Voddie: Don't Miss The GAME Being Played On US! | Pastor Reacts

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Please don't miss the game that's being played. More importantly, don't allow the game that's being played to cause you to not live optimistically.

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Can't do that, Voti. That's gonna be a hard pass for me. Have you seen what my city is doing?

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Have you seen what this nation and society is trying to accomplish? I can't pray for the welfare of evil,

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Voti. There's no way you can tell me - Wait a second, Voti's reading from the scripture though. Oops.

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Voti Bacchum is one of the most powerful preachers and speakers getting the word out about Christ and the Christian worldview in the 21st century.

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But he's not without controversy. Last week he spoke at a conference and said some things that I think are going to upset some

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Christians, particularly those of us in the church who are following the news and trying to decide how to navigate this messy political cycle.

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But what did he say that I think was going to ruffle some feathers? And does he sufficiently support himself from the scripture?

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Let's get right into it. But before we go any further, my name is Nate Sala, and this is Wise Disciple, where I'm helping you become the effective

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Christian that you were meant to be. Jesus does say to all of his disciples that we must be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

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That's in Matthew 10, 16, and that's what we're aiming for at this channel. If you haven't yet, would you like and subscribe and even share this video with someone else?

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This just helps me to get the ministry out to more and more people. All right, let's jump right in. There's a third thing, and this one seems counterintuitive.

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I propose to you that this is one of the most challenging verses of the scripture for a lot of us

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Christians right now. As a matter of fact, before we go any further, let's get into the passage for context.

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So, once again, I'm pulling up my trusty Logos app. I've partnered with Logos because it is the Bible software that I use to study the

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Bible. the Scripture, and I highly encourage you to do the same. Logos is constantly seeking to bless you with resources.

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This month, they're giving away a free book by Michael Horton called The Law of Perfect Freedom. It's all about how we can relate to God through His Ten Commandments, so definitely check out

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Logos. Go to logos .com forward slash wise disciple for more. Okay, so in Jeremiah 29, the prophet is speaking on behalf of the

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Lord to the Israelites. The Israelites have been taken captive by the Babylonians, and so they are downtrodden, as you can imagine.

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They're held captive in Babylon. So notice verses 1 and 2 here. Jeremiah is in Jerusalem, but he sends this letter to those who are held captive in Babylon.

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They're displaced, they have no home, many of them probably have lost family members and friends because they were killed by the

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Babylonians, and now Jeremiah sends this letter, which is on behalf of the Lord, to be read to those in Babylonian captivity.

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Look at this. Verse 4, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, build houses and live in them, plant gardens and eat their produce, take wives and have sons and daughters, take wives for your sons, give your daughters in marriage that they may bear sons and daughters, multiply there and do not decrease, but seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile and pray to the

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Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. Wow.

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Yeah, so does it say, be patient and I'll rescue you? Don't get involved with these people.

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Just wait for me to come and take you out of this situation. No. Are there any elements in Jeremiah's letter that connect to us today, that can help us have perspective today?

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I think so. Mind you, this is Babylon. The boot of the oppressor is on your neck, and I put it there.

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Lord, please make it stop. Nope. You're going to stay here. By the way, pray for the oppressor.

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Wait, the one with their boot on my neck? Yep. That is incredibly counterintuitive. Here's the question that you should be thinking about right now.

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Is that the situation we find ourselves in America today? Is America the new

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Babylon? And I'm not talking about this in some kind of eschatological sense, although many of us do believe that.

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I'm talking about, like, in a parallel sense, so that we can determine if there's some kind of universal principle that we can apply to our lives today in America and the

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West. I think the answer is yes. Unless... And so does Voti, apparently.

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You are a person who lays down roots and thinks multi -generationally, because then you say, this is where the

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Lord has us. Amen? And if this is where the Lord has us, let us pray that the

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Lord blesses us, and if he's going to bless us, he's going to have to bless them.

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And now we've reached the part where a lot of us get our dander up. Can't do that, Voti. That's going to be a hard pass for me.

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Have you seen what my city is doing? Have you seen what this nation and society is trying to accomplish?

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It's outright wicked, and evil, and flies in the face of everything that I know to be true from the

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Bible. I can't pray for the welfare of evil, Voti. There's no way you can tell me...

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Wait a second. Voti's reading from the Scripture, though. Oops. Okay, so the question is, if that was

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God's command for his people in Babylon thousands of years ago, is that his command for his people today in somewhat similar cultural environments?

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As a matter of fact, what do you think? Does Jeremiah 29, 4 through 7, does that principally apply to Christians today?

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Not all of us agree on this. Let me know in the comments, but I'd love to get your thoughts on this. But verse 7 says, seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the

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Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. The only way that I could not advocate for my morality in the broader culture, for my religion in the broader culture, is if I don't believe that my religion and its morality would bring welfare.

