Harrison Faith Church
One Nation - Principles and Platforms | Pastor Scott Brandon | Nov 3, 2024
I got a special announcement I'm gonna make at the end of service so don't run off just yet we got something we want to celebrate it's very important but before we get there let's talk for a bit I'm not gonna I'm not gonna take long in the introduction because we got a lot to cover this morning we got about six issues we're gonna try to cover so I'm not gonna try to talk fast because I know it's hard for you guys to listen fast but let's I'll try to be thorough so don't just forgive me if you see my head down most of the time I'm trying to stay steady on my notes just to keep it moving all right now I do know I'm about to dump on you guys I get that I get that right away I get that right away so I put as many notes as possible for you guys to follow along in the scriptures it's also in the app if you guys want to grab the notes as well let me start with second Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 3 through 7 says let no one deceive you in any way for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed the son of destruction who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called God or object of worship when he comes there'll be just one religion so that he takes his seat in the temple of God proclaiming himself to be God which consequently would be one government Paul goes on to say do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things and you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time now pay attention for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work amen only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way can I tell you the restrainer is who Jesus talked about in the form of the Holy Spirit who convicts the world of sin righteousness and judgment but he does that in the presence or in the church the church in power by the Holy Spirit is the very thing restraining the lawless men are taking full power you and I are instrumental and so when we realize that we are we need to understand that it's not just in the presence of being on the earth but it is how we conduct our life and how we allow the Holy Spirit to use us it's important for us to practice gospel and preach gospel because that is the restraining force for the lawless man the lawlessness of that's coming will be the highest form of lawlessness you've ever seen things that you and I would turn our stomach and make us sick will be the norm for the day be a new normal a new a new culture and you and I will not want to be here I don't believe that we will be here but today I want you to understand is that what we're talking about in terms of restraint the lawless this it is coming will one day consume the world listen to me one day Satan will have all his dreams come true one day Satan will be successful on earth one day he will have total control on earth one day he'll be in complete power and be worshiped just as he is always dream but although that will happen one day it's not going to happen today somebody say not today Satan boy that little KB just then and and y'all know what you ever heard that before not today not today I just hear in the background like a theme song right there and so when we're talking about these issues especially how our vote impacts the political sphere which is man's highest form of authority in government our vote says not today Satan our vote says not today Satan to his party to his platform to his proxies or his policies that's why we cannot be and we will not be silent pray with me father and heaven I ask you this morning Lord would you teach us this morning God teach us download your word and I pray God I sent a standards and a template God to help me make decisions father as the day waxes cold and as the love of many God wax cold God and evil puts its tentacles father in every sphere of our life and culture I pray God allow me allow me to know your word don't allow me to be deceived God by the doctrines of demons and and those other things God that scratch our itchy ears but let your word be true let your word be true let it guide me with clarity let me know God without without doubt without fear what you have asked of me and what you have given me to walk out in your word God I pray anoint us with your spirit this morning to hear not me but Lord what your word has to say to these issues and then give us the conviction and the strength and the wisdom to execute all that we have heard we ask it in Jesus name amen today I want to stack the debt for you I want to overload you as much as I can with information that you might I'm just gonna step back and kind of just shoot buckshot at you so one two or three all that hits you then praise God but my hope is that something will lodge in your soul and help you understand what your responsibility is in terms of this election that's coming up here on Tuesday and how are you to walk that out I want you to be over informed right and if anything at least inform the nothing you might continue to do your own research to be honest it's I'm an opinionated guy if you guys don't know that just know that I'm opinionated guy I have a lot of opinions and so I struggle to keep that to keep that lid on the jar whoops and and so so I thought I've been doing good so far but here's my job my one job my ultimate job is to bring you face to face with the text right bring you face to face with scripture and ask the question will you follow one book or will you allow lesser authorities to speak into your life and so I pray today that as we leave out of here that you will be able to look at the Word of God and look at the platforms that are presented before us in terms of how we might cast our ballot and you might be able to make a decision that you know with confidence and clarity that this is what God has called me and asked me and given me instruction to do and so I want to cover four issues that I feel as a country are most we're most accountable for or to we stand before God and and then two additional ones if we have time we'll get into that and so here they are the first one is our alliance with Israel our stance on abortion our perspective on marriage family and gender identity our duty is our duty and raising children our commitment to defending religious liberty and then our view on security border security not just security border security