James Merritt - God and the Government
If you're watching online for the first time or you're a guest of ours today, we are in the second part of a little mini two part series that we've called Political Correctness. Now, if you weren't here last week then I hope you'll pick up, it really isn't about politics per se, because I know even in church, just mention the word politics and you can divide the house in a heartbeat. You know, you start thinking, okay, is he this? Is he left, is he right? Republican, you know, liberal, democrat, conservative, what is he? And we're not really talking about politics, but I thought just to ease any tension in the room, it might be good to bring a little humor to what could spark a forest fire or an argument in a heartbeat.
So this is just one take on this phenomenon that we call politics, just food for thought. The opposite of pro is con. So the opposite of progress must be Congress. Just a thought. What's the difference between death and taxes? Congress doesn't meet every year to make death worse. How are politicians like diapers? They both need to be changed regularly and for the same reason. Why doesn't the government, I love this one. Why doesn't, I never thought about this, why doesn't the government display a nativity scene every Christmas? They can't find three wise men. What's the most un, this is one I'm saying amen to. What's the most unfair thing about American politics? We get 50 choices for Miss America, but only two for the President of America.
You know how they say, and we've all said it, nobody can fix the economy. Nobody can be trusted in foreign policy. Nobody knows how to get things done, nobody's perfect. We all said that, right? Okay, that's why I'm voting for nobody. Now, we've been talking about the relationship of Christians to politics and I said to you last week, there are actually two parts to this topic. One is, how should followers of Jesus relate to our political leaders in government? And so last week we basically said that our number one responsibility even above voting, that our number one responsibility is we are to pray for government leaders.
It doesn't matter whether you like them or not, it doesn't matter whether you voted for them or not. It doesn't matter whether you support them or not. At the end of the day, we know what's gonna happen in November. Somebody's gonna win, somebody's gonna lose, your vote's gonna get it. Your vote's not, either way, it doesn't matter. Our job is to pray for them. So last week we talked about God and the governor. Today I wanna talk about God and the government. How should the government relate to us and how should we relate to the government? Now again, I realize if you're like me, just the word government just gives you negative feelings. It's kind of a negative word. How do I know that? Well, I just read this yesterday or two days ago. Four out of five people in the United States have a negative opinion about government.
Now think about that. When I read that, four out of five people have a negative opinion about the government, I thought to myself, what's wrong with the fifth person? The Pew Research Center released a report said, and it stated, only 22% of adults have a favorable view of the government. Matter of fact, let me give you the five worst rated institutions in America. Each one of these have less than 20% confidence of the people beginning with the bad going to the worst. All right, every one of these, less than 20% of the people have confidence in these institutions, newspapers, the criminal justice system, television news, big business Congress, only 8%, think about this now, only 8% of Americans have a favorable view of the Congress. In other words, 92% throw the rascals out.
We don't like them. We don't care about the job they're doing. They're the only one in single digits, I'm reminded of something Ronald Reagan once said about government, it's one of my favorite quotes about government. He said, governments like a baby and elementary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility to the other. Here's the problem. You can run, but you cannot hide from talking about the government or hearing about it.
Now, Sunday's one of those days, I have no idea what's in the news. I get up early on Sunday morning, get my shower, go to my study, have my quiet time, pray for my staff and their families. I go over my sermon one more time. I drive to church and then I'm wall to wall till I walk outta the parking lot. I have no idea what's in the news today. The world could have blown up, I would've known about it least if you would've been here. But I tell you what I know's in the news, I ain't even heard it. I know there's something in there about the government.
There's some news about the government. It may be the economic report. It may be an update about foreign affairs. It may be the gloom of the national debt. It may be a Supreme Court decision. It may be congressional legislation, it may be a White House press conference, every single day government is in the news. And I think we would all agree that government, in honesty, it's a mixed bag. I mean, there are some things about the government that I like. And there are some things about the government you like, there are some things about the government they do that I'm glad they do. And there are some things that the government does I wish they didn't. It really is a mixed bag. I mean, you, you, it's kind of a love hate relationship. So two questions come to mind about the government. And by the way, I'm talking to believers.
