Who Will God APPOINT As Our Next Leader? | LIVESTREAM 2024

This is a pivotal moment in our country's history. This is November the 4th, 2024. By the way, my name is

Nate Sala, and this is Wise Disciple, where I'm helping you become the effective Christian that you were meant to be. It is the night before the presidential election.

But what I'm about to tell you is going to last way beyond this moment. I'm gonna share some things with you from the

Bible that I pray will reverberate again and again for you, because the pieces that I'm about to share in this video will guide you and all of us as we navigate not only tomorrow, but the days, the weeks, and the years to come as Christians in this country.

Look, you and I are here ultimately because God wants it. He wants us to go through this moment together.

So let's wrestle with this together. Amen? Let's figure out what this moment means, because I can tell you that the

Bible absolutely talks about this. We are not left with no teaching. In Romans chapter 13, we have been given instructions by the

Apostle Paul that will guide us as Christians moving forward, whatever happens tomorrow, no matter who the president is.

Amen? Now, some of you are already hearing the passage, Romans 13. You're immediately jumping to conclusions.

Let me encourage you, don't do that. Don't think you know what I'm gonna say or what I'm not gonna say. To help us think through this issue,

I found someone who can walk through the Scripture extremely well, and I hope that you agree.

It's the one and only Votibakim. He preached on this a few years back, and this is absolute fire.

It really is. So let's see what God's Word has to say to us. I've got Romans chapter 13 pulled up right here.

By the way, this is Logos. This is my Logos Bible app. Real quick, Logos has made it more affordable than ever to use.

You can get access to the tools that I use every day in my own studies, so you can read the Bible the way that I do. Definitely avail yourself of this wonderful app.

Go to Logos .com forward slash wise disciple for more. All right. Romans 13 verse 1.

We're gonna read it real quick, and we're gonna jump over to Voti. Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God.

Hello. Let me read that again. There is no authority except from God.

And those that exist have been instituted by God. The one who legitimately wins the presidency tomorrow will have been put there by God.

I'm gonna let that one sink in. All right. Now, this verse alone is filled with theological depth and practical application, but there's a couple things here.

Bear in mind, Paul is writing to a church that is meeting in various houses that are spread out throughout Rome. It appears that these houses are at odds with each other, particularly as to how the worship of God should be expressed.

If you pay close attention to what Paul is addressing through the initial chapters of the letter to the Romans, it appears that there was a disagreement over whether Gentiles should observe

Jewish law as, like, part of their worship, particularly circumcision, particularly

Sabbath, you know, and food restrictions or not. And so what Paul ultimately wants to communicate is that what will unite the church is their trust in God.

In the face of all the messiness and the uncertainty of being a community of God's people in a hostile environment, it comes back to trust in the

Lord over and over again. Why? Well, because the Lord is the one behind it all, ladies and gentlemen.

He is the source of our salvation. He is the source of our righteousness and our peace. And knowing that should give us great comfort and unite us as a people.

Are there many occasions for the church to clash in various ways? Sure. But we won't if we trust the

Lord, right? If we have the proper perspective and we understand that he's behind everything, which means he's behind the pagans or the secular folks who rule over us in terms of government.

Does this have anything to do with us today? Verse 2. Hmm. Okay, but wait a second,

Nate, but he's talking about the pagans though, right? Rome is in the backdrop of what

Paul is saying right now, right? And the answer is yes. Okay, well, so then how can we subject ourselves to people like this?

Right? How can Paul even say that these pagans are servants of God? How does that even make sense?

We're gonna get right into it. Verse 5. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid

God's wrath, but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes.

For the authorities are ministers of God attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them.

Taxes to whom taxes are owed. Revenue to whom revenue is owed. Respect to whom respect is owed. Honor to whom honor is owed.

Did you notice that? Three times Paul says that pagans can be servants and ministers of God.

He says it twice in verse 4, and then he says it again in verse 6.

Again, is he talking about the Roman government? The pagans who are wicked and corrupt?