so let's start with Israel I want you to know first off is that America does not support Israel because she is spotless and pure and practices righteousness let's just get that out of the way we we we don't look over there and think she's perfect we know better than that our relationship to her has everything to do with God's word concerning her and not the righteousness or lack thereof that she practices we know that she has struggled throughout the ages in fact the prophet Isaiah God spoke to him and said this and Isaiah one hero heavens and give ear oh earth for the Lord has spoken children have reared up have I reared up and brought up but they have rebelled against me the ox knows its owner and the donkey its master's crib but Israel does not know my people do not understand sinful nation I a people laden with iniquity offspring of evil doers children who deal correctly they have forsaken the Lord they have despised the holy one of Israel they are utterly estranged and so we know that Israel struggles oftentimes and the righteousness before God but God has never got us never cast him away from his sight in fact we as we read in Jeremiah and Jeremiah was he wrote the book right in the height of Israel's apostasy the worst they were ever in terms of their spiritual condition and he writes almost 50 direct rebukes in the book of Jeremiah almost 30 warning and calls to repentance in the book of Jeremiah and over 50 prophecies of judgment if they don't repent if they don't respond yet in all of this and all of those things that God was speaking through Jeremiah hear the heart of God concerning his people thus says the Lord who gives the son for light by day in the fixed order of the moon and stars for light by night who stirs up the sea so that it waves and roar the Lord of hosts is his name if this fixed order the parts from before me declares the Lord then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever thus says the Lord if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth can below be explored then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel for all they have done declares the Lord do you see that God says even though they deserve to be cast off for all that they have done he says you'll not be able to do anything to release them from my love and my word and my covenant and so since we know that that Israel is God's very own and in case maybe you don't know maybe you don't understand why God is so faithful to Israel let me just backtrack just for a second for those who are new to this idea what we find in Genesis chapter 12 verse 2 is the promise that God made to Abraham he says and I make and I will make you a great nation I will bless you and make your name great so that your name will be a blessing notice that it is God who desires to make a nation it wasn't Abraham's prayer it wasn't his petition Abraham was doing just fine where he was and God said I want you to leave I want you to leave your place your family your comfort and I want you to go and I'm going to make you a nation and this is what God wanted it was his desire to make a nation and it was his land to give and did and he did give that land just as 15 says on that day the Lord made a covenant with Abraham saying to your offspring I give this land who gave it the Lord gave it and you know how it is when you when when the Lord gives it it's his job to make sure she keeps it God it's still his land even though he's giving it from the river of the Egypt to the Great River the river Euphrates the land of the Kenites, Kennesites, Ketemites, Hittites, parasites, Revum, MRIs, Kenites, Gergesites, Jebusites, and everybody else who's out of sight I guess I don't know all of holy moly he says I'm taking it from everybody and my people get it just the 17 says and I will give it to you I will give to you into your offspring after you the land of your soul journeys all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession everlasting position and I will be their God and here is where we find our call to support Israel God said in Genesis 12-3 I will bless those who bless you and him who dishonors you I will curse and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed notice it is God's desire to make them a great nation and then he will use them he will use Israel to bless the world and then he gives us an invitation an opportunity he says if you will come along and bless Israel I will bless you for making her great really will help you make yourself great if you bless her then she will bless you in return and that is what we do in America we come alongside and we bless her we support her but there are those who would curse her and dishonor her are there those who would curse her absolutely you have seen the Middle Eastern conflict is growing and I don't know what's gonna be come of it I want you to know that Israel has been fighting a long time and so wars are not new to her but what I want you to understand is that ever since God gave the land to Israel in the 15th century BC that's a long time ago Israel has been the stewards of that land unless God has brought judgment upon Israel because they've been disobedient and he brought oppressors and rulers but then they eventually turn the land over to someone else and obviously back to her one thing you need to understand is this is that ever since that time that God gave Israel the land there has never been a time in in history that there has been an independent Palestinian nation that existed in the land never and so the very thing that they're fighting over right now has never been yet they're claiming that it's always been theirs when it's never been theirs it's never been theirs and so when people move towards Israel saying they're occupiers and are moving against them in a way that it is unsure you have to remember you're you're actually moving against God you're not moving against Israel because God made those promises and if God is solid and turns a blind ear then God is not God for he is an unjust and unrighteous man and that is not who God is today you need to understand that that Israel is hated her very existence is being demanded of her in fact in September just in September the UN passed a resolution which was drafted by a known Palestinian terrorist that that was residing in Israel known for murders and attacks and here is the resolution that this terrorist drafted and