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It's an interesting point that Voti is making here. Did you catch it? Voti says that command in verse 7 is really getting at bringing

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God's values and teachings to a pagan society, and so the welfare of the pagan society, in this case, in Jeremiah, it's

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Babylon, is therefore contingent on God's people seeking to introduce, or perhaps another word for that, is invade

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God's values and teachings into Babylonian culture. I'm gonna let him flesh this out, but maybe we can circle back around on this.

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Again, this is not about the labels that we carry, this is not about the broader debate over, you know, Christian nationalism, how you define it, this and that.

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I'm talking at just the most basic level. Here's the other problem. The people who use this against us don't believe it.

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So you see how Voti is applying Jeremiah 29 to our situation right now in today's culture. So he's bopping back and forth between the text and its historical context and also today's troubles for the

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Christian. They don't believe it. Listen to this. This is from a book on the homosexual revolution, 2004,

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California. Gloria Allred is arguing for same -sex marriage, and listen to what the writer says.

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This is a pro -homosexual writer who's talking about the history of the homosexual revolution in the

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United States. Gavin Newsom, mayor of San Francisco, also thought it was time same -sex couples could do in his state what they were doing in Massachusetts.

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A few hours after Gloria Allred had announced that her clients would be suing for the right to marry in Los Angeles, Newsom issued a marriage license to a same -sex couple in San Francisco.

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The California Constitution's equal protection clause, he said, gave them the right to marry. Newsom, heterosexual, married,

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Irish Catholic, and a political centrist, except when it comes to social issues, yes, she wrote that, had made the decision to act after having been in office only 12 days.

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He'd heard President George W. Bush say in his State of the Union address on January 20th that he wanted to amend the

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U .S. Constitution to protect marriage. The 37 -year -old mayor was disgusted and outraged.

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He and his chief of staff called the executive director of the

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San Francisco -based National Center for Lesbian Rights, tell me who should be the first same -sex couple to get married in California.

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Newsom not only gave those licenses, but he officiated over the ceremonies. I want you to note something here.

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The writer points out that Newsom is a heterosexual, married,

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Irish Catholic. Okay, watch the point that he's about to make here, because it's crucial.

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Why? Don't miss this. They do not care if religion holds sway in the public sphere.

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They are not afraid of people bringing their sincerely held religious views to bear in political life.

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This is a great point that he's making. The fact is, the controversy that surrounds us as Christians who seek to vote based on our biblical convictions – by the way, that matters, you know?

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How you vote, how you see the issues matters to God. There is nothing that is disconnected from what you do here on this earth and from the

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God who made you. How do I know that? Because when Jesus said that authority had been given to him in Matthew 28, where did he say that authority applied?

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Matthew 28, 18, Jesus came and said, all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. All authority.

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That's everywhere, ladies and gentlemen, including our country, including the

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West, and the whole world. That's why 1 Corinthians 10 says, for the earth is the

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Lord's and the fullness thereof. Whether you eat or drink, whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

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Whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, or even go to the ballot box and vote, do it all for God's glory.

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The only way you can bring glory to God is to obey him in his word. Obeying him will bring him glory.

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I mean, that's Jesus' own expectation. Matthew 5, 16, in the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your

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Father who is in heaven. So, how we vote matters, and as Voti is putting it right now, this all connects to God's command in Jeremiah 29.

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Be rooted in the place that God has put you. Seek the welfare of the city that you're in.

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Why? Because your city's welfare is your welfare, and that's actually the tough part, isn't it?

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That's where we throw up our hands and we say, uh, I can have no part in the wickedness of my city, or the wickedness of my society.

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That has nothing to do with me. I'm going to remove myself. God's word says that's the wrong way to look at it.

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It is only those religious views that contradict theirs.

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Don't believe for a minute that these people have a problem with theology in politics.

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All of our politics is born out of our theology. All of the hoopla about Christian nationalism is not about whether a person's religion or whether people's faith writ large has any place in the public square.

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If you are a Christian who believes in abortion, bring your religion to the public square.

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If you are a Christian who believes in same -sex marriage, bring your religion to the public square.

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If you are a Christian who believes in transitioning children, bring your beliefs to the public square.

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Not only that, but watch this. George W. Bush made a statement that he wanted to see the

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Constitution amended. That takes a super majority of the states. Amen?

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He wanted to go through the legal process and allow Americans to speak and amend the

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Constitution of the United States to protect marriage. Gavin Newsom, 12 days on the job, says, I'm doing this single -handedly because what

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I believe needs to be enacted. Bush, they call a fascist. Newsom, they call a hero.

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Please don't miss the game that's being played. More importantly, don't allow the game that's being played to cause you to not live optimistically.

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Ooh. Bodhi's cooking. Ladies and gentlemen, he's in the kitchen. He's cooking. And he's touching on some nerves, right?

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Like, how many of us have the attitude right now, I'm out.

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I'm going to check out. I don't like this whole political process. I despise the and the fake politicians.

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I'm out. I'll go focus my efforts completely unplugged from the 24 -hour political cycle and from all the bad news.

