“PUT NOT YOUR TRUST IN PRINCES”(POLITICIANS)
Psalm 146:3
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: LIBERAL KITTENS
1. Chris Matthews (MSNBC Hardball; liberal) was out jogging one morning, and saw a little boy on the corner with a box. 'What's in the box son?' The little boy, who knew who he was, answered, “Kittens, they're Liberal kittens.” Chris said, “Oh, that's awesome,” and ran on.
2. A couple of days later Chris Matthews was again jogging, accompanied by his friend, Paul Krugman (N.Y. Times comm., liberal) and he spied the same boy with his box just ahead. Chris said to Paul, “Watch this,” and they both jogged over to the boy with the box.
3. Chris said, “Look in the box Paul, isn't that cute? Young man, tell my friend Paul what kind of kittens they are.” The boy replied, “They're Conservative kittens.”
4. “What?” Chris said, “I jogged by here the other day and you said they were Liberal kittens. What's changed?
5. “Well,” the boy said, “Their eyes are open now!”
B. TEXT
“Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help” Ps. 146:3.
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government & peace there shall be no end” Isa. 9:6-7.
C. THESIS
1. We’re a few weeks away from a presidential election. I believe for many reasons, this election is critical to the direction of the U.S., and possibly, it’s economic future and place in the world.
2. I believe it’s the responsibility of every American to vote. We have a representative government: we elect people to go to Austin and Washington D.C. to represent our values and beliefs.
3. Our nation will be judged by God on its decisions of morality and treatment of other nations. Therefore, we should all vote our conscience, not necessarily our pocket books.
4. I won’t be telling anybody how to vote, but I want us to reflect upon the words of King David, the man after God’s own heart. He knew the failings of men.
5. So this morning we’re going to see what David said NOT to trust in, then what we SHOULD trust in, and lastly, the 3 accessories to aid us in this trust.
6. The title of this morning’s message is, “Put Not Your Trust In Princes.”
I. PUT NOT YOUR TRUST IN POLITICIANS
David himself had been a prince (son-in-law to King Saul), so he knew what he was talking about. In his day, princes were equivalent to politicians today.
A. WHY NOT TRUST IN THEM?
1. EVEN THE BEST HAVE MIXED MOTIVES. Most have pride issues, agendas, and some self-aggrandizement.
a. Larry Hardiman said, “The word 'politics' is derived from the word 'poly', meaning 'many', and the word 'ticks', meaning 'blood sucking parasites'.”
b. Ronald Reagan said, “Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I’ve come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.”
c. Someone else said, “Why don't we ever hear of a thief stealing from a politician's house? Professional courtesy.”
2. ALL ARE EASILY CORRUPTED. They are influenced by bribes, friends, and the effects of power. They desire to maintain their positions and will compromise to do so. Most of them have ideological ‘bents’ or camps, which go toward extremes.
3. ALL HAVE LIMITED POWER/ABILITY. Many of the problems they face are too big for them to be able to solve:
a. Muslim Terrorism and hatred;
b. The Super-cycle of Debt Deleveraging;
c. The power/influence of other nations, like China, Russia, and lesser threats.
d. Worldwide poverty and disease.
4. Isaiah said, “And the government shall be upon His shoulder.” He didn’t say, “The Government shall rest on the shoulders of the Republican Party or the Democrat party. No! The government shall "rest upon His shoulders." Jesus’.
5. When you start putting your hopes in Washington to solve your problems, you’re heading for a fall!
B. OUTCOME? DISAPPOINTMENT
1. Everyone hailed Barack Obama as the Savior from the problems of the Bush Admin.; and now they hail Mitt Romney as the Savior from the problems of the Obama Administration. But folks, there’s only One Savior and His name is NOT Barack or Mitt, His name is Jesus!
2. What happens if we depend on man?
a. “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord” Jer. 17:5. We turn away from the Lord.
3. Ps. 118:9, "It's better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes." Ps. 60:11 adds, “for vain is the help of man.”
4. What are you trusting in? Doctors? Social Security? Your retirement account? Your influence? Your wealth?
5. False trusts are like relying on spider’s webs (Job 8:14) or a splintering staffs (2 Kings 18:21). We’re supposed to TRUST IN THE LORD!