If you're watching online right now, you're not a believer, I'm really not really talking to you though it does apply to you. But we need to answer two questions if we're believers. First of all, what does God's word say about government? That's really what matters. It doesn't matter what the Constitution says. It doesn't matter what the Declaration of Independence says. It doesn't even matter what you think. What does God's word say about the government? Number two, what does God's word say about how the people should relate to the government?
So with that in mind, I want you to take your Bibles, your iPads, your iPhone, whatever you use. I want you to turn to the book of Romans chapter 13. It's in the New Testament, sixth book in the New Testament. Matthew, mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, I want you to turn to Romans chapter 13 because we don't have to wonder what the answer are to those two questions. We know exactly what God says about the government. We know exactly what God says about how they're to relate to us. We know exactly what God says about how we are to relate to the government.
Here's what I want you to understand, give you a little history. Paul's in the city of Corinth, I've been to Corinth, Teresa and I've been to Corinth many, many times. Paul's in the city of Corinth. He's writing a letter to the church, to the Christians who are in Rome. And he said something that if you wouldn't realize it living in the 21st century. Had you lived 2000 years ago and you picked up this, you had a scroll or you had the book of Romans or the letter to Romans and you read this, it would've been an eye opening, jaw dropping moment. Because keep in mind, Paul was writing to Jews. Paul was writing to Gentiles, but they both had one thing in common. They hated the Roman government. They couldn't stand the Roman government. They didn't like the emperor.
Now, at first you would have, if you know your history, you'd say, well wonder why is that? Because they had a lot of advantages of living under the Roman authorities. There was basically a universal peace. People were mostly safe. They had a tremendous system of roads. Economic times were basically good, society was stable. You say, well what was the problem? The problem was if you were not a Roman citizen and the vast majority of people were not, you were up the creek without a paddle, you wouldn't get justice in the justice system. They were always looking for a way to stick it to you. You by far paid the highest tax burden.
Justice was swift and you were not always on the just end of the justice. In effect, you are the lowest person on the totem pole. So Paul is writing to the very people in the very headquarters of the very government they didn't even like. And what Paul writes to them, I'm telling you right now, it made their blood pressure go to the roof. Because Paul's going to remind them and the church of this simple little truth, hard to swallow, but it's true. The God that gives us grace also gives us government. The God that gives us grace also gives us government. So how are we to relate to the government and how is the government to relate to us? I want you to write down three things.
Truth number one, we must acknowledge the God-given authority of government. We must acknowledge the authority of government. And I'll tell you something I love about Paul. Paul and I have one thing in common. He would not have made a good politician, neither would I. And you say, how do you know he wouldn't? Because Paul doesn't, he doesn't sugarcoat anything. He doesn't give you any double talk. He doesn't give you any political gobbledygook. He just gets right to the heart of the matter. Here's what he says. Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities. Now you're at Crosspoint Church in Rome, Italy, in 30 or 40 AD and they're, hey, we got a letter from Paul and they get to this part of the letter.
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities. And you're sitting in that church. Your response is, what? Are you kidding me Paul? Have you lost your mind? Do you understand the government that we're living under, the very government that's gonna wind up taking your head off or preaching the gospel? Let everyone be subject to the governing authority, why? Father, there is no authority except that which God has established, the authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted. And those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
So Paul confirms something. He says, all governments and all governmental leaders everywhere, their authority comes from God. And by the way, that's true of every government. Doesn't matter if it's a democracy or a dictatorship. It doesn't matter if it is a republic or it's no rule of law at all. It doesn't matter if it's a capitalistic government, communistic government. It's true If it's a government where the bells of freedom ring loud and clear. It's true. If it's a government where the bells of freedom are muffled in silence. As a matter of fact, this is so interesting. Every year I read through the Bible, I'm always amazed when I read through the Old Testament, it amazes me. 'cause when you read through the Old Testament, you just wanna pull your hair out because sometimes God will put a good king in office.
