“Obama Wins!”
November 9th, 2008
1 Peter 2:13-17; Romans 13:1-7
Obama wins! The newspaper shouts out at me Wednesday morning. The news commentators are virtually dancing in glee on TV. The gays in San Francisco are literally dancing in the street. The TV shows the terrorist and our enemies overseas dancing in the street. Their man won! Liberals have won at almost every level. Teens can continue to go get an abortion without their parent’s knowledge or consent.
Only a few conservative values pass. Same sex marriage is defeated – but only narrowly. Hollywood won. The left wing media won. Socialism won. The liberals have a majority in the house and senate. They have the presidency and the United States Supreme Court. I fear our country is in a downward spiral that will quickly result in our destruction as the nation we once knew.
Our forefathers wisely created a government that had a balance of power between the legislative, judicial and the executive powers - and now that balance has shifted away from everything our country was founded on. Now that one party is in power – we may see the change they wanted. The killing of millions of babies probably will continue. Homosexuals and perverts will continue to devour our children as they actively promote their agenda in our public schools. Not only will they educate them in detestable homosexual practices – but they may actively enlist them in their life style. Christians and people of value may continue to diminish and could very like soon become the enemy of the state. As I said last week, we will be called haters and exclusionary because of our belief in the Bible.
But we knew this was going to happen, didn’t we? Those of us who believe we are living in the end times saw this coming. Paul wrote 2000 years ago:
But mark this: there will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.” 2 Timothy 3:1-5
Paul sums it up in verse 12. He says:
In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and imposters will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”
That doesn’t paint a very bright picture for the Christian, does it? But I have good news for you. God is still on the throne! God is still in control. When the dust has settled and the air is clear – we will emerge victorious with Him. And one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.
So what are we to do now? How should the Christian react to all this? Well, a lot of Christian were deceived and voted for this change. This couldn’t have happened without the Christian vote. Some voted for Obama simply because he is black – and that is as racists as the one who didn’t vote for him because he is black. Some Christians, with their vote, unwittingly promoted the anti-Christian agenda. The blood of countless infants will be on their hands. The homosexual perversion will be their doing. The anti-home and anti-Christian agenda will be partly their fault. And many good Christian people will be responsible for what is to come in the days ahead.
Aren’t you glad God is forgiving and merciful? He still loves us. He still is for us in spite of unwise choices we make – but we will live with the consequences of those choices. And the bible gives us some clear direction on what to do and how to live. We’ve been in this place before. Christians have always gone against the mainstream. We’ve always been the minority – and always will in this life. Christians have been martyred since the first century. Christians have been persecuted since the time of Christ. We have some experience with this. Let’s take a look at what the bible says we should do.
“Submit yourselves for the Lord Sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.”
That verse is a little confusing to a lot a people. Is it saying that we are to blindly go along with anyone in power? Are we to submit to the authorities – no matter what? Or are those who do right and punish wrong the only ones that have God’s authority – and we are to submit only to them? The others do not have the authority to make you disobey God.
I don’t think Christians are to submit to evil. We aren’t to blindly accept what is contrary to the Bible. Right is still right and wrong is still wrong. And it isn’t defined by popular opinion. It is defined by God in His Word. But the first instruction, after having said all that, is to have a submissive spirit. We need to just do good – and be good. It doesn’t matter what anyone else is doing. The Word of God says,
“For is it God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.” 1 Peter 2:15
Now, anytime the bible uses the word foolish or fool – it means ‘godless’. Psalm 14:1 says, “The fool says in his heart, ‘there is no God’”. So the way we are to silence those people who have no room for God in their hearts, is by doing good. I don’t know what that means for you. For me it means to do God’s will in my life no matter what. Goodness is a fruit of the Spirit. The Bible says that Jesus went around doing good. We need to do the same. Do the best you can to do good works – not to earn your salvation - Jesus already did that. But that is what a Christian is to do. That’s the expression of Jesus living in your heart. Jesus can still go around doing good – through you. So do good. Be loving. Be kind. Be gentle. Be Christlike in all you do.
Secondly, we are to show proper respect to everyone. (v.17). We don’t have to agree with them. We don’t have to even like them. But every person you meet is someone Jesus loves so much – that He died for them. Treat every creation of God’s with respect. The one who respects others reflects God’s character. Have you ever seen anyone who used ‘sir’ and ‘madam’ and opened doors for ladies? He didn’t do it because the one he was honoring deserved it. He did it because HE was the kind of man he was. Respect starts on the inside. It has little to do with those we are respecting. We need to always be respectful.
Thirdly, love the brotherhood of believers (v. 17). Care about God’s people. Sacrifice for them. Give yourself and your will up for them. That is the expression of love. Hebrews 10:25 says,
“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
We need the encouragement of each other. We need to study and discuss God’s Word and its eternal truths and how it applies to our every day lives. We need to sharpen our skills and work together to become better at accomplishing the mission our Lord gave us. We just need to become better at loving one another. “Love covers a multitude of faults.” Love the believers.
Then we are to “Fear God”, fourthly. That means we are to respect Him, love Him, and serve Him. Those that fear God believe in a judgment day. They believe He is a reward of those who seek Him and do His will. They believe that those who remain unrepentant will come to judgment and be condemned. Those who fear God live their lives realizing that they must be accountable to God for their actions and they desire to hear His blessed words, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.” Fear God, in spite of all – even if those who do not fear God come into power and control. Don’t fear them. Fear God. He is the one who matters. He is the One we will be standing before one day. He is the One who we must give an accounting of our actions to.
Finally, we are to honor the king. That’s kind of hard if your beliefs are different that his. A lot of pastors, at pastor’s and wives retreat, this last week were pretty upset with the election. But we are to respect and honor the position. We don’t have to agree with it. That speaks more of who we are that who they are. God wants us to be gracious and kind. He wants us to be respectful and polite. There were a lot of people I talked to who hated – absolutely hated - the last president. They disrespected him and dishonored this honorable and godly man. They lied about him and blamed him for things that he had no control over. Let’s us not be like that. Let’s honor the king. Barack Obama is our king. He is our president. We need to honor him and support him. We need to pray for Him. He has testified to being a Christian. He has used Jesus’ name as Lord. If that is true, we need to so surround him with prayer that no matter what far left counsel he is getting – he will listen to the Lord and be led of the Holy Spirit. God can use him to bring the right kind of change to our country. Wouldn’t it be something if he appointed godly judges to the Supreme Court? Would it be something if God used him to strike down the killing of America’s babies? Wouldn’t it be something if God used Him to bring America back to God? Is anything too difficult for God? We need to pray for our leaders more than ever before.
There are some people who hate our president just because he is black and would assassinate him if they could. We need to pray for his protection. We need to pray God would get a hold of his heart. We need to pray that God would break his will and shape his spirit.
Don’t allow the enemy to make you bitter and angry and ungodly. Above all – especially in times of difficulty – live a Christlike life. Let love and mercy and kindness overflow in you. Don’t ever let anything DEChristianize you!
In my devotional reading, I just finished the book of Revelation. I’ve read the end of the story. I know how it will all turn out. And we will be persecuted and even killed at some time or another. But in the end – we will win. When the dust has settled and the air is cleared – we will emerge triumphantly with our King. So don’t lose hope. Don’t be discouraged. God is still on the throne. And now – more than ever – we need to be the Christlike witnesses the world needs to see.
“The Battle Belongs to the Lord”