then gave to the nations of the world and asked them to pass they said this we're asking Israel to not have a right to self-defense in Jerusalem Gaza or Samaria that's a total laydown of all arms she becomes entirely defenseless and then they ask that member states those states that are next to her would not so any equipment to her whatsoever at all demanded that the permanent removal of 800,000 Jews from their homes would happen and that it should be completed in 12 months now that was happening in September and do you know what the you the world said the world said 124 said yes we agree that she should lay down her arms that she should move her members and that she should not be allowed to have equipment from her her neighboring states 124 14 were against 43 said I don't want to be involved in that and if you look up there the people who were against only the United States is a real superpower everybody else bowed out in fact I would say this everybody else signed their name and said you know what whatever war whatever terrorist comes about her that would be upon her own head and I thank God that America said we are not for that I thank God I thank God they were not even in in absence of voting but they said no no no we're not for that at all let it be known let it be known that America is still for Israel it matters church it matters you see what you have to understand is this if the Palestinians would agree to lay down their arms and acknowledge their legitimate existence of Israel they could have a separate Palestinian nation tomorrow and live in peace tomorrow with economic prosperity because the Jews know how to generate prosperity they matter fact there's we have as a nation as United States not just the world but as a nation we have prospered so much since 1948 1949 when we came into alliance with Israel our nation has literally bloomed why because we blessed her and in blessing her we bless the word of the Lord and the word the Lord always returns always returns but we know this is that if Israel were to lay down arms today without the sovereign Lord intervening it would be annihilated it would cease to exist as a nation and this is the distinction this is the fundamental difference between the two sides and conflict and so it is this situation America pledges her support for if we break alliance with Israel and fail to support her and fail to bless her then we have in our silence cosign to the nations who would destroy her and curse Israel we would be associated and that's why America's silence would be here signature we cannot allow that to happen so when you're at the ballot box when we vote let's remember to ask which candidate will best will best support Israel not that you'll just support Israel but what will best support Israel we don't need lip service right we need some actions next up is the issue of abortion and the issue abortion it's really a matter of deciding whether or not the pre-born should be treated as a person from the moment of conception this is overwhelmingly obvious for me but but but maybe if some people are out there on the fence if we look at the birth of John the Baptist we find that when John the Baptist was six months old and he is in his mother's womb he let with at with joy at the news of Jesus birth Luke tells us and when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary the baby leaves in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb and why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me for behold when the sound of your greeting came to my ears the baby in my womb leaped for joy can you imagine that because here's some things that we may not just read in the text right away but for a baby to hear is an attribute of human activity for a baby to leap to respond to process the news now that's blowing my mind right there oh that's the that's Jesus over there that's Jesus on the side of that to process that and to have joy to know that down through the years finally the Messiah has come and John the Baptist wasn't even able to raise a hand just yet but still yet for joy for joy not only do we see that there but also in Rebecca the wife of Isaac we read in Jesus chapter 25 it says the children struggle together within her and she said if it is thus why is this happening to me so she went to inquire the Lord and the Lord said to her two nations are in your womb and two peoples from within you shall be divided the one shall be stronger than the other and the older shall serve the younger notice here that God himself is saying there are two people we don't even know how old they are yet they could be they could be a month old six months seven eight nine months old but the Lord says this two nations two people they have two destinations two destinies two futures are in your womb and they will struggle and that one will serve the younger so we see very clearly is that these are just not embryos and and fetuses that have no brain but these these are living beings that have eternal purpose God's intention was upon them and then probably the most significant passage that we find in terms of the pre-born having life that's equal to a person who is born already is found in Exodus chapter 21 verse 22 through 25 it says when men strive together and hit a pregnant woman so that her children come out but there is no harm then the one who hit her shall surely be fine as the woman's husband shall impose on him and he shall pay as the judge determines but if there is harm then you shall pay life for what life notice the equality statements here eye for eye tooth for tooth hand for hand foot for foot burn for burn wound for wound and strike for strike there is there is a clear equalness that's going on here but what we see here is that the life of the pre-born is equal to the life of the offender to put this even in a more elevated way when you look at this law that Moses prescribed what you find is that this particular thing is is is unique in in context of the mosaic law because what we find here is that you will find no other law that matter of fact it says this right it says when men strive together and hit a pregnant that's accidentally they didn't need to do that but it just happened and so this is an accidental death but when you read the rest of the law you will find that no other law where accidental death occurred whether you dropped a rock on your mother law or you