You go, man, that's exactly, that's the way it ought to be. And then God allows these evil kings to be put into power. So sometimes God will, God puts good people in office to be a blessing. Sometime God allows evil people to be, to put in office to be curse. But Paul is saying the one thing that all governments and all governmental rulers have in common is this. Their authority is given by God and God alone. Now, before I go any further, do not read into something I'm saying that I'm not saying that Paul was not saying, I am not saying, and Paul was not saying that the Hitlers and the Stalins and the Putins are approved by God or that God is responsible for their behavior or that their authorities never to be resisted.
That's not what Paul is saying. All he's saying is one thing, whether it's Hitler or Stalin or Putin or Biden or whoever may be elected in November, doesn't matter who it is or who they are. No ruler, no dictator, no president, no king has authority in and of itself. All authority comes from God. As a matter of fact, Jesus said something in Matthew 28. Many of you familiar with what he said, but you don't realize the political implications that it has. Jesus said, all authority, lemme ask a question. The first service got this one right. What does the word all mean? Somebody tell me, all. Oh, you got it right, good, all right, all, not some.
So what Jesus said was all authority, financial authority, economic authority, military authority, judicial authority, political authority, all authority's been given to me. You got no authority, I don't care what your title is. I don't care if you got elected. I don't care if you put yourself in office. You've got zero authority unless I give it to you. All authority's been given to me on heaven and in earth giving his illustration. Jesus is standing before Pontius Pilate. Pilate's got a smirk on his face. Yeah, I know you may be the son of God. At least that's what people say you are. I've heard about these miracles that you perform and you got a reputation, but I hold your life in my hands.
So you better get it right. And you remember what Jesus said to him. He said, you'd have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. He said, hey Pete, you don't have any authority, dude. You're standing before the one that's giving you the authority even to breathe right now. It all comes from him, it all comes from above. A government leader can use authority. He can misuse authority, he can't manufacture authority. All authority comes from God. So here's what I know. Every government in power right now is there for one of two reasons. Either God put that authority there or God allowed that authority to be there.
Now you say, wait a minute, what about these leaders that don't acknowledge God? They don't believe in God, they hate God. They persecute people who do believe in God, doesn't matter. They are there by his power. They're there under his authority. Now let me say something else. That does not mean that every government and every governmental leader ought to always be obeyed no matter what laws they passed, no matter what they say, yeah, there are times that they should be resisted. If our government commands something God forbids, I'm not gonna obey the government. If our government forbid something God commands, I'm not going to obey the government.
When Peter and the other authorities, you may remember this, right after the resurrection, Jesus has ascended into heaven. The disciples are in Jerusalem, they're preaching the gospel. People are getting saved by the thousands. The civil authorities don't like it. The religious leaders don't like it. The muckety mucks don't like it. So they call Peter and the apostles in, they set them down. They say, listen, we're the law. We're in charge. You have got to stop preaching the gospel. Remember what Peter said? We must obey God rather than men. So whenever laws were enacted that clearly contradict God's law, disobedience not just an option. Disobedience is an obligation, it's a requirement.
I'll give you another example. When Pharaoh ordered the Hebrew midwives to kill the newborn Jewish baby boys, they refused to obey even though they knew it could cost them their life. They said, we're not gonna that, when King Nebuchadnezzar, you remember this story when King Nebuchadnezzar commanded it, all the people fall down and they worship a golden idol. There were three men, you remember their name? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. I love that story. They said, Neb, we're not doing that. Oh, we may burn, but we will not bend and we will not bow and we will not break 'cause your commanding us to do something we cannot do.
Just a couple of weeks ago, one of our guys preach on King Darius. Actually, he gave this decree, you could not pray to any God, no God except me for 30 days. What did Daniel do? Goes to his apartment, flows open the window and knelt down and pray. at the end of the day, all authority comes to him. So with that said, we must acknowledge any governmental authority anywhere as God-given authority. No, not every governmental leader has been anointed by God, but they everyone have been appointed by God. So we must acknowledge the God-given authority of the government. But then there's a second thing we must do. We must appreciate the God-given responsibility of government.