The ones who reject God and refuse to acknowledge him in his kingdom? Yes! Paul knows about the

Romans when he's writing this. He's the one who ultimately appeals to Caesar. You remember that? And he dies by the hands of the

Romans, probably just a handful of years after he wrote this letter. He knows what he's doing. But see, this, it creates this tension between the idea of subjecting yourself as a

Christian to non -believers who are wicked and who enact sinful policies. And also with the idea of obeying the

Lord. There's a real tension there, is there not? Now, Vodie Bauckham is preaching on this tension, and we'll pick it up at this moment.

Here's what he says. It is important to meet both extremes. The extreme, on the one hand, that overemphasizes public state authority, and the extreme, on the other hand, that under emphasizes state authority.

And how do we put those extremes to rest? By heeding what God's Word teaches us on the subject.

And today, in verses 1 and 2, specifically heeding his command to be in submission and subjection to those proper authorities that have been placed over us.

Let's look again in verses 1 and 2. Listen carefully. Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.

There's the statement on the matter. We want to hasten to the next part of the paragraph and talk about what authority is legitimate and what authority is illegitimate.

We want to hasten to the point where we talk about how we rise up against authority, because we are, in effect, a very rebellious people, a notoriously rebellious people.

And folks, we are the worst of the worst. Amen. We are citizens of a republic, and I'll say that again.

I'll say that again and again and again. Please stop referring to America as a nation. We are a republic.

And secondly, please stop referring to America as a democracy. We are not. Democracy is the cruelest form of government known to man.

Like a fine wine. I detect hints of the French Revolution. I detect notes of the

Federalist Papers. Right? Bauckham's correct. We are not a democracy.

We often say this as a shorthand for our country, like in conversations, even on the media, but we're not.

We elect representatives to govern. We are a democratic republic. That means, by the way, that America has no king.

We Christians have a king, but this country has no king. We rebelled against King George because of the long series of abuses that the colonies endured under his reign.

The true authority over this country is not even the President of the United States. Did you know that?

So, like, when you get up and you say the pledge, are you pledging to a person or a political party? No. The true authority is the

Constitution, ladies and gentlemen. Hopefully your civics courses have taught you this. How do

I know that? Well, you know, because whoever wins tomorrow, they're not gonna stay at the

White House indefinitely. They're gonna leave at some point in the future, and then somebody else is gonna come in.

To do what, by the way? What is the function of the President? To preserve, protect, and defend the

Constitution of the United States of America. That's what they swear at their inauguration, right?

So, you know, whoever will win tomorrow will eventually raise their right hand and put their left hand on the what?

The Bible. Hello! And they will swear to preserve, protect, and defend the

Constitution. The Constitution is the standard that sits above the government of this country.

That's what the President and all the branches of the government answers to. That's why when you voted, or when you will vote, right?

You should be answering this question. Who is going to preserve, protect, and defend the

Constitution of the United States? And who won't? Whoever you think that person is should be the one you vote for.

Why? Because the Constitution recognizes and acknowledges the liberties and freedoms of every citizen of this country.

Including the unborn citizens. Amen? Somebody can amen that one.

The Constitution also safeguards against a government who in pursuit of its own power becomes so bloated and focused on irrelevant and ridiculous projects that it ultimately removes the liberties and freedoms of its own citizens.

Hey, Nate, uh, you know, you mean the type of government that decides to detain a bunch of people and then raid their house in order to capture and euthanize a squirrel?

Yep. That's the kind of government overreach that I'm talking about.

It's a perfect example of what I'm talking about, actually. All right, this is becoming another video. Let me go here.

Therefore, failure to submit to human authority is rebellion against God himself.

Failure to submit to human authority is rebellion against God himself. Look at verse 2. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what

God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. If you resist the human authority that God has placed in your life, you are resisting

God. You are rebelling against God. Your rebellion against the authority that he has placed in your life is rebellion against him.

Listen to this. In the home, children obey your parents.

What's the next phrase? In the Lord. For this is right. Children obey your parents in the

Lord. For this is right. Children, if you are not obeying your parents, you are rebelling against God. Children obey your parents in everything.

Colossians 3 20. For this pleases the Lord. Some of you are already uncomfortable.

Right? Are you saying, Nate, that when the party I don't like gets into office, that I need to subject myself to them in order to obey

God? Yeah. Yeah. That's it.

By the way, that's not, you know, that I'm not saying that. That's not Voddie Bockham saying that. We're not making that up.

