S&L SOC quick reference south orange county voter guide

Preached on 9/08/2024
Christians need to be engaged in the 2024 presidential election. The freedoms we enjoy and the country that we love are in jeopardy. But Christians must unite if we are to make a difference. If our voices are not heard, and our votes are not counted, then every evil, demonic philosophy will fill the vacuum. But what if you don’t particularly like either candidate? What if you feel apathetic about this year’s election? Pastor Gary makes the argument that voting is not just a right, but a duty, and he helps us to understand how Christians can be involved in the political process. "...Salt and Light

Church, Unite for the Soul of America! | Ezekiel 33:1-5 | Gary Hamrick Notes 

Wednesday, September 11, 2024 2:16 PM 

Introduction: 

• -  A two book set exists "Political Sermons of the American Founding Era" documenting sermons that pastors preached during and subsequent to the revolutionary war era 1730-1805.
   
• -  Take God's Word as the lens through which we evaluate everything especially policies and servants in our government.
   
• -  God's Word is the standard and the church has historically influenced and spoke about politics.
   
• -  Separation of Church and State not found anywhere in our founding documents. 1802 POTUS
  Thomas Jefferson (who was not involved in writing any of the founding documents BTW) answered a question in a personal letter, not executive, from Baptist convention in Danbury, Connecticut concerning religious freedom. His letter explained the 1st amendment to protect religious liberties and building a wall for separation between church and state. His intent was to explain the protection from the government's intrusion into religion and that the 1st amendment did that. To assure that they can exercise their religion freely without intrusion. The 1st amendment is intended to keep government out of the church and not to keep the church out of government.
  ○ Unfortunately over the years, Jefferson's phrase "separation of church and state" has been used to remove the church from the public square and out of government influence. This has also intimidated many pastors from addressing issues that are deemed political from the pulpit.
  ○ Furthermore, the 1954 Johnson amendment that the senate approved by senator Lyndon Johnson expanded that fear by prohibiting 501c3 organizations that included charities and churches from engaging in any political campaign activity under the threat of losing their tax exempt status.
  ○ Receiving voter registrations and recruiting elections officers is legal among others. But this amendment scared pastors for fear of losing their tax exempt status.
  
• 
  
• -  God-given sanctified consciences should be able to guide if the pastor is doing a good job.
   
• -  Media and the culture has hijacked, twisted, and distorted the moral issues that the Bible already addressed. This causes the church to think about and vote on these issues that should never have
  been a question. Unfortunately, this is where many do not know which side to take because they
  are lost in the spin and cannot see the crux issue when the Bible has the absolute answer.
   
• -  God in the Bible spoke about all these issues before the word "political" was even created.
  Immigration, environment, life, national borders, economic prosperity, marriage, political authority, biological sex, parental authority, and Israel is all in the Bible. God had the first word long before anybody. It is important to understand that we are just talking about biblical issues.
   
• -  There is no such thing as a candidate that is perfectly aligned with our values. We have to select 

• -  There is no such thing as a candidate that is perfectly aligned with our values. We have to select the one that most closely aligns with our biblical values. America can change if the church will just vote and vote biblical values.
   
  • ○  Changing America is not Christian Nationalism as the opposition claim because we are not pushing for, nor will we ever have a Christian theocracy until Jesus comes again.
     
  • ○  Nothing wrong with loving our God nor loving our country.
     
  • ○  Psalm 33:12 "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord."
     
• -  [Eze 33:1-5 NKJV] 1 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, speak to the
  children of your people, and say to them: 'When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, 3 'when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, 4 'then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his [own] head. 5 'He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life.
   
  • ○  The pastor is like the watchman that sounds the trumpet to the congregation. The congregation can make their own decision; the watchman has done his job and now responsibility is in the hands of each congregant.
     
  • ○  This is important to serve as watchman because our country's trend is not good and its future must be changed. Never forget that our only hope for America is Jesus. However, He has charged us to be good stewards and, Salt and Light. Salt as an antiseptic to a decaying culture and light to shine the truth into a dark world. TO THAT END WE HAVE MORAL OBLIGATION.
     
  • ○  Political engagement is one of the ways to do this. Advocating for righteousness policies, voting for candidates that most align with our biblical values, praying for our leaders and holding them accountable, running for office.
     