Now, you know, with authority comes responsibility. I mentor a lot of young pastors and I advise a lot of young pastors. And one of the things I try to teach young pastors is one of my key principles of leadership. Anything that somebody else can do better than you can do it, delegate it. There's certain things that you can't. For example, I can't delegate my sermon preparation. I can't do that, I've gotta do that on my own. There's certain things, I can't delegate my soul winning to another staff member. I gotta be winning people to Christ. But anything that somebody can do better than I can do to free me up to do what I can do better than they can do, you need to delegate.
Here's what I always tell them, don't ever give them the responsibility if you don't give them the authority to carry it out. So with authority comes responsibility. Well, the government has a responsibility and Paul says, here's the primary responsibility of the government. Rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong, do you wanna be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you'll be commended. Father, the one in authority is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God's servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the doer.
Now that's a mouthful, but I'm gonna make it easy. I can pretty much summarize everything Paul just said in one single simple sentence I wish every government leader would remember and here it is. The primary responsibility of government is to do right for those who live right, that's their number one job. You're to do right for those who live right. In fact, Paul uses a phrase three times that shows us not only does government have authority from God, it's got the responsibility to use that authority for my good and his glory. As a matter of fact, you know what you really can call what government's supposed to do for us. It's gonna blow your mind, you ready? What they're supposed to do for us, never heard a preacher say this one. What they're supposed to do for us is ministry. Say what, ministry.
So where do you get that idea? Well, two times in verse four, he calls the government God's servant. As a matter of fact, in verse six he says, they are God's servants. Now, you might be interested to know that the Greek word there for servant is the word. It gives us the word deacon. So I'm not being funny when I say this. If you work for the government, you are a deacon and the word. Means servant, you are a servant. You are God's servant, your job is to serve the people. See, this is one of the biggest problem we've got with government. And I'm not trying to be offensive, I'm just being honest. We got a lot of people in government, they're like Barney with a badge and Barney with a bullet.
So let me just say this loud and clear. If you work for the government, my job's not to serve you, your job's to serve me, people aren't, we're not here to serve the government. the government is here to serve us. And you say, well, where do you get this idea? I mean, you may think it's strange to think of a politician or governmental official as a minister or as a servant. I'm gonna tell you something, I could see the eyes of the 9:15 service. Somebody was like this, hadn't thought about it before. So where, where do you get this idea that political people are and political people in office are servants and ministers?
All right, you ready for this? I bet you never thought about this before. The top governmental leader in Great Britain is called the prime what? Where'd they get that idea? They got it from the Bible. When people run for office today, here's what they love to call themselves. I am a public what, servant. Where'd they get that idea? The Bible, he is the Prime Minister. The number one job of the prime minister is to serve, is to minister to the British people. The number one responsibility of a public servant is to serve the public, to put him in office. They are God's minister. They are God's servant. And so Paul specifically lays out in verse four what he means.
Here's what he says, he says, for the one in authority is God's servant for your good. Oh, so that's what the government's supposed to do. They're supposed to do good to the people. They're supposed to do good for the people. They're supposed to do good by the people. Now the question is how do they do that? How are they supposed to carry out the responsibility? Well Paul, again, he says, I'll tell you it's easy. There are three things every government has a primary responsibility to do. These are the three primary things they're supposed to do. You ready? First of all, they're to prohibit law breaking, they're to promote law keepers and they are to punish law breakers. That's their job, prohibit law breaking, promote law keepers, punish law breakers.
So the number one job of the government is to establish what we call the rule of law and to pass laws that will condemn evil, hopefully prevent evil and to promote people who keep the law. Now there are two sides of that coin. Government is to promote law keepers. They're supposed to make it where you want to keep the law. So here's what he says in verse three. "For rulers, hold no tear for those who do right? But for those who do wrong, do you wanna be free from fear of the one in authority that do what is right and you will be commended".