That's the Bible, ladies and gentlemen. That's the Word of God in Romans chapter 13, one of many different places in the scripture that all repeat the same sentiment.

But Nate, the atrocities, you know, the wickedness, how do I navigate submitting to authorities and challenge them, right?

We're gonna get there. We're gonna get there. Just stick with me. So the converse would also be true.

For you not to obey your parents would be displeasing to the Lord. Wives, Ephesians 5 22 to 24.

Wives submit to your own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its

Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

So the wife who is not submitting to the authority of her husband is rebelling against God, against God in the church.

Obey your leaders and submit to them. For they're keeping watch over your souls as those who will give an account to whom?

To God. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning. For that would be of no advantage to you.

They're looking over your souls. They're watching over your souls.

And in the state, here in Romans chapter 13 verses 1 and 2, it becomes clear that rebellion against the authority that God has established is indeed rebellion against God himself.

But again, we are quick to run and say, yes, but, yes, but, yes, but. We'll get to the yes, but, but not so fast.

We gotta get here first. What we want to do is we want to run by this really quickly and go, yeah, yeah, I know it's there, but tell me when

I don't have to. Kids want that in the home. Wives want that in relation to husbands.

Church folks want that in relation to church authority, and we all want that in relation to the state. But it's interesting how that is tempered by degrees.

Isn't it? Let's look at it by degrees, shall we?

And so let's take the wife who looks at state authority and, you know, just says instantly when she looks at state authority,

I want to know when it's no. Or the husband who looks at state authority and says,

I want to know where the line is. Because I want to know when I can rebel. Does he have the same level of patience with his wife on her submission to him as he expects from God on his submission to the state?

If you can't say amen, you ought to say ouch right here, okay? Or how about to his children?

When it comes to their level of submission. And so if our children want to immediately run to, when can

I say no? And wives, and church members, and if they want to immediately run to when

I can say no, we say, no, no, no, no, no, you have to understand these principles of submission. But when it comes to the state, our predisposition is not just start with when

I can say no, but assume that that is actually the most godly posture that I can have. That's gonna, that's gonna draw some blood.

I think that's, that's a sharp observation. It's gonna cut deep. And that's the point, by the way.

That's the point. We all have the same question. What about wicked authorities who must be challenged?

Now, I have the same question, by the way. But Bauckham really, and by the way, there's a biblical answer.

Bauckham really wants us to wrestle with the unperceived influences that help to shape our behavior.

Do we even know how to submit well as Christians? And not in some, you know, outward posture, but truly submit in our heart and mind.

Because if we don't, this actually exposes a deeper issue, which is we don't trust

God. That's where all of this is headed. I don't need to be a psychic to know that.

That's the point that Paul kept hitting in Romans. If we can't look at any situation that we disagree with and not worry or get upset, this betrays the fact that we do not trust

God. Because very often his style is to invade our plans with his own, to do the very things that we think should not happen.

Right? So then, okay, what happens when our plan is for our person to get into the presidency?

What happens when God's plan is the opposite? Do we trust Romans chapter 13 verse 2 right here? That God is the one who appoints the authorities?

Because if we don't, look again. I mean, there is a promise at the end of verse 2 there.

We will incur judgment, won't we? I hold on to my no until you prove that you're worthy of my yes.

That's our attitude toward the state, folks. I hold on to my no until you prove you're worthy of my yes.

I am in rebellion to you unless and until you show me that you agree with me and therefore

I ought to walk with you. That is not the posture of the first two verses here in Romans chapter 13.

Our posture is one of submission, recognizing that all authority comes from God, and recognizing that our submission to God always happens through human agency, and recognizing that failure to submit to human authority is rebellion against God.

Now, that is our typical posture, isn't it? However, there will come a time when we need to resist the authorities.

But the question is, when is that time, right? What does that look like practically?

Listen to this. I'll submit to the state, and I'll have a posture of submission to the state when they demonstrate that they are doing what the second part of this passage says that they're supposed to do.

If they're not—no, no, no, no, no, they're not worthy of your submission. Your submission is unconditional, but it's limited.