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I've just had enough. I understand the sentiment, friends, but that's not what the

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Lord would have us do. You have to ask the question, why would

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God place me in this society and culture right now? Why would he place my family in this society and culture with this electoral system the way that it's structured?

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Do we not have a responsibility to the expectations of the surrounding city and the society and the nation in which

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God has placed us? I think the answer is, we do. Bodhi is saying the same thing.

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Where did we get this idea from? Jeremiah 29. But actually, it's not the only place in the

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Scripture. I mean, you can take a look at the deeper rationale behind Romans chapter 13. Yes, as it turns out,

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God does expect you to be a part of the location in which he has placed you. And by the way, this isn't just about politics, you know?

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The greater issue at base is whether you and I will play a part in the redemptive story that God is telling, and that starts from Genesis chapter 3, and it runs all the way to the end of Revelation.

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Are you and I going to participate in God putting the world back together again, or not?

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Because once you truly let this sink in, you know what I mean? Like, you'll realize that putting the world back together goes beyond mere evangelism.

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Merely saying the gospel that you memorized in Sunday school, it involves getting outside the comfort of your own home and transforming your city, society, and nation, and the world, into a mirror of heaven while we wait for Jesus to return.

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And man, that's way bigger than who you vote for every four years. But I think it definitely entails it.

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Why? Because there is no division between the sacred and the secular. If you are a

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Christian and you have not been called out of this world, you've been called to follow Jesus and serve the world, then this is your responsibility.

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Look at this. This is John chapter 17, verse 15. I do not ask you that you take them out of the world.

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This is Jesus talking about us! I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.

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Verse 18. As you, Father, sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.

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Could that be any more clear? He's talking about us! We are not supposed to leave this world.

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We're not even supposed to hide from this world. Our job is to fulfill the Great Commission, one soul at a time.

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And you know the crazy thing that happens when we all take the Great Commission seriously? People change.

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And when enough people change, guess what? Cities change. And when cities change, guess what?

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Societies change. You see where this is going? This is the expectation of God upon us all.

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Build houses, plant roots, get married, and have children. Multiply and do not decrease.

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Young Christians? Where are my young Christians at? Multiply and do not decrease.

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Seek the welfare of the city that you're in. Amen? And that it causes you to shrink back from desiring the truth of God's Word to infiltrate our culture so that our culture can be blessed.

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Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. Amen? This is what optimism looks like in the everyday lives of optimistic believers.

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May it be true of us. One of the recurring themes that I believe the

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Lord has been showing me in particular, but I mean, it applies to all of us. It's true for all of us. I actually shared this in the video that I did on the

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Trump assassination attempt, but we as Christians are not to see with our physical eyes.

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2 Corinthians 5 says, verse 16,

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Voti is absolutely correct to point this out. By the way, you realize this concept is not just taught in Jeremiah, right?

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Those of you still struggling to, you know, pray for the evil people you see all around you openly mocking

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God? How many of you saw the Olympics, right? Openly standing against the Bible and of Christianity?

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You realize Jesus taught the same concept. Remember this? Matthew 5, verse 43.

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You've heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but I say to you, love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you so that you may be sons of your

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Father who is in heaven. For God, the Father, makes His Son rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

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For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others?

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Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You, therefore, must be complete.

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You must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect. This is the same exact principle that's taught in Jeremiah.

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Pray for your enemies. Love your enemies. Their welfare is tied to your welfare.

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Why? Because their salvation is their welfare. And we know the one who can save our enemies, and they desperately need to know

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Him. Amen? They need to see Jesus in us. They need to see the light in us that shines, and then they can give glory to our

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Father who is in heaven. We cannot check out, friends, because if we do, then the world wins.

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Voti's right. That is how the game is played. If you believe that politics is too corrupt and there's nothing that can be done, if you believe that our society is too far gone and your vote and your voice mean nothing, that things are past the point of no return and your efforts to spread

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God's kingdom won't do a lick of good, then the world wins. The devil wins.

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And there is no hope for where God has placed us. The only hope for the world we live in is in the gospel, ladies and gentlemen.

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Whether you reflect the gospel in the way that you vote, according to your biblical convictions, or through your evangelism and discipleship, it's the only hope this world has.

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Don't throw in the towel. Don't do it. Keep running the race well, and trust that God will do right, that He will use your efforts to spread

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His kingdom through you until He returns. Amen? All right.

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Well, now it's your turn. What do you think about Voti's sermon? Is he right? Should we seek the welfare of this post -Christian nation?

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Let me know in the comments below. Hey, since you made it all the way to the end, you got to join the Patreon community.

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You can read the Bible with me over there. We're going through the Gospel of Matthew on Patreon. That's free, actually. But if you want to support me, which is how

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I make all of these videos, you can get exclusive benefits for supporting me on Patreon.

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You can watch these videos before they drop live. You can watch exclusive live streams with me over there, or you can chat with me one -on -one.

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The link for the Patreon is below. I hope to see you over there. I will return soon with more videos, but in the meantime,