II Timothy 2:15, "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

“I’m All In.”

November 8, 2020 / Pastor Greg Temke

“THE ‘I’ SERIES.” Luke 5:12b-13

“Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”

Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, ‘I am willing; be cleansed.’ Immediately the leprosy left him.”

“I’M ALL IN.”

Text: I Timothy 6:17-21

God is intently interested in the needs of our lives.

God has said: “I WILL BE WITH YOU.” “I will never leave.”

“I will give you power.” “I will help you, I will uphold you by my righteous hand.”

Matthew 28:20-I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

John 6:37-All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will [a]by no means cast out.”

-I love my country, but I love God more than I love my country.

-There are people who profess a certain level of knowledge. Many people today believe that knowledge replaces wisdom and experience.

Paul pointedly delivers a guarded correction of sorts:

“You have become wise in your own eyes.”

To think we can take a finite mind to understand an infinite God is absurd. We need the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to understand what God needs to tell us.

-The scripture carefully tells us about our desire to raise yourself up. Be very careful about trying to share your own praise.

When try to raise yourself up…..then you will usually go down.

ILLUS.:2 Weeks ago when Pope Francis publicly endorsed civil unions in the LGBTQ community, he consequentially has enabled a forward motion of the end-time agenda of the AC.

-How problematic for Faithful Catholics that do love God, to hear their leader make such a statement.

-In my opinion Pope Frances would be an excellent candidate for the false prophet.

-The False Prophet gives power, nascency to the Anti-Christ.

-Globalism is the mantra of the Anti-Christ.

-Americanism is the ideology of our founding fathers.

Globalism is the political agenda of the Anti-Christ.

Revelation 17 deals with the religious system.

Revelation 18 with the political system.

Communism, Marxism, and Socialism are ideologies that promote an anti-American and Anti-Christ Spirit.

Globalism was in full display in our recent election.

It impacted our election process and it will impact our biblical values if we are not careful.

There are certain new realities exist about our political parties that directly impact our Christian faith.

-Our recent election cycle has witnessed a lot of strong opinions, rhetoric, and innuendos.

-Much of it-frankly is embarrassing to the rest of the civilized world.

-The last 6 months cast our recent election process in a very dire light.

-We have found ourselves as part of a society that is at the precipice of great change.

-I cannot and have not told you who to vote for-that is a violation of the Hyde Amendment. I do hope that you did vote.

That is our greatest RIGHT as an American in a Free Society-

At least for the time being.

ILLUS.: Prophecies about Trump

Before any gets nervous, I am going to talk about our faith and how our faith should supersede any political affiliation or any dedication to a person. We are going to talk about what God expects of us, and what God doesn’t expect of us.

www.frcaction.org

1.WHAT IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY BEFORE GOD.

What does God ask of us?

My allegiance is not to a particular party, but rather to the truth of God. The stakes that are involved far transcend politics.

A. The election outcome doesn’t change how we stand for truth.

The vitriol and animosity of social media, politics, and the violence that has taken over America’s cities has a far deeper root than simply

“Antiestablishment-disentarianism.”

Arch Bishop Fulton Sheen

“The basic struggle today is not between individualism and collectivism, free enterprise and socialism, democracy and dictatorship. These are only the superficial manifestations of a deeper struggle which is moral and spiritual and involves above all else whether man shall exist for the state, or the state for man and whether freedom is of the spirit or a concession of a materialized society.”

POINT: The problems that plague our nation are first and foremost a

MORAL & SPIRITUAL STRUGGLE.

We as God’s people are children of God the Father.

We are children of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I John 3:1, “ Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of [a]God! “

We are first Christians. We are first believers that worship together. We are Bible readers. We are word people first. We are 2nd Americans.

God expects that Christians to put political persuasions somewhere farther down the line.

It appears that former Vice President Joe Biden will become the 46th president of the United States on Jan. 20 unless President Trump succeeds in legal challenges to the counting of votes in several states. For millions of Christians across our nation, this is a bitter pill to swallow.

President Trump’s strong policies on life and religious liberty would have seemed, from our vantage point, to be a better path for our country’s future. Many of you may be asking: What is God doing in this outcome? Why would He allow this to happen?

Declaration of Independence OI: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Daniel 2:21, “It is God who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings.”

Human governments and rulers change at God’s direction and design. Our faith and our salvation does not lie in any human ruler, but in the ruler of rulers, the King of kings.

We have to remember that even though the occupant of the White House is changing, the One who occupies the throne of Heaven hasn’t changed.

The fact that God has established authorities means that by obeying the government, we obey God.

The Apostle Paul: “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” (Romans 13:1).

B. We should pray for Joe Biden.

Paul also told us to pray “for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions” (1 Timothy 2:1-2).

Now, it’s always easier to submit and to pray for someone when he was our preferred candidate. But the rubber really meets the road when the person who takes office is not the one we supported.

Paul didn’t give us any wiggle room — his command applies all the same, whether the emperor was the faith-friendly Constantine or the evil emperor Nero.

Here is our chance to show that Christians are not hypocrites.

We serve a God who remains on His throne, sovereignly reigning over every square inch of this vast universe. We serve a God who loves us and will never leave or forsake us. And now we have the chance to show the consistency and constancy/ of our Christian witness to this world.