Limited. What do I mean by that? We cannot submit to authorities that require what

God forbids or forbid what God requires. Ah, did you catch that?

Did you catch it? We cannot submit to authorities that require what God forbids or forbids what

God requires. If you're wondering how to navigate today's political reality, it really comes down to that particular axiom.

So let me tip my hat or my hand a little bit here. I suspect that part of the tension that a lot of us are feeling right now as Christians, it comes from the fact that we live within the overlap of two kingdoms, and we largely do not even realize it.

Why? Well, because we're too busy looking with our physical eyes. Think about that.

We live in the in -between of the kingdom of this world and the kingdom of heaven.

In so many ways, Earth does not look like heaven at all, but our job, given to us by Jesus, is to spread the kingdom of heaven to this world that so desperately needs it today.

Amen? And that's the tension, though. The tension is real, friends. I feel it just as much as you do.

And it comes from trying to live for the kingdom of heaven within a local context that very often pushes back against God's kingdom.

And so then we go and we vote for president, right? But we're not voting for Christian pastors, okay?

I think these people are far from that. Is that even controversial to say?

I don't think so. And I mean, even if they were, much of the laws on the books already, much of the ways that society conducts itself now, is opposed to the

Christian teaching that we obey. It's opposed to faithful living. So what do we do?

We vote for the one person and party that will align to God's word better than the other.

We vote for the person and the party that will maintain our freedom to fulfill our mandate as Christians and go and make disciples of all the nations.

But we also have to trust God that our vote will align with his plans. We have to recognize that God is ultimately going to cast his vote as well, so to speak.

And it may not be for the person or the party that we desire. See, a lot of us, we have not factored that into our equations.

A lot of us assume that God is going to do what we think he should do. That he's going to solve the specific problem that we're hyper -focused on at this very moment.

And that actually may not be his plans at all. It may be to accomplish other purposes of his about which we have no idea.

And we have to trust God either way. We have to trust him if our plans don't go the way that we think they should.

That's why Paul says what he says in Romans 13. Submit, subject yourself to governing authorities and recognize that they are servants of God on his behalf.

The reason why this passage is so confusing is because we define the phrase servants of God to mean followers of his word and followers of his ways.

And then we quickly notice, well actually that's not describing a lot of our secular leaders in office.

And so then we get confused. But wait a second. That's not the only way to serve

God in the Bible. And I'll show you what I mean by that in just a moment.

We can't do that. We're not allowed to do that. Because all authority comes from God.

Ultimately, we have to do what God commands and we have to shun what

God forbids. That's where that's where the line is. So the question is if we understand that our obligation and responsibility is to be in submission to authority, but we also understand that that submission though unconditional has to be limited.

It has to be limited. We understand where and how to draw the line.

They can't command what God forbids or forbid what God commands. But how do we respond once we get there?

Listen to this from Tom Schreiner. This text is misunderstood if it is taken out of context and used as an absolute word so that Christians uncritically comply with the state no matter what is being demanded.

What we have here is a general exhortation that delineates what is usually the case. People should normally obey ruling authorities.

The text is not intended as a full -blown treatise on the relationship of believers to the state. I love

Schreiner. Schreiner has got some great resources, by the way, some excellent commentaries of the Bible. I have a number of his commentaries in my own library.

He's a professor of New Testament. He's just a super solid thinker. If you get a chance, you should put some

Schreiner in your library. It is a general exhortation setting forth the typical obligation that one has to civil authorities.

Right. In other words, so in Romans 13, when Paul says that these authorities are not a terror to good conduct, right, and that he does not bear the sword in vain, talking about the servant or the local authority, the government authority there, he does not bear the sword in vain.

This is what is ideally supposed to happen in ways that don't violate our Christian convictions, but instead align to what we know to be true from God's word.

But again, what happens when these authorities no longer become these things, but they become the opposite?

So what do we do when we reach that line? If God's the source of all human authority, and if our submission to God is always by proxy, and if rebellion against authority is rebellion against God, what do

I do when I come to a place where that authority is commanding something of me that God forbids or forbidding of me something that God commands?

Here's what we do. Two categories. There's passive responses and active responses. Number one, passive responses.

Passive responses to ungodly exercises of authority. Number one, pray.

