[0:00] God, Christian, and politics is a critically important subject. And it is so because the entirety of our existence concerns only two venues or states of being.
[0:17] One is our eternal state. It's the most important simply because it is eternal. And secondly, our temporal state.
[0:31] It's important because it impacts upon the eternal. Decisions and actions in this temporal world will impact our eternal experience.
[0:47] Do you get that? Now, decisions and actions in this temporal world will impact our eternal experience.
[1:01] Not only decisions and actions on the part of individuals, but decisions and actions on the part of nations throughout history will impact our eternal experience.
[1:18] Few things are so impinging upon our temporal world and existence as much as politics.
[1:29] Local, national, and global. You simply cannot avoid it. Because wherever there are two people existing, you will have a government of some sort.
[1:47] It is inevitable to the human condition. And with a subject like God, Christians, and politics, there are many issues of controversy.
[2:00] And there are almost always two extremes to avoid. God, Christians, and politics is another of those issues.
[2:11] One extreme is to avoid in thinking that Christians should have nothing to do with politics.
[2:22] It is a dirty, corrupt business that is so hopelessly contaminated. Any Christian who gets involved in politics on any level is certain to become contaminated as well.
[2:35] At all costs have nothing to do with politics. This is an irresponsible position that smacks of a holier-than-thou attitude.
[2:48] It cannot be sustained by the teaching of Scripture. But it is, to be sure, an easy way out. There are Christians who are all too eager to just wash their hands of anything to do with politics.
[3:01] Some go so far as not even bothering to vote. Oh, that's all to do with the world and politics and crummy this and that.
[3:12] And you shouldn't sully your hands with it or have anything to do with it. Besides, your vote doesn't make any difference anyway. And that's precisely the way these people think.
[3:23] The other extreme, which is perhaps just as bad, is to view the political process as being the principal change agent for the lives of individuals and the nation.
[3:37] It is pure folly to believe that the political process in itself is the answer to all human problems and all deficiencies in the world.
[3:50] This is the line of thought taken, for instance, by those of a communist or socialist persuasion. They are of the opinion that man is on an evolutionary spiral upward and all he needs is the right kind of motivation, the right kind of education, and the right kind of government to bring in that virtual utopia on earth.
[4:13] Government is the answer. There are many who feel that way. To think that all we need is better laws and better legislation to solve our problems.
[4:27] Consequently, throw all your money and all your time and energy into the political process on local and national levels, and we can legislate our way to a better world.
[4:39] That is simply futile and foolish thinking. And Christians certainly ought to know better. I'm going to give you a basic premise, and I would be the first to admit that it doesn't sound terribly positive.
[4:59] But I am convinced that it is terribly truthful. Mankind, in every part of the globe, with any form of government, is simply incapable of governing himself with consistent equity and justice for all.
[5:22] He simply cannot do it. This is true whether we are speaking of a godless communism, fascism, or democracy, such as we have in the United States of America.
[5:39] Let me repeat that. Mankind, in every part of the globe, with any form of government, is simply incapable of governing himself with consistent equity and justice for all.
[5:57] He simply cannot do it. This is true whether we speak of a godless communism, fascism, or even a democracy, such as we have in the United States of America.
[6:12] And we treasure our form of government as being the best and the most just that is in existence. And are you prepared to say that it is not fraught with injustices from time to time?
[6:28] Of course it is. Are there inequities from time to time? Of course there are. Why is that? Don't we have a perfect form of government?
[6:40] Absolutely not. There is nothing about a human government that is perfect because it is a human government. And everyone who administers it is flawed.
[6:52] So what kind of a government do you get? You get a flawed government with lots of injustices, lots of inequities, lots of inconsistencies. It is the nature of the beast, if you will.
[7:05] Some Christians naively believe that if the right government is established, and by this they usually mean my candidates, and the right people head it up and administer it, then everything will be as it ought to be.
[7:25] And this is true. But flawed mankind does not have within himself this potential for a right government, and there are not anywhere in our humanity any of those right people to head it up.