know i don't know but you know whatever might have happened accidentally not my mother law i would be i would be sore upset but whatever happened accidentally occurred in demanded uh capital punishment so there's no other law concerning an excellent accidental death demand capital punishment but in the case of a pre-born it is so because see if if if you accidentally killed someone you ran them over or something like that tragic happened that person died what was required of you in the accidental death was to flee to a city of refuse and as you fled to the city of refuge you were there they would hear your case and you could be tried there or you could just stay there and never be tried and you had to wait for the priest that was over the city to die and then once he died you were released and so if that happened that was great but that was not the case for a pre-born and so what i find is this is that in this particular command god placed a higher value on protecting the life of a pregnant woman and her pre-born than the life of anyone else in society because everybody else would have been would have been uh given the ability to escape but it was not given that here there was no clause for that here and so it did not treat the pre-born at all it did not treat the pre-born less significant but in fact more significant more significant and so what did it conclude from all these verses in scripture and and i hope you guys know we can be here for six weeks if you wanted to the bible is not solid on any of these measures at all but here's what we need to know we we should understand and think that the that that a pre-born child is a person from the moment of conception from the moment of conception and we should give the pre-born child legal protection at least equal to at least equal to that of others in society and if we do not act that way if we do not act in such a way to prevent the slaughter of the innocence here's what the writer of proverbs proverbs says in 24 he says rescue those who are being taken away to death hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter and if you say behold we did not know this does not he who weighs the heart perceive it does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it and will he not repay man according to his work he says you can't lie to me you know the truth and i will judge you according to the truth and what is the truth that you knew that people were being slaughtered innocently that people were being taken away from death to death and you did not rescue them he's going to ask you what did you do and you say well lord i didn't do anything and he says i know because i am he who looks upon your heart but i am also he who were a payman according to his work let that be an indictment church that's why we cannot be silent we cannot sit still god knows if our vote has worked to hold back the slaughter of innocence or propelled it so when we vote let's remember to ask which candidate more closely protects life more closely protects life third is our perspective on marriage family and gender identity i wish i had time to get into this one holy cow but i cannot and so we're going to try to just tackle marriage and then maybe at the end of this i can make you spiritually indignant john piper said marriage is a magnificent thing because it is modeled on something magnificent and points to something magnificent the greatness of marriage is not in itself let's not young couples the greatness of marriage is not in itself the greatness of marriage is that it displays something unspeakably great namely christ and the church right and so biblically speaking marriage is defined between one man and one woman let me give you some three truths in regards to marriage first god created marriage at the beginning of the human race as a lifelong union between one man and one woman we see this in genesis so god created man in his own image and the image of god he created them male and female he created them was god confused did god lead some people out did he say male females y'all the one that's got in it but he else got to be got to be okay with it no god is just as intent and creating the genders as he was when he admitted you in the womb god is just as intentional and god bless them because he only blesses those things that are perfect and god said to them be fruitful and multiply and feel the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish the sea and over the birds the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth and so this is how jesus understood it we see how god understood it but how did jesus understand it when questioned about divorce jesus made his understanding about the essence of marriage known by referring to what was established by god when he created the male and female matthew 19 says in affairs he came up to him and tested him by asking is it lawful to divorce one's wife or any case and jesus answered have you not read that he who created them from the beginning did you see that there he went all the way back to the beginning right he said let's get away from all your cultural views your traditional beliefs let me go all the way back to the beginning and he says this he goes have you not read that he made them from the beginning male and female and then jesus also affirms that marriage is therefore an institution god creates between man and a woman because he calls a marriage a relationship between two people that god did what that he joined together there was no man to say what are we going to do with this man this woman we're going to do with this now we're just going to be they're just going to live together what are they going to do are they going to be best friends and the lord says no no i created him and i created her for a reason therefore a man shall leave this is jesus speaking therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his husband that's not what it says that's not what it says jesus did not say that i don't care you cannot okay put that opinion aside here we go and and the two shall become one flesh so they are no longer two but one flesh but therefore god is joined together man close your mouth and keep your hands off stuff secondly as god's definition of marriage was not for the jewish people only although that's an argument that i've heard but it was intended to apply to all people in all societies for all time the establishment