Pray for the authority. First Timothy 2, 1 and 2.

Pray. That's why we do this when we gather together as a body.

We pray for those whom God has placed in positions of authority. We pray. We pray.

Why? Because the king's heart is the hand of the Lord. Amen? And so we go to God on their behalf.

And we ask God that by his mercy their heart would be changed or stopped. We pray.

We pray. Secondly, we model for authority. The picture of this is seen in 1

Peter 3. Listen to what Paul says to wives. Likewise wives be subject to your own husbands so that even if some do not obey the word they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives when they see your respectful and pure conduct.

I don't believe it's illegitimate at all for us to extrapolate that to the way that we as followers of the

Lord Jesus Christ respond in the presence of authority. The way that we respect authority and honor authority.

Not only do we have these passive responses, but there are active responses. And they increase in levels of intensity.

The first is to appeal to the authority. Appeal to the authority.

This is done respectfully and in accordance with the means that have been provided by that authority.

Respectfully and in accordance with the means that are provided by that authority. You mean like if we don't like the way the government is performing we should replace those leaders with ones that we believe will protect, preserve, and defend the

Constitution of the United States of America? Yep. That's it. Your vote in this election is part of this appeal that Bauckham is pointing out.

Work within the system. Oh, but Nate, the system's rigged. No. It's not rigged so much that it cannot be investigated and rectified.

We are not there yet as a society, my friends. By the way, here's something else.

If we have a huge problem with our local and federal governments Christians should run for office.

Amen? More and more of us in the church should step outside the walls of our communities and enter into public office.

Some of you are wondering about your calling. Where are the next great leaders of this nation? You know what

I mean? Who also love the Lord with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength and also respect the

Constitution? If the problem is really that bad, let's pray and ask the

Lord whether he wants you to fix the system yourself. Amen? Because we need you. We need you to run for office, brother, sister, pastor, leader.

We see this in the Old Testament and the New Testament. Moses before Pharaoh. He goes to Pharaoh and he appeals that Pharaoh wouldn't let

God's people go. This is an appeal to the authority. Daniel before the steward concerning the food.

Daniel doesn't stand up to the steward and say, I ain't eating that. He stands up and he makes an appeal. Please, we don't want to defile ourselves.

Can we work something else out? Can we try something? It's an appeal to authority. The widow and the unjust judge.

Jesus gives that one to us in a parable. This woman goes back again and again and again and again, appealing to the judge over and over and over again, making her appeal, making her plea as it were.

Paul before Felix in Acts chapter 24. He makes his appeal to Felix.

We make an appeal. That's where we start, brothers and sisters. We start with appealing to authority.

And we do so by trusting that the God of heaven is with us. Amen? We don't just appeal as if we're alone out there standing up against corruption and wickedness all alone.

We're not alone. No, we trust God in ways that, you know, perhaps we never have before.

That's the takeaway once again, ladies and gentlemen. I hope you're picking up on that. We don't start with just out and out rebellion against authority.

We start with appealing to authority. And we use legitimate channels to appeal to authority.

By the way, our founders understood this. That's why it is listed even in the Bill of Rights. We think about the

First Amendment and we always talk about one aspect of the First Amendment. And that's the religious freedom clauses in the

First Amendment, but also the right to petition our government. Praise God for that.

That's biblical. It's biblical. Appeal to authority. How many times do you and I just run straight to, you know, you know, let's get the guns and set up our cannon with our, you know, come and take it flag over the top of it without ever making an appeal?

Pleading. Again, I know why. Because we don't trust

God. We trust our own efforts, but we don't trust our own

God. It's as simple as that. One last point and then

I'll wrap up here. That's where we start. We appeal to authority.

Secondly, we confront authority. We confront authority.

This has moved to another level here. Confront authority. Sometimes it is required of us that we confront authority.

Again, authority who's doing what? Authority who's doing something that we don't like. No, authority who's requiring what God forbids or forbidding what

God requires. We confront the authority. Nathan confronts King David. You are the man.

That was a confrontation. By the way, it was respectful. Even the confrontation was respectful and submissive.

Daniel and Belshazzar in Daniel chapter 5. There's handwriting on the wall.