[7:43] We just don't have them. We don't have one. Not even one. You realize what I'm saying is that mankind has succeeded in creating such a colossal mess on this globe that it is going to take God the maker himself to straighten it out.
[8:09] That's the only one who can do it. The people who administer our government on every level have one basic thing wrong with them.
[8:21] They're just like us. That's what's wrong with them. They are the same kind of people we are. We do the best we can.
[8:32] Sometimes. To govern ourselves with the elected representatives we place in office, locally and nationally. And sometimes we do the best we can.
[8:45] We have public servants who work themselves to weariness, trying to do the right thing for their country and their constituents.
[8:55] And we have some who are merely opportunists, looking to further their own personal interests at the expense of their constituents.
[9:08] And some have done both at one time or another. They are like this because they came from us.
[9:20] And this is the way we are. Some are givers. Some are givers. And some are takers. And some of the givers do a little taking too sometimes.
[9:33] There would seem to be no question that if an electorate can put more givers in office than takers, we would have better government.
[9:47] But therein lies the rub. How do you do that? None of the candidates ever present themselves as takers when they run for office.
[9:59] Do they? All come across or want to come across as givers who are only honorably motivated.
[10:12] Otherwise, they would never be elected. And, well, their party platform is always what I can do and will do for you.
[10:28] And, you know, if we had a way of x-raying the heart and mind of everyone who was running for political office and what really motivated them, wouldn't that be interesting?
[10:45] Wouldn't you see a lot of red faces, people just embarrassed and slink away because their true motives would be revealed? But we don't know what's on the inside.
[10:56] We do know, and history has taught us, that there are some very honorable, worthy men and women who seek to run for office because they love this country.
[11:09] They are concerned about the direction it's taking. They really want to make a good, positive difference. They really want to make people's lives better.
[11:20] They want to make government better. They want to contribute in the most honorable and decent way. And there are those people serving right now in Congress.
[11:30] We would wish there were all that way. But experience has also taught us that they are not all that well motivated. No one has the potential to be a truly dedicated giver in fulfilling a political office more than a Christian.
[11:55] And I say potential, and I want to emphasize that. I say potential because his being that dedicated giver is not automatic.
[12:06] It is only potential. And I'm talking about one who is a genuine, born-again Christian. Just because he is that does not mean that he is automatically well motivated.
[12:21] It does mean that he automatically has the potential for the right kind of motivation and the right kind of decisions, the right kind of attitude, etc.
[12:34] This means, of course, it is possible that a Christian can be as self-serving and self-seeking as many of his non-Christian colleagues.
[12:47] A Christian in politics who walks after the flesh can do just as much damage as a non-Christian. He is not automatically a good president, a good senator, or a good congressman, or a good judge, or other political office holder, simply because he is a Christian.
[13:11] That does not necessarily follow. It ought to. It should. But we all know that it doesn't always. We have had in our past some who unabashedly professed their Christian faith with no apologies, and their administration was an absolute disaster in every way, shape, and form, much to the embarrassment of the Christian community.
[13:37] Even as a Christian, one can be inept, self-serving, or even corrupt, because his Christianity does not prevent him from making poor choices.
[13:52] His Christianity does automatically provide him with the greater potential of making right choices if he is walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh.
[14:04] So that holds true in politics as well as it does working in the department store or on an assembly line or being a physician or anything else. And with that, I want to take you to Romans chapter 8.
[14:17] Let's go there, please. Romans chapter 8, that sets forth the basis for the spiritual life or the life of flesh. As a believer, whether you are involved in politics, whether you are a homemaker or whether you are working 40 hours a week doing something else.
[14:37] Romans chapter 8, and beginning with verse 1, starts off with a conclusion because that simply indicates that there is a most unfortunate chapter division, as many of the chapter divisions are, but the writer, Paul, is reaching a conclusion to what he has presented in chapter 7, and his conclusion is stunning and wonderful.
[15:04] It is that in light of everything he said up to this point, the conclusion is, there is therefore now no condemnation, no judgment for those who are in Christ Jesus.