of marriage is not like one of the laws that moses gave the old testament which was intended just for the jewish people no for all those laws came after the exodus of the people of israel from egypt and those things were the not uh and marriage came before that notice that god's definition comes before laws and sin god's definition of marriage comes before law and sin that's why jesus said from the beginning these things belong to from the beginning they belong to the concept of god creating us male and female not a people group not a culture not a tradition so if you've been struggling why should we be married well let me just tell you from the beginning god set it up that you were supposed to be married and why let me just keep on down to my next one why because marriage between a man and a woman is the most fundamental institution in society fundamental institution in society it is the bedrock y'all could play jingle before y'all know how this you pull in these little blocks everywhere you ever played with someone who thought they could pull the last block on the bottom like it's you know it's three on the bottom and you you know you you go ahead like when i play with the girls i'm tapping those two blocks right off you know but can you imagine me being down there trying to pull the last block the last block i'd be an idiot to do that my hope is that they'll do that but when we start pulling the last block we're thinking that we can we can define the the foundation of society of society not faith not beliefs not a culture not a country none of that human civilization is based on this thing that he made them male and female and put them in a institution and which all other relationships before laws before cities before outings before church before schools and educations and whatever other institution you can think of all of those things were not there god said this must be first and if we redefined that that we create all kinds of chaos british anthropologist jadie i'm going to have quoted him before he studied the historical decline of 86 different cultures and found that strict marital monogamy strict marital monogamy was central to social energy and growth in fact here's what he says no society flourished for more than three generations without it without it no more than three generations and so omen wrote this he says in human records there is no instance of society retaining its energy after a complete new generation has inherited a tradition which does not insist in rejecting sex outside marriage i want to just kind of say that in a different way that no society that's ever been recorded lasted more than three generations that's about 75 to 90 years it's about 75 years for us when a new generation accepted sex outside of marriage i would dare say that the the generation that that redefined our view on sex outside of marriage was the 60s the sexual revolution it was something that we begin to realize that's okay that's what's fine with us but prior to then that was not accepted but during the 60s hence they called it the sexual revolution was the first generation to accept this immoral lifestyle therefore according to the pattern we might only have about 10 years before we see the end of america just just looking at history not history is not prophecy but it's the greatest form of prediction that we got and so if we're looking at history history is saying because you are immoral for three generations your time is about up and i'm not prophesy i'm just telling you this is what we see in the nature of man and so since marriage is the most fundamental institution in society it's no wonder that the downfall has led to a slippery slope in fact it's not only just redefined marriage but it's redefined family now it's mingling with gender gender identity issues and it is convoluted all kinds of stuff let me just give you an example of how how it's beginning to twist things and just in case you think you know what just redefining marriage is not really going to affect me that much it will it will it's coming for you it's coming for your family it's most definitely coming for your children in 2014 now mind you we're not near as bad i mean we're worse off than we were in 2014 but in 2014 the boston gay men's choir sing a song and you can find on youtube it says this your children are not your children your children are not your children they are the sons and daughters of life's longing for itself they come through you but not from you they and though they are with you yet they belong not to you you may give them your love but not your thoughts for they have their own thoughts you may house their bodies but not their souls for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow which you cannot visit not even in your dreams you may strive to be like them but seek not to make them like you that was 2014 can i tell you the slope is even cheaper now because in 2020 the san francisco gay men's choir said this we'll convert your children you'll think we're sinful you fight against all right you say we all leave lives you can't respect but you're just frightened you think we'll corrupt your kids if your agenda goes if our agenda goes unchecked funny justice wants you're correct we'll convert your children happens bit by bit quietly and suddenly and you will barely notice it you can keep them from disco or warn about san francisco make them wear pleated plants we don't care we'll convert your children we'll make them tolerant and fair just like you're worried they'll change their groups of friends you won't approve of where they go at night and you'll be disgusted when they start learning the things online that you kept far from their sight we'll convert your children yes we will reaching one and all there's really no escaping it because even grandma likes rupaul the world's getting kinder gen z's gayer than grinder we're coming for them we're coming for your children the gay agenda is coming home the gay agenda is here do you understand you understand there's no neutral parties in this they're coming for you and they will not rest until you are their ally which means you must bend your knee you must bow when the trumpet blows to their god and they they accept nothing nothing but complete submission so when we vote let's remember to ask who will best protect god's design for marriage uphold traditional family values and fight