Here's what God says, King. This is what God is going to do because of your rebellious heart.

That was a confrontation of authority. By the way in Daniel, we see all of the different levels basically, but there's the confrontation of authority.

John before Herod in Mark 16, 14 to 20. John confronts

Herod directly with the word of God. What you're doing is wrong.

It's immoral. It's sinful. It's a confrontation of authority. By the way, John does this before Herod.

Why? Because God has put him... Nathan before David, Daniel before Belshazzar, John before Herod.

What has happened here? Nathan, God has put him in a position that allowed him to confront authority. So he confronted

Daniel before Belshazzar. The queen mother remembers Daniel. He's brought in.

God's handwriting is on the wall. God has given him an opportunity to confront authority. So he confronts the authority. John before Herod.

Herod kind of liked him. It's the favor of God. Gave him an opportunity to confront authority. Paul before his flogging in Acts 22.

He appeals to his citizenship in Rome, and he confronts the man who's about to flog him because the man is about to break the law.

And so he confronts the authority. All right. All of this, and there's other examples, all of this are men steeped in a deep trust of God, though.

And that's what we need. If you're wondering why things are feeling so ramped up, so chaotic, so apocalyptic, let me remind you gently, you need to trust the

Lord. See, we're going to vote tomorrow, okay? Maybe you already have early voting.

But the one who will become president, the one who will legitimately win, and boy, maybe there will be a question about that, in which case that's a separate issue.

But I'm talking about a legitimate win. That person will have won. Listen to me. Because God appointed them to become president.

That's what you should be thinking about. The sooner you let that sink in, the sooner you can ask a great follow -up question.

Why? Why would God do that? Why would God potentially let the wrong person become president?

You know what the Bible says? It's for a good reason. Whoever God appoints will be there for a good reason.

That's Romans 8 .28. That means enemies of God, they're servants of God.

This is what the Bible teaches, by the way. That means a secular government leader can be

God's minister without ever knowing the God they're serving. It sounds crazy, and yet this is the consistent testimony of God in the

Bible. Baca mentioned the Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar, right?

Look at what Jesus tells Pilate in John 19. Verse 11,

Jesus answered him, God is the one who appointed the very people that would kill

Jesus. Have you ever thought about that? He raised these people up to power and allowed them to endure in that position long enough to be the ones who put the nails in.

Who pierced Jesus' side. Who brought up false charges against him in the first place. God appointed all those leaders.

There is a long precedent of God saying this very thing. God says, I use kings, rulers, and leaders for my purposes, period.

It doesn't matter whether they know him. It doesn't matter whether they are willingly serving him or not. It doesn't even matter if they reject

God. God uses them nonetheless. And God will use the political party that you hate.

He will. I'm stepping on toes. I'm stepping on somebody's toes. Right?

But it's true. It's true. They won't know it. They might not even realize it, but he's using them.

You can count on that. You think, by the way, you think Pilate looked at Jesus and he said, oh my gosh, the creator of the entire universe is standing right in front of me.

No, he didn't do he didn't know that. He didn't do that. And Jesus says to his face, your authority was given you from heaven.

Jesus is saying that because that's like the only reason this is happening is because of the

Lord. That is God's consistent position throughout scripture. And Jesus knows this. God raised up Pilate for such a time as that.

Pilate became a useful servant of God for the express purpose of sending Jesus to the cross so that he could pay for the sins of the world.

Do you realize what that means? The entire basis of our faith hinged on God using leaders who were wicked.

We live in the in -between, ladies and gentlemen, in the overlap of the kingdom of this world and the kingdom of heaven.

That means that in the ways that earth does not mirror heaven, we are supposed to reshape it in such a manner that it does.

But the world is resisting, right? We as Christians have been given a directive by our

Lord and Savior. And so we are advancing on the world in this sense. And the world is pushing back.

That's the tension that you and I are feeling right now. That is the tension that we should always be feeling.

But for some reason, it's incredibly palpable with the election of 2024. But that's what

I'm trying to say. The election of 2024 is just one manifestation of this greater tension that exists because we live in the overlap of two kingdoms, the kingdom of this world and the kingdom of heaven.

I've got one last point, and then I'll close, right? Take a look at this. Jesus says something I think illuminating in Matthew chapter 11.