[15:16] And the reason that he has presented in the preceding chapters is because Jesus Christ has taken our condemnation for us, and the righteousness of Christ has been imputed to our account, and we are all free.
[15:29] We are free. Free in Christ. Free from judgment. Free from condemnation. Alive unto God through Jesus Christ.
[15:40] It is the glorious thing. This is what salvation is all about. He goes on to say, The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.
[15:57] For what the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did. Sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and as an offering for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh.
[16:14] In order that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. That is, the law requires perfect obedience.
[16:27] Perfect compliance. We don't have that. We simply do not have that. We cannot provide that. And that's what the doctrine of imputation does for us.
[16:38] The righteousness of Jesus Christ, who came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill the law, the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us. And when Jesus Christ took the wrath and judgment of God in his death on the cross, he bore the full brunt of the penalty of sin.
[16:58] So, sin, death, has no more claim upon him, because it is exhausted in his death. And that's why God was able to bring him back to life again for our justification.
[17:14] And that means that God takes the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and imputes it to us, and God looks at you in Christ, and sees you as one who has never, ever violated his righteous laws in any way, shape, or form.
[17:34] It is as if you are a perfect law keeper. But you aren't. But you are in Christ. You are in Christ.
[17:46] His righteousness is imputed to your account. And you say, well, why should he do that for me? Exactly. Why should he? Justice requires that he gives you what you deserve.
[17:58] But he does that for you because of his great love, because of his mercy, because of his grace. This is the gospel. This is incredible.
[18:09] This is what we have. We stand before him as innocents, though we aren't innocent, as uncondemned, though we deserve condemnation.
[18:20] We get all the opposite. All because the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ accomplished what it accomplished. And it is the most significant, wonderful transaction that ever took place in the history of the universe.
[18:36] God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. And he has given us this status. So, verse 4, the requirement of the law is fulfilled in us.
[18:50] How so? You are in Christ. It was fulfilled in Christ. Fulfilled in us. It is just as though we died with him. We suffered the same penalty he suffered.
[19:02] We died the same death he died. We incurred the same wrath that he did. All on the basis of imputation. God did this for us. He reckoned it to us. It's just utterly, utterly astounding.
[19:15] And he goes on to say, For those, verse 5, For those who are according to the flesh. This is the way man thinks and operates.
[19:28] This is the flesh spoken of in our fallen humanness. That's the flesh. It isn't talking about your skin and bones and physical body.
[19:39] It's talking about that fallen human constitution we derived from Adam. That is the flesh. Those who are according to that flesh set their minds on the things of flesh.
[19:55] They are only concerned about the temporal. The here and now. This is the only thing that interests them. If they can't eat it, smoke it, drink it, play with it, spend it, live in it, they're not interested in it.
[20:11] It has to be. This is the Esau mentality. This is the worldliness and the fleshliness of Esau. Only concerned about the here and now.
[20:24] Only concerned about immediate gratification. No thought of the spiritual, the future, the eternal. Don't have room for any of that stuff. That's just pie in the sky by and by when you die.
[20:36] I'm not interested in that. And that's precisely where a lot of people are. And that's what it means to walk after the flesh. The mind set on the flesh is death.
[20:47] Because that's all these things can produce. And that's where it all ends. But the mind set on the spirit is life and peace. Beautiful concept. Paul said in Galatians or Colossians 3, Since you then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above.
[21:06] Where Christ sits on the right hand of God. For you are dead and alive unto Christ. Therefore, seek those things above.
[21:17] That is spiritual things. Eternal things. The mind set on the spirit is life. This is the life that Christ came to provide in a more abundant fashion.
[21:31] This is the life of John 10.10. I am come that man might have life and have it more abundantly. Not just the living, breathing, eating, sleeping eight hours a day life.
[21:42] Men had that before Christ ever came. But he came to provide a dimension to life. An enjoyment of life.
[21:52] A level of life. A quality of life. That the mere flesh knows nothing about at all. It is connecting with the giver of life.