for the innocence of our children which leads me to our duty in training our children raising our children it's remarkable how often the bible places the responsibility for training children on parents not on society or the government the fact we just read this not not too long ago Deuteronomy 647 here oh Israel the lord our god the lord is one you shall love the lord your god with all your heart all your soul all your might and these words that i might command you today shall be on your heart you shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise and when you make them do chores they don't want to do all the time is what mose is the same all the time and every form and every aspect of your life what are you supposed to be doing teaching your children training your children eight different passages and proverbs one in Ephesians one in Colossians all of them give us concrete language that a child's raising is solely the responsibility of the parent and not once will you find any government influence or consultation you'll see none of that statehood there whatsoever at all it relies completely on the parent and so what does it supply what is it saying well parents not the government not the government should have the freedom to decide how to best educate their children not the government but yeah this is the complete opposite of the socialist and communist ideologies they do not agree with that at all they feel like you do not serve the country's best interest with your beliefs and so therefore they are against that even in Germany today the government today the government policy enables taking children from their parents by force in order to compel them to attend state run schools even if their parent objects in the immoral and anti-Christian values that are being taught in school there is no such thing as homeschool anymore in Germany in September 2006 the European Court of Human Rights outlawed homeschooling in Germany entirely to the point that families have been threatened with the seizure of their children and parents imprisonment if they homeschool their children that is homeschooling is not just the replacement of public education but it is also any supplemental supplemental education along with public school education is also considered homeschooling and it's punishable by imprisonment can you imagine that in 2008 in Denmark two parents served three months in prison because they did not want their kid to be educated against their faith and 2009 parents were fine for not allowing their kids to participate in a four-day sex education that conflicted with their family's Christian faith they were fine because they wouldn't let them go to a four-day sex education camp and and we think you know what I pray that never comes to America but in 2009 a ten-year-old homeschool student in New Hampshire was ordered by a judge to attend public school because the girl noticed this the girl this is the quotes appeared to reflect the mother's rigidity on questions of faith the judge said that her best interest would be served in a public school setting he goes on to say this that different points of view are required for her to begin to critically evaluate multiple systems of belief in order to select as a young adult which of those systems will best suit her own needs and so what happened here was the judge rejected the mom's belief and faith and said for your child to be a competent young adult in the future America then she must be exposed to multiple ideas in fact the judge issued this order even though they had the girl evaluated and what they assessed about the girl was this that she was well liked she was social interactive with her peers academically promising and had more than kept up with all the academic requirements of the public school system the reason why they they would not allow her to be home is because of issues of faith now do you understand that was a law that was a judge that passed verdict that means that there's now a precedent you understand that there's now a precedent you would say never in America but not as a precedent that they could come for your kid and say you know what we don't appreciate you teaching that radical theology so when we vote let's remember to ask who will best support the family and parents rights and parents rights so this bring me to our commitment to defending religious liberty scripture teaches us in Matthew 22 21 are y'all getting anything today okay Matthew 22 21 says this they said Caesars then he said to them therefore rendered a Caesar the things that are not Caesar and to God the things that are gods this is what Jesus was spots to when they were trying to establish the boundaries of government and relations to our religious freedoms he says that the things that belong to the government the government has right to let the government have those things but the things that belong to God then give to God last time I checked I ain't worshiping the government last time I checked I ain't bound down to the government last time I checked I put my faith in the government I'm not asking the government for wisdom and peace and discernment I'm not asking the the government for those things because those things belong to God these are the principles that you and I were given to us for the first amendment Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the exercise thereof that there should be no laws that prohibit the exercise of my faith in God now since there is no law that can be produced I want to introduce you to something you may have heard before it's called the conscious clause Exodus 23 says this you shall have no other gods before me that's still true today amen you shall have no other gods before me so if that is what God has told us and that verse is the proof text of our allegiance belongs entirely to God and we should not be required to bow down or to submit to anything that conflicts or competes with our loyalty to God you can ask we to do something that will conflict with my conscience knowing that my allegiance of my loyalty is into God himself and so if you do so you have affected me you have transgressed against me and yet we find ourselves in situations where bakers and other people like that right for talk they they can't do those things that their conscience is asked them to do because if we really have a conscious clause if we really are living out a faith