to government affairs; but they could find no ground of accusation or evidence of corruption, inasmuch as he was faithful, and no negligence or corruption was to be found in him. 5 Then these men said, “We will not find any ground of accusation against this Daniel unless we find it against him with regard to the law of his God.”
    ii. Daniel knew about the injunction but continued his praying and giving thanks as he had done previously. Vs 10
8. So there are those who say a Christian should not vote, some say that the Christian should vote,
  a. So what is the Christian to do?
I. It’s all about life
  a. As I have already mentioned, (on biblical grounds) everything that is in this universe, is for the purpose of human life, human life is extremely important to God.
  b. Back in the 70’s (73 I think) was the major Supreme Court ruling that it was a woman’s legal right to have an abortion
    i. As pointed out in the introduction, human life begins before we even have form.
    ii. God’s word makes it plain and easy to understand that the unborn, regardless of how long it is before they are born, that they are human and that they are fearfully and wonderfully made.
      1. Abortion is ending a human life that God has created, no law or court can make that “RIGHT”,
  c. From the time of Roe vs Wade until now, over 50 million humans have been exterminated due to a so called “right” (that’s in this country alone)
    i. As disciples of Christ we are to “go therefore and make disciples of all the nations”
      1. It is difficult to make a disciple of someone who was killed long before they had a chance to be taught to observe the Lord’s commands.
      2. 50 million have been cheated out of their opportunity to even hear the Gospel.
  d. READ Jeremiah 7:30-33 and also note 19:3-8
  e. Jeremiah 7:30-33, “For the sons of Judah have done that which is evil in My sight,” declares the Lord, “they have set their detestable things in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. 31 They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, and it did not come into My mind.
32 “Therefore, behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be called Topheth, or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of the Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth because there is no other place. 33 The dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth; and no one will frighten them away.”
      i. We will see sometime in another study that God carried this out against the people of Judah
        1. In what respect would we say that abortion is any different than what these people were doing with their innocent baby humans?
        2. If God is the same yesterday and today, Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
        3. Why would we expect an eventual outcome that is less devastation for us?
II. Who reigns over a nation has an impact on how God either blesses or punishes a nation.
  a. The reformation of Hezekiah
    i. Hezekiah stands in a favorable light according to the Bible,
      1. Hezekiah’s reform is considered to be the most extensive reform in the history of the Southern Kingdom
      2. Overall Hezekiah’s reign was blessed with peace and prosperity
  a. Who reigns over a nation makes a huge difference.
  b. David was an imperfect man, yet God worked through him
  c. David’s son Solomon was blessed by God.
  d. Who can doubt that his country was made great because God blessed it?
    i. Who can doubt that God blessed this nation because our founding fathers developed a government which was based on Biblical principles?
III. We are to be in this world but not be of it. READ John 17:14-18,
  a. “I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. 18 As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.”
  b. What would make us think that voting makes us ‘of’ the world rather than just being ‘in’ the world?
    i. Won’t voting against abortion make the world hate us, how would it make us ‘of’ the world?
  c. Paul tells us that We are ambassadors here, what does that mean
    i. READ 2 Corinthians 5:20-21, “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
      1. God makes appeal through us, His ambassadors
  d. What is an ambassador and what do they do?
  i. God’s people represent a foreign government, “our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20 )
      1. Ambassadors represent the ideals, the laws, the people, the culture, the government policies and political ideologies and interests of the country where the ambassador holds citizenship.
      2. Because of their unique and inside experience with the host nation, ambassadors are able to aid in the development of foreign policy with that nation. All of these actions seek to protect their home country’s interests within the host nation.
IV. So does God expect Christians to vote?
 a. From my study, it would be my contention that it is the duty and the responsibility of every Christian to vote.
    i. To vote for leaders who would uphold Biblical values, even though they themselves will likely not be Christians.
  b. God is most certainly in control, but that gives us no excuse to sit on our hands and do nothing.
    i. Remember the parable of the talents, the one talent guy who did nothing with his talent, was punished severely.
    ii. God can most certainly be displeased with the nations choice of a leader READ Hosea 8:4, “They have set up kings, but not by Me;
They have appointed princes, but I did not know it.
With their silver and gold they have made idols for themselves, That they might be cut off.”(God was in control)
    iii. Candidates that violate the Biblical principles for human life and our faith should never be supported.
Conclusion
A. If one cannot see in scripture a specific command to vote in this country of “government of the people, for the people and by the people”
    a. Then consider this
      i. We are commanded to love
      ii. Just how much love do we have for God’s created life if we will not even go cast a vote for a “Pro-life” candidate in an effort to keep a “Pro-abortion” candidate out?
        1. Voting is really only a small thing and more than voting should be done.
  b. In regard to voting being worldly, just how many other worldly things would we apply this logic to?
    i. Money is a worldly thing; would we stop going to work and making money?
      1. No, we would say that the one that does not provide for his family is worse than an infidel
B. It is true that the government that we have does not force us to vote, but consider Peter’s advice, 1 Peter 2:15, “For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. 16 Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God.”
C. As I come to an end, I want to point out a couple of things that the inspired writer James had to say.
  a. Voting is no doubt considered a work
    i. James 2:14-18, “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17 Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.18 But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
      1. Works are important to our faith
  b. James 4:4, “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
    i. Friendship with the world is hostility to God.
    ii. Want to be a friend to the world?
      1. Stand by and let the abortion industry prevail, and the world will love you.
D. It is my conviction that a preacher who teaches that it is OK to either sit on your hands and make not effort to vote the Pro-abortionists out, or worse yet that it is OK to vote for the Pro-abortionist, he is a preacher that needs and wants cultural acceptance more than he wants he want and needs the acceptance of God!
E. In God’s word it asks in Psalms 94:16, “Who will stand up for me against evildoers?
Who will take his stand for me against those who do wickedness?”
  a. Will you stand up to the evil doers?
    i. (Lessor of two evils)
    ii. Maybe should think in terms of voting out the most evil doers
F. I will vote, and I will vote with confidence that God expects nothing less from me
  a. I will vote against the evil of the abortion industry
  b. I will vote for my God, my family, the unborn and my country and in that order.
G. In past elections millions upon millions of those who claim to be Christians failed to vote
  a. Yet Christians complain about an evil government
  b. James 4:17, “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.”
H. It is my sincere prayer that we as Christian voters will show up and stand up against evil doers.