[22:03] And living life to the hilt and enjoying it to the max. Nate Saint, one of those five martyred missionaries in Ecuador in the 1950s, said, It is the will of God that every Christian live life to the hilt.
[22:22] For everything he thinks is the word of God. And that ought to be our attitude. And it's an enjoyment of life. It isn't a deprivation of this.
[22:33] Can't do this. Can't do that. Christianity is a bunch of rules and regulations. These are people who talk like that. Know nothing of what biblical Christianity is. I never knew what life was until I came to Christ.
[22:46] Never knew what enjoyment was until I came to Christ. Never knew the fullness that was available until I came to Christ. People who do not know the Lord are incredibly shortchanged.
[22:59] Whatever it is they think they enjoy, they don't know what enjoyment is. Only Christ can provide that. Leads us to say something like, For to me, to live is Christ.
[23:15] To die is gain. Because that simply means more of Him. Only the believer can say that. Mindset on the flesh is death.
[23:29] The mindset on the spirit is life and peace. Peace. Peace. Peace. This past Tuesday evening, Daryl was lying there on that gurney.
[23:48] and we had just looked at the foreboding x-ray pictures that the heart surgeon showed us on the screen where the blockages were, how that, when they went in to do the heart casts, one of the critical arteries in question just shredded right before the doctor's eyes.
[24:23] Released blood everywhere, of course. Now, surgery is the only possible option. He's not going to live very long without it. And as they were prepping him, getting him ready, they brought him out in the hall right before they went into surgery.
[24:44] And we were able to have prayer with him, and he was completely conscious. He had been briefed on just how serious the situation really was.
[24:56] And I'm sure the doctor told him, like he told us, we don't know if you're going to make it or not. And yet, I know my friend.
[25:08] I know the man who has been my best friend for the last 40 years plus. And as I had prayer with him and committed him to whatever the Lord's will was, I could just sense in his face, in his demeanor, an utter relaxation.
[25:35] Well, if this is it, this is it. I'm ready. Complete peace. Relaxation.
[25:47] For whatever God's will is, let me ask you, can God's will be improved upon?
[26:03] Is it ever God's will that someone die? Well, it must be. So many are doing it.
[26:16] Couldn't God have prevented it? Of course. Couldn't God have, with a miracle, just strengthened that artery? Of course. Why didn't he?
[26:29] God has his reasons. And do you know what he wants us to do? Just believe that. Just believe that he knows what he's doing. That's what it means to trust the Lord.
[26:40] That's what it means to commit your way unto him. You think you know best? You don't know anything. You don't know anything. I know you don't know anything, because I don't know anything either.
[26:55] And we're all in this together. Sometimes we tend to think we're so smart, and we know what ought to be done, and what God ought to do, and how he ought to fix this. We don't know anything. The longer I live, the dumber I recognize myself to be.
[27:08] It's kind of embarrassing sometimes, because I'm supposed to be getting smarter and smarter. But as I go on, I'm learning that there's more and more that I don't know. But this God we serve has infinite knowledge, and when you put your trust and your rest in him, he provides a peace.
[27:27] A peace that passes all understanding. Human beings can't manufacture this kind of peace, and they can't understand it, because it passes all understanding.
[27:39] It's a supernatural thing that our God provides. It's a beautiful thing. The mindset on the Spirit is life and peace.
[27:51] Earlier, Paul said, Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have peace with God. We have the peace of God.
[28:04] And we have the God of peace. All of these are scriptural expressions, and they're wonderful.
[28:16] The mindset on the flesh, verse 7, is hostile toward God, for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so.
[28:31] Why isn't it able to do so? Because the natural man is at enmity with God. There is a state of war existing between the unregenerate man and God.
[28:45] And the only thing that brings peace and ends that war is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that connects us with God, and then the war is over.
[28:56] Then we are at peace with him. As long as we are not in Christ, we are at war with God. I know there are multitudes who would deny that. Oh, I'm not at war with God.
[29:06] I think God is a pretty neat guy. I don't have anything against God. He's the big man in the sky, and blah, blah, blah. They don't know their own heart. If the Scripture says they are at war with God and hostile against God, they are.