that is unimpeded on by the by the government that means doctors can object to performing abortions without penalty of persecution that means bakers and photographers who decline to provide their services for same-sex winning ceremonies should do so without persecution without penalty that employers who decline to provide abortion pills or drugs of the like as part of their health care program should be able to do so without persecution or penalty and that employees who object to be required to take a vaccine because of their faith compelling them or convicting them should be able to do so to do so without penalty or without persecution so when we vote let's remember to ask which candidate will best support religious liberty and not force people to violate their conscience or their allegiance to God lastly border security code if you guys want to come on back up border security i want you to know that illegal immigration stands in contrast to the biblical command roman start team one says this let every person be subject to the governing authorities there is a rule of law there is a mandate even upon our borders but that is not to say that immigration is not permitted obviously in fact the bible draws a contrast between illegal immigration and an immigrant x is 22 21 says this you shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him for you or sojourner is in the land of egypt you haven't always called his home and so now just because it's honed is when you get to call somebody else that's not your home not their home and so what is what is the lord saying here well his scripture i love how scripture especially we get into the words the definitions of words the hebrew word the hebrew word for sojourner is gutter air and if you if you research this out this is pretty cool so the word gutter air in in the hebrew simply is a person who entered israel and followed legal procedures to a obtain recognized standing as a resident alien they did what what was asked of them and they gained equal status but there are also others who did not have that standing and they were called foreigners so you had aliens and you had um sojourner's but then you had these foreigners and they were different it exists 23 to 29 says that um these people did not have the same rights because they did not come through in the prescribed way so even the word of god is saying there's two different types of immigrants there are those who come rightfully and those who come unrightly and when they come rightfully they are equal status they had the same protections as a citizen as a resident but then those who do not come under the subjection to the authority of that land or that city or that or that town then they do not have the same type of rights this is a huge conversation but here's what i want you to know god's heart is for the immigrant he loves the immigrant in fact all through exodus and Leviticus and Deuteronomy he talks about how important it is to show them and treat them with love and hospitality so there's no part of the word and no part of god's character but god understands the illegal immigrants if they come in they number one they fly below the radar and they're treated less than there's so many problems that they create maybe unknown to themselves but here's what we should know that our government our government is is not only given authority to punish us if we're not doing good but god has also given our government to do good for us is given authority for them to do good and protect us and so if immigration policies of a nation are given they should be designed to bring benefit to that that nation and i mean i'll also tell you that god is for borders i don't know if you know this and i'm a god is for some borders god borders are god's idea god's origination god's plan god was the first one that established borders when he told the ocean uh uh not that far you can't go that far so god god is god is not against that in fact if god were to address the united states of america he would give instructions concerning its borders because in scripture borders were an indication of blessing they were a place of judgment if you acted in disobedience but if you acted in obedience your borders were blessing god bless Israel borders in exes 23 and exes 34 and numbers 34 and then god even says this in in the book of proverbs says a man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls what is he saying he's saying a man who can't control himself a man who doesn't have the discipline what happens to him he's broken into and left without walls and somebody else will control him a man who can't control himself will be controlled by someone else and if it's true of a man it's true of a um of a nation so we have to understand the the importance of that and lastly god first established borders as a means to stop one world governments god established that god used borders to keep mankind from consolidating power which is what man always wants to do we always want to create a one-world government where Satan has the ability to come in and establish his reign his influence ever since the tower of babble we read in Genesis 11a so the lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth and they left off building this city you guys know the story that we're trying to build about the tower of babble because they wanted to be they wanted to be gods want to be above his judgment and god dispersed them and Moses writes and says in chapter 32 of Deuteronomy he says when the most high gave the nations their inheritance when he divided mankind he's speaking about the tower of babble he fixed the borders of the peoples do you see that god said if i don't establish these borders what's going to happen is this is that there'll be a one world government and i'm not ready for that just yet and so i'll establish lines and borders so that man can govern man but not that one man will cover all man that's not it just yet Satan will attempt it but Satan and Jesus will come in and overthrow that and then one man the god man will come in and reign over all creation but until then until then borders are beneficial to us borders are are blessing to us so when we vote let's remember to ask who will provide fair and legal path to citizenship and who will best protect our borders and support our national security would you stand with me today hope pray when you leave out