II. WHY TRUST IN THE LORD?
A. BECAUSE HE CONTROLS THE NATIONS
1. God made King Nebuchadnezzar an object lesson to teach us that God reigns supreme over all the nations of the world; God gave him the mind of an animal – theriomania – "... until you recognize that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of men and He gives it to whoever He chooses to," Daniel 4:32. I hope none of us have to start thinking like a cow!
2. It seems like our needs are so great; we need everything -- money for houses, cars, insurance, food and clothing, gas, utilities, and a 1,000 other things. It's like the proverbial rat running wheel; we keep running and running and never seem to get anywhere.
3. But I'm glad that no matter how great human needs are, God has the ability to meet those needs.
4. God is in control. He may use a little widow-woman who only has a handful of flour and a table spoon-full of oil. We may share some little boy’s lunch.
5. We may be fed by a Raven or dine on a fish caught in a miraculous manner, but God will supply our needs! God knows what we need and will supply them “abundantly!”
B. JESUS CHRIST IS INTERCEDING FOR YOU
1. We all need prayer, don’t we? One cute instance of prayer, was when Dennis the Menace was kneeling beside his bed, hands folded, looking toward heaven. With an imploring look on his face he prayed, "I'm here to turn myself in!" Do you feel like that sometimes?
2. Now I appreciate all your prayers for me. But most of all, I appreciate the prayers of the Lord Jesus. Heb. 4:15 says that He’s “touched” or “sympathizes with our weaknesses.” He’s “been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.”
3. When Jesus prays, the Father answers!
4. Jesus is the sole and only mediator between God and man. There’s not another. Not Krishna, not Mohammed, not Buddha, not Moses -- there is no other, but Jesus! “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” 1 Tim. 2:5.
5. So when you think that no one cares, that no one understands what you’re going through, remember that Jesus knows all about it and is praying for You!
C. BC GOD LOVES YOU & WILL NEVER LET YOU GO
1. It’s strange how mothers of hardened criminals still love their sons with the same love they did when they were little boys.
2. That is a type of the love of God; that though we resent it and resist it, though we go against it and do everything to oppose it -- He still loves us and will not let us go!
3. That’s what makes the love of God so unique; He’ll never stop loving us! “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” Jn. 15:13.
4. If you’ve failed God, be encouraged; He loves you still. Nothing you could do could stop Him from loving you
5. “The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness’” Jer. 31:3.
D. BECAUSE GOD ALONE KNOWS THE FUTURE
1. “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please” “Which of the idols [other supposed deities] has foretold these things?” Isa. 46:9-10; 48:14.
2. Since God knows the future and has promised to take care of our needs, then we don’t have to worry about them!
3. HUMOR
a. Joe used to worry all of the time about everything. His friends all knew him as a worrier. One day Bill was walking down the street when he saw his worrying friend bouncing along as happy as a man could be. Joe was actually whistling and humming and wearing a huge smile.
b. Bill could hardly believe his eyes; it was obvious that a radical transformation had taken place. He stopped Joe and asked, “Joe, what’s happened to you? You don’t seem worried anymore; I never saw a happier man.”
c. Joe replied, “It’s wonderful Bill, I haven’t worried for several weeks now.” Bill asked, “How did you manage it? What brought about the change?”
d. Joe explained, “You see, I hired a man to do all of my worrying for me.” Bill exclaimed, “Wow, that’s great. How much does he charge you?”
e. “A thousand dollars a week.” “A thousand dollars a week? How could you possibly pay him?” Joe answered, “That’s his worry.”
4. Turn your needs over to the Lord, believing. It’s His worry!
III. THE ANSWER? 3 ACCESSORIES
A. THE BIBLE
1. THE PROBLEM
a. There’s a culture war going on in America and around the world. The pagan worldview has increasingly gaining dominance.
c. The lost world thinks truth is an evolving concept determined by society. Truth is actually linked to the unchanging character of God! It can’t change.
d. But in today’s society, everyone’s good and is going to heaven. Drunkenness & drug use are not sins. Living together is OK. Killing a baby before it’s born is OK, but killing it 5 minutes later is a crime! All this is false!