I'll give you a great practical illustration. Happened me day before yesterday or yesterday we were going somewhere Teresa and I were going somewhere and I was on Waze. And Waze has this thing where they'll say, look out policemen up ahead. So Waze comes on and says, look out policemen up ahead. So Theresa looked at me and she said, hey, watch out. There's a policeman, I said, I'm not worried about the policeman. She says, why? I said, well the speed limit's 45. I'm only doing 55. 'Cause I know a little dirty little secret. They don't stop you at 10 miles an hour over. Now if I'm doing 45 plus 13, if I'm doing 58, I'd be scared, 55, you know what they do? They just wave as you go by. Not afraid, why? Because even though I'm breaking the law, I really am in the spirit. I'm might may not keeping the letter, I'm keeping the spirit.
What he was saying was, look, if you're a law abiding citizen, you don't have no reason to fear the government. But if you're not a law abiding citizen, the government wants to strike the fear of God in you and the government should. He says by the way, he says, if you keep the law, he says you'll be commended. That word commended means to be praised. In other words, here's what Paul said, keep the law, obey the law, submit to the law and you'll be in good standing. You'll be in the favor of government authorities. That's their job to praise good people, to promote people who keep the law and punish people who break the law. Because he goes on to say this, he said, for rulers, hold military, for those who do right? But for those who do wrong, they do, that word terror.
You know where what that word means? We get the word phobia from that word, fear. If government is not making people afraid to break the law, they're not doing their job. If they're not making people and causing people to be afraid, I mean afraid to break the law, they're not doing their job. That's part of their job, to put fear. Don't even know words, the government's job is, don't even think about it. The punishment will be severe, he goes on to say this, for the one in authorities, God served for your good. Now if you do wrong, be afraid. Be very afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God's servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Yeah, they are God's minister. But this minister carries a sword.
Yeah, the government ought to walk softly but ought to carry a big stick because the government has the primary responsibility to protect its citizens from criminals to punish criminals who attack the citizens. That's the rule of law. By the way, that's why we have courts and policemen and jails to protect us from enemies within. And that's why we have the army and the Navy and the Air Force and Marines and the Coast Guard to protect the people from enemies without. And oh by the way, while I'm in the neighborhood, lemme just tell you something else you need to understand, the reason why we need government to protect people. And the reason why people need to hold the government accountable is because people, now listen to this carefully. People are not basically good, people are basically bad.
Now we're living in a culture today that that's heresy. We're living in a world today that says that's heresy. The Pope, you may have heard the Pope, the Pope recently said, the heart is fundamentally good. That's what the Pope said. With all respect, the pope is wrong. The heart's not fundamentally good. It is fundamentally evil. Now he say, I don't believe what a negative view you're taking. Have kids. Just have kids. You do not have to teach your kids how to fight. You gotta teach them how to get along. You do not have to teach your kids to be stingy. You gotta teach your kids to share. Hey, you wanna start a war? Put two toddlers in a room with one toy, World War Six. Why, 'cause we're not born basically good folks. We're born basically evil.
And that's why James Madison was correct when he said this. Well, this is so true. "If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external or internal controls on government would be necessary. And framing a government, which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this, you must first enable the government to control the governed, but in the next place you've gotta oblige it to control itself. That is why by the way, even the poorest form of government is better than no government at all". So when an official in the state uses the sword to protect human life, to defend the people, it is inflicting God's wrath and God's punishment on the evil doer. And that's true whether it is a policeman defending us against a criminal or it's a soldier defending us against an enemy.
So that's why we should not defund police. And that's why we should not dishonor the military. All police officers are not good. The vast majority are. I get that, I'm not defending that. And we got some bad apples in the military, I get that. But I'm telling you right now, the solution to the problem is not defunding the police and getting rid of the military. We're to honor those who bear the sword. They are God's servant for our good. So we are to acknowledge the God-given authority of government. And we are to appreciate the God-given responsibility of government. I'm gonna be very honest, this is the part of the sermon I don't wanna preach.