[29:20] I don't care what they say. They don't know anything. They know even less than I know. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
[29:34] However, you, and he's addressing believers. This is a contrast. You are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you, that's the issue.
[29:56] That's the question. If the Spirit of God dwells in you, it is a result of your having placed your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, and at the point of salvation, you are indwelt by the Spirit of God.
[30:12] That is part of the package that comes with salvation. You are a new creation in Christ, and as a result, you have an incredible future and an incredible potential that you never had before.
[30:31] Because when you become a believer, all things have changed. Everything has become new. Nothing is the same. Anyone in Christ is a new creation. Old things have passed away.
[30:42] You are a whole new ticket. A whole new different thing with a whole new potential. You now have capacity and capabilities that you never even knew existed before.
[30:54] Just because you are in Christ. That is automatic. And it's for every believer. That constitutes an incredible potential. You have supernatural resources available to you that you never had before.
[31:10] That means your potential is enormous. But, it doesn't mean it's automatic. The potential is automatic.
[31:22] What you do with it is not. That is determined by whether you walk in the flesh or walk in the Spirit. And Christians are capable of walking in the flesh.
[31:34] Christians are capable of being self-serving and self-seeking. Real stinkers. Nasty. Difficult. Hard to get along with.
[31:45] Stubborn. Recalcitrant. Unforgiving. Christians! Christians! Can be all those things. They have no possible justification for being that way.
[31:58] But they can be. Is there anyone here as a believer that hasn't been a real grade-A stinker at some time in the past? If you think not, I want to spend just five minutes with your mate.
[32:14] We'd get clued in quick. A believer has this potential to be an effective office holder over an unbeliever.
[32:29] He may not be as smart as some unbelievers. He may not have the credentials and the pedigree and the education as some unbelievers. He may not be as well-connected or as charismatic in personality as some unbelievers.
[32:45] Yet, he or she possesses something that equips them far beyond any ability of the non-Christian. It is his spiritual capacity. This dramatically provides a huge asset that no unbeliever has.
[33:02] And I am speaking of a biblical worldview that reveals the real world as it really is to him and enables him to understand it.
[33:15] a believer in office or running for office has an enormous advantage even if his opponents or constituents don't understand it.
[33:30] He knows how the real world actually is, how it works or doesn't, and what kind of policies and laws would be most suitable for it.
[33:42] no unbeliever has that. He does not have that within his capability. In short, the Christian can bring a built-in expertise to his office and responsibilities that will enable him to pursue ends and goals that are in keeping with the way things really are.
[34:03] The Christian knows how people are because he knows himself realistically and biblically so he understands with a supernatural understanding.
[34:17] But, I emphasize, this supernatural understanding is available and potential. Its realization is not automatic.
[34:30] The biblical worldview must be apprehended by a consideration and understanding of the scriptures. That's why it's called a biblical worldview.
[34:42] Because in this book that we so cherish, in this book, God sets forth his description of the world as it really is.
[34:55] It is an accurate picture. Let me tell you, you can listen to historians and anthropologists that have lived through time, and none of them can provide a logical, coherent reason for the world being as it is today.
[35:17] There is no scientific, there is no poll that can be taken, there is no anthropological argument that can explain it, but when you come to the scriptures, you get a very honest, coherent explanation of why things are the way they are today, how they got that way, and what it's going to take to fix them.
[35:44] And you won't find that any place else other than scripture. It sets forth the true human condition, and the true remedy. and this is one reason why many reject it out of hand.
[35:59] Doesn't make for very pleasant reading sometimes, because it goes against it, it counters so many of our political theories and ideologies and things that we would like to do to experiment with society and so on.
[36:14] And it's easily dismissed in favor of the latest brilliant whatever by a Harvard or Yale professor, this and that, or something else.
[36:25] And nobody is able to even come close to what a biblical worldview presents. And when one goes into office and is equipped with a biblical worldview, and I'm not talking about churchianity, I'm talking about a solid biblical understanding of the way things are, then they are in a position to help create some beneficial and positive legislation that can address some of the problems.