2. THE BIBLE: OUR ANCHOR IN TIMES OF STORM. It’s God’s unchanging standard for life and practice.
3. It’s NOT the Words of a man, a King, or a President, but of God. The voice that speaks to us from the Bible is the voice of God. 2 Tim. 3:16 says it’s “inspired” = theopneustos, “God-breathed.”
a. The Bible looks like any other Book, but it’s not. At Hastings, it’s thrown in with other books but it’s not at all like them!
b. The words of this Book are ALIVE! Hebrews 4:12 uses the word Zoe, which means “alive, active, moving, accomplishing!”
c. They are words with spiritual power behind them. Jesus said, “The words I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life.”
4. ONLY THE WORD OF GOD CAN SET PEOPLE FREE! Read the Bible daily and memorize the verses which speak to you.
B. DEPENDENCE ON THE HOLY SPIRIT
1. “Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit,’ saith the Lord of hosts” Zech. 4:6.
2. “Zerubbabel” means “born in Babylon.” God’s message was, “You were born in Babylon; all you’ve ever known was the Babylonian Empire and how it does things – with human armies, methods, intelligence, etc. You don’t know My ways, so I’m going to teach you My ways.”
3. We‘re just like Zerubbabel. We’ve been born in this natural world, and all we’ve ever known is the natural way of doing things. To us, the things of the Spirit are mysteries and unknowns. But God is not content to let us stay that way.
4. Jesus said, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For … in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” Acts 1:4-5.
5. This was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost with their filling with the Spirit. This was the normative experience in the early church and should be today.
6. Ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit! The Spirit’s power is the key to living an overcoming Christian life!
7. Humor. A man went to work for the Peace Corps, working on a farm. He was asked to milk a cow. When the farmer came back, he found the man feeding the milk to the cow. “What are you doing?”he asked. “Well, it seemed kind of thin so I was running it back through a second time.” That could be said of many “Spirit-filled” Christians – we need to be run back through a second time!
8. The Holy Spirit is supposed to be our Guide, our Teacher, the source of our spiritual life, and the power that helps us overcome! Our bodies are to be Temples of the Holy Spirit.
C. PRAYER
1. God said, “And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them” Ezek. 22:30-31.
2. The position of the intercessor is crucial; without an intercessor God’s hands are tied from intervening.
3. That’s why 2 Chron. 7:14 is so important. “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
4. In this coming election, it’s a good thing to get on your feet and go vote, but even more needful that we vote on our knees in prayer!
5. Prayer changes things. Prayer moves the arm that moves the world. Let’s spend the next 2 weeks in earnest prayer for God to direct this nation back to its founding faith and spiritual revival.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: Guardian Angels
1. Near the town of Zapata, a gang of men walked stealthily in the moonlight, first through then around the village, armed with machetes, hunting rifles and pistols.
2. Most people had retired for the night in the rural village . Yet in one house at the riverbank, light could be seen and voices heard.
3. Here a small group of Christians with their young pastor, Samuel Ramirez, had come together for worship and intercessory prayer.
4. They had not the slightest notion that some of the village men, for whom they were praying, were plotting to kill them.
5. When the gang came close to the house, they could not believe their eyes! In the illuminated moonlight, they could clearly see tall men in uniform, carrying arms, standing around the house!
6. After another look, they fled in bewilderment each to his own house wondering where all the federal soldiers had come from!
7. Later, some of them approached the Christians and asked, "Where did you get the soldiers?" Samuel was puzzled at first, but then he and the other Christians realized that God had sent his angels to protect them from harm.
8. Eventually all the men apologized for their action except the ringleader, a policeman. But after becoming deathly sick, he too repented, apologized and asked the Christians to pray for his healing and the Lord healed the man instantly! A great work took place there.
De Jong, Albert. Two Soldiers in God's Victorious Army. 2002, p. 131-132.
B. THE CALL
1. Someone here has never put your trust in the Lord as your Savior. God loves you and wants to work in your life. How many would say, “That’s me?”
2. Others have not been looking to God to meet your needs. You’ve been worrying, instead of praying and trusting. Do you want to start depending on God?
3. Some of you need to learn to rely on the Holy Spirit to fill you and guide you so you can have a blessed life. If you want to be filled with the Holy Spirit, join me at the front.
4. Prayer, then WATER BAPTISM.
5. You’re going to hear a lot of campaign promises between now and the election: promises to create more jobs, reduce the deficit, solve the housing crisis. Trust in God – He always keeps His campaign promises!