So if what I'm about to say, you don't like what I'm about to say, get in line, I don't even like it, I'm doing the preaching. I don't like it. I'm being honest with you, I don't like it. But Paul said the third thing we've gotta do is we must accept our God-given accountability to the government. Lemme tell you what I mean, as you consider this last point, I wanna remind you of something. The only way we could have good government is if we could put good people in leadership positions. But the only way we'll put good leaders in government is if we, the people are good enough to vote for good people.
So lemme be honest, and I'm including myself in what I'm about to say. If you don't like the way it's going in the country, if you don't like the way the government's taking us, look in the mirror. We put them there, we voted for them to be there. We bought the lies, hook, line, and sinker. We've all done it. And the reason why we have such a big bloated government that our founding fathers never envisioned is because of the character of the people who made it happen. Charles Colson was one of the most famous convicted criminals. The whole Watergate scandal, came to Christ while he was in prison.
When I was president of the pastor's conference in Atlanta, I had him come and speak and he made this observation. I want you to listen to what he said. He said, "In any society, only two forces hold the sinful nature in check, the restraint of conscience or the restraint of the sword. The less that citizens have of the former, the more the state must employ the latter. A society that fails to keep order by an appeal to civic duty and more responsibility must resort to a coercion, either open coercion as practiced by totalitarian states or covert coercion where citizens are wooed into voluntarily giving up their freedom".
Now what he said was very profound and very erudite, but let me just kind of get it on first grade level. Here's what Colson said, and it's the same thing that Thomas Jefferson said. The better the people are, the less government you need, the worse the people are, the more government you need. And the reason why we got such a big bloated government is because the American people have been losing their character for years. And we now defend things and glorify things and praise things that were universally condemned just 50 years ago. And so we wonder why we're in the problem that we're in. See with responsibility comes accountability and God given accountability to government, well, what is that? What is the government's accountability? What is that?
Listen to what Paul said. "Therefore he said it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment, also as a matter of conscience". This is also why, I wish I could cover that up. Oh my soul, I told you I didn't like it. This is why you pay taxes, for the authorities or God's servants who give their full time to governing, give to everyone what you owe them. If you owe taxes, pay taxes. If revenue, then revenue. If respect, then respect, if honor, then honor. I told you last week that we're accountable to pray for our government, but we also have an accountability to pay for our government. And I understand that for a lot of people, just paying taxes is a touchy subject. I'm gonna be very honest, I don't like to pay taxes.
If you just get a charge outta paying taxes, you need help. The one day of the year I find my joy of the Lord sink is April the 15th. I'm just being honest, I don't like to pay taxes. Nobody does. You don't, I don't, nobody does. Sometimes I feel like the wealthy businessman on his deathbed, he's about to die and knew wasn't gonna be long. And he looked at his wife and he said, honey, when I die, I want you to have me cremated. They never even talked about it before. And she said what? He said, y'all, I want you to have me cremated. She said, well what do you want me to do with the ashes?
He said, I want you to put them in an envelope. I want you to send them to the IRS and I want you to tell them, now you have everything. Nobody likes to pay taxes, I don't like it. You don't like it, but listen to me carefully. We're not only obligated to support our government and pay taxes that we owe, but if what Paul said is true, I want you to think about taxes this way. 'Cause this really helped me. What Paul said is true about government and all authority coming from government, what the government's supposed to do. If what he said is true, then when I pay my taxes, I'm not just giving money to the government, I'm actually giving my money as an act of obedience to the God that put that government in place.
And that changes your whole perspective. I'm just obeying God, doing what Gods me to do. Because as I wrap all this up, the two most important commodities we have as a people, if you think about it, are stability and security. That's really what every politician runs on. Hey, vote for me, vote for me. I'll bring you security. Vote for me, I'll bring you stability. Well that is the job of the government to provide vote for the people. Matter of fact, our founding fathers even said the same thing in the preamble of the constitution. They said, hey, this is our job to establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote, not provide, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.