[36:54] And no, they're not going to be perfect solutions, but they can at least point in the right direction. And that is priceless. That's what we need, and that's what we have very, very little of in the corridors of power today.
[37:12] Christian officeholder also operates under a stress or a tension that unbelievers do not have.
[37:29] Unbelievers need only concern themselves with political expediency. Do the thing that is smart politically. but a believer who has a biblical worldview and is walking in the spirit, not in the flesh, he must not throw political expedience to the wind, but he must also not abdicate his spiritual and moral framework in order to be politically expedient.
[38:01] a Christian officeholder who takes his Christianity seriously and his office seriously may often find himself between a rock and a hard place.
[38:14] And for those who are true believers and occupy positions of authority and influence in the corridors of power, we really need to uphold them with our prayers because they have an incredible difficult task to contend with on the day-to-day basis.
[38:32] This biblical worldview is precisely what is at stake today. And it too is accompanied by a number of problems because we find ourselves being confronted repeatedly with criticisms like, well, you Christians, the problem with you is that you are trying to force your opinions and your biblical worldview worldview on others.
[39:03] And you're trying to impose your points of view and your biblical worldview on government. Well, let me ask you this question.
[39:15] Whose should be imposed? Yours? Those who accuse Christians of doing that? are you trying to bring about your convictions and your convictions and your biblical worldview on the corridors of power?
[39:43] Why aren't you? Are you suggesting they're good enough for you, but they're not good enough for anybody else? Or is they're too good for somebody else?
[39:57] You've heard the maxim, and it often comes from the corridors of, well, you can't legislate morality. You can't legislate morality. So, should we legislate immorality?
[40:15] When legislation is enacted, when laws are made, do you realize that they are always, I mean always, predicated upon someone's view of morality.
[40:33] Do you understand that? Laws are not enacted out of a vacuum. Someone's perception of morality is bringing that thing into focus and is passing it as legislation.
[40:48] whose is it? It is the morality of the majority of those who vote for it, whom this collective body in the USA sends off to Congress, the Senate, and the House.
[41:03] It is that collective morality that makes those laws and passes them. These people enact legislation on the basis of the way they think.
[41:14] And if they have a worldview philosophy that is contrary to the biblical one, that's what they're going to set forth. Don't blame them for that.
[41:26] That's all they've got. That's all they know. They're just doing what comes natural. What else can they do? They don't have the resources that the Christian has to draw upon. They're just doing the only thing they know how to do.
[41:39] They're just being what they are. And we are to lovingly come alongside and present the biblical alternative because it truly is in the best interest of everyone.
[41:51] Sometimes you have to fight and contend for the position. And we ought to be able to do so intelligently, compassionately, consistently, and with kindness.
[42:03] But we need to do it. And our congress people need to do it. And I'm already past the time that I expected to be. So, questions or comments from you.
[42:16] This will not be a lengthy series. I intend to wrap this up for 4th of July Sunday and we will be talking about it. And we're going to get...
[42:28] I don't know anything about economics. I don't know anything about world finance. I don't know anything about bailouts. I don't know anything about big money and Wall Street and all of that. that. But the Bible does have something to say about what's going on out there.
[42:46] And I want to bring that to you. So, it'll be probably three or four sessions and then we will be on to new material. Questions or comments? Anyone? I can't believe this.
[43:01] Yes. Here's the mic up here. Oh, I'm sorry. Well, speak up, Loretta.
[43:14] I just got the book, Personal Faith and Public Policy. Oh, really? And I can't even tell you the offer right now.
[43:25] But I just got it and it's a comparison of a physical view and what we should expect. Wow, I should have had that before I started. It's serious.
[43:36] Personal Faith and Public Policy. And you can't recall the author? Okay, I appreciate that. It sounds like something that could be very beneficial. Okay.
[43:50] Thank you. Thank you for mentioning that. Someone else? Yes, Mary? not doing Melissa's expensive We're getting telephone calls every day, where's my stimulus payment.