Look at this. Verse 12. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.

This statement is a little confusing. It's split biblical scholars a bit on what

Jesus is really getting at, particularly looking at the original language. D .A. Carson says, and I agree with him, that this phrase really means that the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing and violent or rapacious men have been trying to plunder it.

That's the picture that Jesus is trying to describe here at this moment. God's kingdom moves forward and the world is pushing back.

Now, why does Jesus say that? Well, think about the context, right? John is sitting in jail.

You remember this? John's in jail. He's doubting that Jesus is the

Messiah that he's been waiting for, right? So he sends his disciples to ask the question, are you the person or should we look for somebody else?

Now, the question is, why did John the Baptist, of all people, get so confused?

And the answer is because he was looking at this situation in the wrong way. He's sitting in prison, looking at things from his vantage point in his cell.

Injustice is running rampant everywhere, right? Jesus doesn't appear to be doing anything about it, and now

John's confused. I propose to you that John's misunderstanding came from a rigid set of expectations that he had that were totally incorrect.

All he had to do when Jesus did not do what he expected was trust him.

Trust Jesus. As a matter of fact, later, Jesus says, blessed is the one who is not offended by me.

In other words, who does not stumble on my account. John doesn't trust

Jesus in that moment. He doesn't understand what Jesus is doing. Don't let that be you, friends.

Don't look at the world only with your physical eyes. Do you remember the video that happened over summer?

With the whole, you know, the assassination attempt? I said the same thing then, I'm saying the same thing now.

Stop looking at these things with your physical eyes. Stop getting frustrated if God doesn't do what you think he should.

And believe me, it's going to happen. Whether tomorrow or later, God is going to do things in our lives that we disagree with.

But our proper response, the thing that will fill us with peace and keep us united as a people is to trust the

Lord. We need to trust the Lord. We also need to go vote.

Amen? If you haven't done that yet, I encourage you to go do it. But we need to respect who

God will appoint at the same time. And that may not be who we desire. Either way, the president will have been

God's choice. If our person wins, praise the Lord. If they don't win, praise the

Lord. Amen? By the way, this does nothing to keep us from fulfilling the mandate that God has given to us.

So I'll tell you something right now. Even if the worst government in the world takes over our country at some time in the future and makes it illegal to share the gospel, we're all going to jail together.

All right? Who's with me? Because nothing's going to stop us from fulfilling our mandate to the King of Heaven. Amen? All right, everybody.

I'm going to close this in prayer. Would you pray with me? O Heavenly Father, You are

Creator. You are King. You are Sovereign Lord. You are truly in control, and we are not.

We are Your creation, created by You to be in relationship with You and to glorify

You to others. The blood of Christ covers our sins, past, present, and future, and we are no longer slaves to sin and to fear.

We have been set free to be holy and righteous by the power of the Holy Spirit in us. It is only by Your pure, unmerited grace that we have been adopted into Your family.

There was nothing that we could do to earn such grace. Lord, would

You give us the ability to extend Your grace and Your mercy and Your forgiveness to the people around us?

Give us Your continued favor on our lives and on this country. The fact is,

You have created us, but You have also put us in this country for a particular purpose for such a time as this.

Lord, search our heart and know our ways. Let Your word and Your presence flow through us out of the overflow of our relationship with You.

May everything that we do be saturated in a deep, abiding trust that You are for us, that You are not against us, that we will continue to live, move, and thrive no matter who is president, no matter who takes control of our government.

Lord, I pray for our country. Please, Lord, return us as a society and a people to a strong belief in You and in Your word, to a deep conviction that Your ways are true and that it leads to not only flourishing right now, but everlasting life as well.

Lord, forgive this country. It has strayed so far in so many ways from Your word and what it used to know and what it used to recognize.

Return and restore us to what we once were, Lord, but only after You revive us and You stir in us a deep repentance that begins in our churches and spills out and overflows into the streets.

Lord, be with us always. Let us never stray from You. We love You. And it's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. Amen, friends. Amen. Hey, either way,

I'll return soon with more videos. Hahaha Take heart, friends.

We're in this one together for sure. I will see you on the next one. Until next time. Bye for now.