of here at the word is maybe itself a bit more clear than when you vote you understand your responsibility you guys know me i i don't talk politics i don't hang around these conversations but i know this if it's in the word i got to teach it if it's in the word we got to live it right we got to live it we cannot call ourselves people of the word and turn our blind eye to those things that speak against the word you and i are responsible and i want to pray today and then we have an announcement but i want to pray today for us because i know that Tuesday is coming and there's three things i just want you to i want to i want you to put on your heart as you leave out of here first off is want you to pray and i want you to vote and then i want you to engage remember we don't we don't change the White House until we've changed the school board those things don't change automatically they don't you you have to invest yourself in every level of influence and like i've said in the past there's no other voice there's no greater voice in the voice of the church concerning this nation and i would encourage you to do just that we you pray with me this morning father in heaven i ask god today for our confidence lord that when we look at that ballot lord i pray the peace of god would come over us when we are choosing that thing which supports your word and your word supports i pray god that if we choose something if we're wrestling with an issue or wrestling with a name pray god you would convict us convict us let us be vexed that anxiety lord set in that our pillow god never be cold what i pray until we know the answer the truth that we are to vote out and walk out and even speak out on lord let us not be a quiet people thank god that jesus christ was not a quiet man but he spoke the truth and he spoke it in love and i pray god you to remind us god that we are not hate people we are not be bitter towards people god who are contrary to the word of god or contrary nor to the principles of your word but god remind us god that we wrestle not with flesh and blood remind us though that we are wrestling god with principalities and spirits god and rulers god and those people god in dark places got that long to manipulate our marriage our children and even our allegiance to you i pray god you would give us the strength to be the church once again i pray god you would return our salt back to us i pray god you would illuminate our light god to this world lord and allow us god to be a church a city on the hill what i pray the world look upon us got to know what truth is even if it cost us everything i pray that not your words fall from our mouth nor diminish in their worth i ask it in jesus name i pray amen before you see it let me just make an announcement really quick i want i want you to know that over the last seven years seven years can a morgan have stood by us a steady force for ministry now before i say anything else no they're not leaving don't don't because they're like oh no this ain't happening is it that's no it's not they have been they have been without a doubt an instrument in the hand of god for sure thank you for them the last two and a half years they have been um well i'll just say this i couldn't have asked for better youth pastors friends people to be around work around uh i couldn't ask for anybody to be more honored than morgan hester she was like the the cream of the crop i value her and immensely they are a gift of god to us because they are we're gonna we're going to give them i'll ask them me and the board have have given them a one month sabbatical for rest a time just to restore refresh themselves yeah because they deserve it they deserve it i once talked to a prison uh he was a prison warden he was a minister and he said man i thought i knew what stress was and fatigue was and exhaustion was until i became a pastor and he was a prison war for 20 years you know and so that's pretty insightful for me and so this morning here's what we want to do let me just say before we pray if y'all want to come on up here no it's going to take you about about a few months to get up here so just take your time i love this girl in case you don't know i love this girl i love them both very much but here's what i want to ask the body to do as we pray i'm going to ask you to not burden them with anything okay don't call don't text unless it's to encourage and lift them up i have asked them to not do anything anything ministry related if it's not restorative if it's not refreshing don't do it they can come and go as they please and so i pray you would just respect that and remember that and don't don't don't don't remove your presence for them because they they still love you guys they want to see you guys it matters just give them the space through the month of november pray for them as often as you think about them and allow them to be restored and refreshed that's what the lord want that's what i know we have uh we have agreed it's a board i know the church is going to be behind it under percent so will you pray with me this this morning father in heaven i thank you lord for my friends i thank you lord for uh ministry god years of faithfulness years of faithfulness god years of sacrifice god years of moment sky where they felt overlooked and under appreciated and undervalued god and and they gave with excellence anyway oh god thank you thank you lord for your spirit in them thank you lord for how they've led us and poured us important to our lives god how they love us god how they treat us god how they respect us god how they don't judge us lord but they continue lord to honor us and lift us up god in all ways and i pray god today lord has a body father a blessing over them an anointing over them god that you would restore them and refresh them god i pray that you would restore them refresh their children god i pray god pray healing father in this body lord i pray god you would touch their bodies and their minds and their spirits god and even touch their future their destiny god while they're arresting god i pray encourage them god cause them to dream again god without fatigue lord today we pray an anointing and a blessing upon them and we cover them god with the prayers of this church we ask it in jesus name we pray amen amen amen amen we love them as they go out of here today thank y'all we'll see you wednesday you guys are dismissed