  • ○  THE VACUUM WILL BE FILLED BY NON-BIBLICAL VALUES IF CHRISTIANS DO NOT GET INVOLVED WITH POLITICS. Good government cannot save us but bad government can destroy us!
    
     

• What can we do to advance the kingdom of God for the glory of God, and to stem the tide of evil in our land until Jesus comes? 

• -  Affecting public policy and staying politically engages is seen throughout the Bible.
   
  • ○  OT Moses, Elisha, Jeremia, Daniel. Confronted Kings and influenced national laws and social
    justice.
     
  • ○  NT John the Baptist unafraid to confront King Herod, Jesus weighing in on the topic of taxes.
    He was okay speaking to leaders and to the power at that time.
     
  • ○  These are all things today that would be labeled as political
     
• -  Three things to do this:
   

1. God uses flawed, sinful people. 

i. The Christian that wants to vote but can't find the candidate with the "total package" is unreasonable. What other decision in one's life are made with 100% of criteria met? 

1. 1)  Membership in church always has one or more items that each member wishes were different. The reality is that decisions are made by finding the option that mostly fits one's desires.
    
2. 2)  Marriage is another area. No spouse was chosen because of 100% met criteria. Compromises were made by both spouses to make things work for the marriage and family unit.
    
3. 3)  No perfect candidate exists and Jesus is not on the ballot.
    
4. 4)  Vote for the better person.
    
5. 5)  [Pro 14:34 NKJV] 34 Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin [is] a reproach to
   [any] people.
    
6. 6)  Policies are more important than personalities. PERSONALITIES COME AND GO
   BUT POLICIES LIVE LONG AFTER ANY PERSONALITY. 

BUT POLICIES LIVE LONG AFTER ANY PERSONALITY.
7) A nation will not thrive because of the righteousness of the leader but because 

the leader promotes righteous policies. 

1. a)  The Bible is riddled with citations where righteous leaders did unrighteous
   things and unrighteous leaders did righteous things. And God used them
   both; righteous and unrighteous to do righteous things.
    
2. b)  Stop looking at the person and look at their policies. No one is good
   except God.
    

2. Vote policies over personalities 

i. Judges
1) [Isa 1:26 NKJV] 26 I will restore your judges as at the first, And your counselors 

as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city." 

1. a)  Choosing righteous judges will bring righteousness to the land by virtue of their decisions.
    
2. b)  It is important to consider the judges and justices that the candidate will appoint.
    
3. Border security
    
   1. 1)  [Act 17:26 NKJV] 26 "And He has made from one blood every nation of men to
      dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,..." Protection and guarding borders is important and biblical.
       
   2. 2)  [Zec 7:10 NKJV] 10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, The alien or the poor. Let none of you plan evil in his heart Against his brother.' Right and legal country citizenship should be done rather than take advantage of those that are waiting in line to enter the country legally.
       
4. Israel
    

1) [Gen 12:3 NKJV] 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who 

curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." 

1. a)  This doesn’t mean that 100% Israel polices should be supported but we
   had better be their ally.
    
2. b)  Our politicians should not cozy up with Israel's enemies. No daylight
   should exist between US and Israel.
    
3. Religious liberty
   1) [Exo 20:3 NKJV] 3 "You shall have no other gods before Me.
   2) 613 OT laws, summarized in 10 commandments, and the first is Exo 20:30 called
   the "conscience clause." Supreme authority of God prevents me from bowing down or giving loyalty to anything else. Simple question then becomes who will defend our exercising this clause through the religious freedom found in the 1st amendment.
    
   1. a)  No forcing doctors to perform abortion against their beliefs.
       
   2. b)  Cakemakers, photographers, and graphic designers are not forced to
      create product for potential customers that are against their biblical
      values.
       
   3. c)  Companies are not forced to offer health care programs that include
      abortion type drugs.
       
   4. d)  Christians that object to taking shot on religious grounds will not lose their
      jobs.
       
4. Biological sex
    

1) [Gen 1:27 NKJV] 27 So God created man in His [own] image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 

a) God assigns biological sex in the womb and we don’t get to decide if we want to be a different gender. Doing otherwise contributes to unchecked mental illness instead of helping to understand the beautiful design that mental illness instead of helping to understand the beautiful design that 

God created them to be. 