[44:10] We have to tell most of them, it's a deduction and you're getting more in your withholding, in your paycheck, and in pension payments, those of us who were on Social Security got it in the mail.
[44:28] We're the only ones who got it. So one thing that we must remember, at the end of the year, we will probably be paying back more than we got.
[44:45] No. Under some circumstances, if you're still working or your pensions or your other income is high enough, you'll be paying more for that Social Security privilege.
[45:00] You'll be short because you didn't have enough withholding taken out. And different problems along these lines, and goodness only knows what they're going to write into law between now and the end of the year.
[45:16] Oh, yeah. Because there's things that are in the law right now that I'm not even sure about that. Thank you for that wonderful cheering information.
[45:31] Well, like I told you, I think, last week, you think health care is expensive now. Just wait until it's free. We are in for a pretty bumpy ride.
[45:42] Yes, Loretta. As far as the Congress people or whoever's in high government, first of all being as a Christian, and then they get caught up in the pressure and the stress, and then they do something that the world people do as not Christian, doesn't that give the media and the non-Christian more ammunition than to say, look at those Christians who are late.
[46:22] Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Excellent point. It does. And the reason it does is because they expect different. They look for different.
[46:34] And when a Christian, I mean, nothing hits the tabloids and gets the criticism like a preacher who falls into adultery or sin or something like that.
[46:47] Why is that? Why wouldn't an insurance salesman get the same kind of response? Because the preacher is one from whom you look for something different.
[47:02] And you know he, preachers can turn out to be human beings just like everybody else. And that's quite a shock to some people. But, you know, if, and I realize, I realize I don't have to do this, so it's easy for me to say it.
[47:21] But, if one is in public office and can bring himself to the place, which I think is the right place to be biblically, that you stand on principles and you do not compromise principles because principles are inviolate.
[47:45] They are not to be compromised. You compromise on methodology. You compromise on procedure. You compromise on nuts and bolts.
[47:58] But you don't compromise on the principles because the principles have a moral base. And when you are presenting an argument or defending a position and you are doing it from moral strength, you have God on your side because that's his position.
[48:19] It isn't that God has your position, it's that you have God's position. And you are coming from an argument and a position of moral strength and it is easy to defend that.
[48:31] It is a lot easier to sell it to the population because most of the population know what the moral position is even if they don't embrace it themselves.
[48:44] They know what it is. They know right when they see it. And if you don't have that moral base from which to defend your principles, then you've got nothing left but political maneuvering and wheeling and dealing and smoke-filled rooms and I'll scratch your back if you'll scratch my back and all of this nonsense.
[49:06] So, Ron. The Apostle Paul gives us the solution to our potential in just about everyone in his business. In Romans, he tells us to present ourselves as our holy sacrifice.
[49:19] In a future, he tells us to walk in a worthy manner. Right. He keeps reminding us and Colossians, he says, seek those things above. So, it's reinforced, reinforced several times.
[49:32] Someone else? Comment or question? Well, thank you all and I know you'll be much in prayer this afternoon for the Henderson family and what they are facing.
[49:50] Daryl's passing is just going to leave a huge, huge gap in the lives of a lot of people. And Barbara, most of all in the family and me and many of you as well, knew him well and loved him well and going to sorely miss him.
[50:10] May we stand. Father, we are grateful that in your wisdom you have instituted governments among men for the public welfare and public benefit.
[50:26] We know that all of these governments, including ours, are flawed and yet they, at times and in most instances, are able to provide a kind of stability and tranquility that allows us to live in freedom and unhindered prosperity, particularly here in this country.
[50:47] We are a blessed people who need to be appropriately grateful. We pray for your wisdom and insight as we pursue this subject. We know that it's, if it isn't dear to our hearts, it ought to be because it speaks of something that you have ordained among men and therefore that makes it worthy of our consideration and attention and we want to give it that which we should and we don't want to look to it as the ultimate answer because it isn't.
[51:15] Only the gospel is that and we revel in that and thank you for it in Christ's name. Amen.