Now we say that's right and that's good and that's what we ought to do. Yes, but there is a cost to be incurred. There is a price to be paid. If you're grateful that you live in the freest country in the world, could you just say amen. Okay, I am, I love my country. I'm a patriot that's the crime, I'm a criminal. I love my country. I'm thankful I live in the freest. I'm thankful I can get up here and say whatever I wanna say. I don't have to worry about being in prison. I don't have to worry about, no, I'm grateful for that. But the cost of being free is taxes. That's the cost, that's the price. Freedom is not free. And so we're to pay for our government even as we pray for our government.
But that leads me say one last thing. So as I was working on this series, I thought, how do I wanna wind this up? How do I wanna really kind of tie a bone on this? I thought two things. First of all, I have to go back and just say one more time that we have a responsibility not just to pray for our government, not just to pay for our government, but to participate in our government. Christians don't get a free pass. We're to be engaged in the political arena. And oh, by the way, if you are a quote, unquote politician, and we have people in our church who have public office, I hope you aren't offended by anything I said. I just wanna say this, I'm thankful for our politicians, for the most part, I am, I'm thankful for people that run for public office.
Lemme tell you something, give people credit that run. At least they got skin in the game, because lemme tell you something, no matter who gets selected in no various president of the United States, half the country hates them already. Half the country hates them before they even take the oath. Already unpopular with half the people. So if you run for public office, you serve in public office, lemme tell you, my hat's off to you. And I'm not a cynic. I do believe the vast majority of people in politics are good people. I do. I could be wrong, I do. I believe they're basically, I think they wanna do what's right. Even people I don't agree with, I think some of them think they're doing what's right. I think they've lost their mind in some cases, but at least I think they believe they're trying to do what's right.
So I'm not up here just throwing stones. I don't believe in doing that. At least they're in the game and we've got a civic, we need to see more godly people run for office and try to be elected. But voting is not just a civic duty. It is a sacred responsibility. And while I'm in this statement, I'll just say one other quick thing. 'Cause I've been challenged on this by certain buddies of mine. The only wasted vote is the vote you don't cast. I don't find anything in the constitution that says you either have to vote for candidate A or candidate B. I don't find that in the Constitution. I know I have to vote, but that's why you can write in names. And I've done that in the past. I'll probably do it again, but I'm gonna vote and you should vote. But that's not how I want to end.
So I said, Lord, I want to end this on a high note and a positive note and a good note and a solid note and a sound note, even a majestic note and hit me. Dr. Rogers used to say, whatever you do in a message, as much as you can always wind up at the feet of Jesus. So it hit me. Put aside everything I've said in the last two weeks and hear this if you don't hear anything else, somebody's gonna get their vote and somebody's not gonna get their vote in November, somebody's gonna have the winning vote and some of us gonna have the losing vote. That's just the nature of politics. But the greatest vote you will ever cast is when you vote for the one who died for your sins and you vote for the one who came back from the grave. Because when you vote for him, you are actually voting for yourself and you get forgiveness and eternal life.
Would you bow your heads in prayer? As we close this message, you guys have been great the last couple weeks. Thanks for listening. I just want to ask those who are listening right now, watching online, those of you in this room, could I just ask you one question? Have you cast the most important vote in your life? I want you to hear me. This is one vote you do have to cast a vote either for or against. If you've never cast a vote for Jesus, then every day you live, you voted against Jesus. You can't straddle the fence.
Well, I never gave my life to Jesus. I never gave my heart to Christ. I never trusted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, but I didn't have anything against him. Yes you did, Jesus said, "He who is not for me is against me". And I wonder who watching me right now, I wonder who in this room right now. You need to cast a vote for Jesus, not for church, not for religion, for Jesus. And if that's you and you're ready to make that decision, then why don't you do it right now? Why don't you just say something like this:
Lord Jesus, I'm a sinner. I need a savior. I need to be forgiven of my sins. I am basically a bad person. That's why you came, because I am. And that's why I need you because I am. I believe you died for my sins. I believe God raised you from the dead. I believe you're alive right now. So Lord Jesus, come into my heart, save me, forgive me of all of my sins. I surrender everything I am Lord Jesus, to everything that you are.