1. b)  Booker T. Washington. "A lie doesn’t become truth, wrong doesn’t
   become right, and evil doesn’t become good because it is accepted by a
   majority"
    
2. c)  14 states have transgender shield laws. Among them is Minnesota where
   Governor Waltz signed legislation to make them a trans refuge state. If a minor child is unable to obtain gender affirming care because one or both parents object, the Minnesota law allows courts to have "temporary emergency jurisdiction over the child".
    
3. d)  This is led to males competing in girls' sport and entering their bathrooms and locker rooms stealing much from the female and their Title 9 rights.
    

vi. Family
1) [Psa 127:3 NKJV] 3 Behold, children [are] a heritage from the LORD, The fruit of 

the womb [is] a reward.
a) Parental rights have been incrementally stripped and must be fought for. b) Children are targets of evil progressive agendas.
c) God has entrusted children to our care and not that of the state. They 

ultimately belong to God and He has entrusted them to us.
d) We had better fight for and do a good job of keeping what God has 

intended for us. 

vii. Life
1) [Act 3:15 NKJV] 15 "and killed the Prince "Author" of life, whom God raised from 

the dead, of which we are witnesses.
[Pro 6:16-17 NKJV]
These six things the LORD hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
17 A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, 

1. a)  Which candidate with protect life? Unfortunately a real pro-life candidate does not exist in the current election.
    
2. b)  Trump's statement of abortions okay up to 15 weeks only is a sham. 95% of all abortions occur within the 15 week period. This is effectively saying that that they are for killing babies just a little bit less than the other person. Trump has stripped the words in the Republican platform for a strong pro-life stance. 2016-2020 platform contained 1,300 pro-life words. It has now been pared down to only 90 words.
    
3. c)  The Republican party's abortion stance today is the same as that of the Democrats of 30 years ago essentially becoming the Democratic party of 30 years ago on the abortion topic.
    
4. d)  Democratic party is worse. Mobile abortion clinic was available outside this year's convention for any wanted abortions.
    
5. e)  "Those who murder the unborn cannot be trusted to govern the born" Seth Gruber.
    

3. Voting is not just a right, it's a duty.
i. The faithful and evil servant (Matt 24:42-51) 

1. 1)  God has trusted us with our country and government until He returns. What are we going to do what He has entrusted with us?
    
2. 2)  Every election has been about the lesser of two evils and we have to decide what can be done for the kingdom and glory of God and stem the tide of evil until Jesus comes. If we do nothing, evil will rush in and fill the vacuum. That is why it is incumbent on every one of us Christians to be engaged.
    
3. 3)  You may have to hold your nose when you vote but the alternative (not voting) is far worse.
    
4. 4)  90 million self-proclaimed evangelicals are eligible to vote, 40 million of those
    

1. 4)  90 million self-proclaimed evangelicals are eligible to vote, 40 million of those do not vote, 15 million are not even registered to vote. That means that 55 million or 61% of self-proclaimed Evangelical Christians do not vote.
    
2. 5)  We have nobody to blame except ourselves for the unrighteousness of this nation.
    

Closing: 

• -  Fredrick Douglass; "I will unite with anyone to do right and no one to do wrong."
   
• -  WWII US joined forces with a bad guy named Stalin to defeat a worse guy named Hitler.
   
• -  Sometimes we need to do things that are not the best in order to defeat the worse.
   
• -  Hitler to German Church proclaimed to them that he would take care of them. Bonhoffer
  challenged Hitler, while other clergy stepped back, "we are not concerned for the church because Jesus Christ will take care of His church, we are concerned for the soul of Germany." Hitler responded that the Church need not care for soul of Germany because he (Hitler) will take care of the soul of Germany.
   
• -  GOVERNMENT IS NOT THE ANSWER FOR THE SOUL OF THE NATION; JESUS IS!
   
• -  Until Jesus comes:
   
  • ○  Get out and vote
     
  • ○  Be His ambassadors
     
  • ○  Be Salt and Light in this world and
     
  • ○  Advance the kingdom of God for the glory of God to stem the tide of evil in our land until
    Jesus comes
     
  • ○  Let our voices be heard
     
  • ○  Let your votes be counted
     
  • ○  Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered
     

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