C. We should also rejoice in the Lord.

Psalm 118:24, “This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.” 

“This is the day” includes Saturdays, Post-Election days, final-exam days, surgery days, tax days, sending-your-firstborn-off-to-college days, burying your loved one days, bankruptcy days, helpless days, trouble-filled days.

God made this day. He knows the details of each wrenching moment. He isn’t on holiday. He still holds the conductor’s baton, sits in the cockpit, and occupies the universe’s only throne. 

“We will rejoice and be glad in it!”

Oops, there’s a word we’d like to edit: in. Perhaps we could swap it for after? Or through, or over.

‘I’ll rejoice when this day ends!’

Paul rejoiced in prison. David wrote psalms in the wilderness; Paul and Silas sang in jail; the Hebrew children remained resolute in the fiery furnace; John saw Heaven in his exile, and Jesus prayed in the garden of pain.

We no longer have yesterday. It slipped away as you slept. We don’t yet have tomorrow. We can’t spend its money, celebrate its achievements or resolve its riddles. 

Days are bite-sized portions of life: 84,000 heartbeats, 1,440 minutes, a rotation of the earth, a sunrise and sunset, a gift of 24 unlived, unexplored hours. And if you can stack one good day on another, you’ll link together a good life. 

“This is the day”, live in it. Seize the moment! Live in the present! Take a moment and ask yourself, “Is this how I live?” If not, make some changes! 

-When Joe Biden becomes president, we should commend him for the things he does right.

-We should condemn the things he does wrong. And above all, we must pray fervently for our president.

If President Biden succeeds, we all succeed.

May God bless Joe Biden, and may God bless the United States of America.

2. WHAT OUR RESPONSIBILITY BEFORE GOD IS NOT.

There are powerful forces at work in the main stream media, government and the silicon valley technocracy that are working aggressively to silence the church, through legislation, lies, intimidation and censorship.

Bill Of Rights: 3rd Article: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Ever since the 1st century the church has operated from the TOUCHSTONE of the HOLY SCRIPTURE.

The Bible gives us an array of founding principles regarding our moral, civic and Christian responsibilities.

It is not easy to sift through the issues of politics.

Some of these issues are more important than others.

Everyone makes a decision how they do life, and how they do family.

We will respectfully disagree, but it is important that we understand our obligation to love truth, above our personal opinion. To love God above political jargon.

There are many issues like: Economy, taxation, immigration, national defense, trade, health care, climate change, religious liberty and so on.

Don’t get side-tracked by the politics. There are much more weightier issues, upon which we as Christians must not disagree.

Issues that non-negotiable values:

-Sanctity of Life: Conception thru death.

-Sanctity of marriage: The union of a man and woman in marriage.

-Preservation of Religious Liberty which includes the freedom to worship and the freedom to preach the gospel as we believe the Bible tells us to.

As Christians we must live in such a way, that our conscious does not offend how we uphold these non-negotiable values.

There are other issues that are important, but as a society and as a church these issues (Life, Marriage, Religious Liberty) are much more weightier and should carry a much stronger conviction.

POINT: In the face of ethical and unalienable demands, what is at stake in our society is the essence of what we believe to be moral, righteous and biblically based.

With the apparent win of Joe Biden, we have a president that we must pray for, and we have a president that stands very obstinately against the values of the word of God. (Along with the democratic party).

CHURCHES MUST ADAPT AND EMBRACE CHRIST CENTRIC VALUES THAT EXTEND TO EVERY PART OF LIFE.

“At all times and in all places the church should have the true freedom to teach the faith and proclaim its teaching about society, and to carry out its task without hindrance and to pass moral judgement in matters relating to politics, whenever the fundamental right of man or the salvation of souls requires it.”

 

The church has to have the authority to call right – right and wrong – wrong. My authority rests upon the writings of scripture, not the latest opinion poll.

A. GOD DOES NOT EXPECT US TO SUPPORT ABORTION.

Joe Biden is Unashamedly Pro-Abortion.

-He has a long voting record, his very public support of groups like planned parenthood and Naral.

-The democratic party‘s platform in this election and past elections support abortion for any reason and no reason, right up to even beyond the moment of birth.

-He and they have opposed the effort to provide medical assistance to babies who amazingly survived the abortion, but rather let babies die outside the womb with no care.

-He and they are pushing for the repeal of The Hyde Amendment which would push taxpayers like you and me to fund abortions.

-His positions on euthanasia, physician assisted suicide and embryonic stem cell research….has cast the democratic party as the party of death.

-Potential President Joe Biden is their standard bearer.

-Or to quote Joe Biden from the 1st Democratic debate:

“I am the democratic party.”

 

B. God does not expect us to support a different definition of marriage.

Joe Biden Opposes the Bible’s teaching on marriage.

-In 2012 Joe Biden publicly supported same sex marriage.

-He stood with Barak Obama for the repeal of DOMA.

(Defense of Marriage Act)

-His record of non-support for a biblical marriage is seen in his record for decades.

-In 2016 while he was vice-president, Joe Biden officiated the wedding ceremony of 2 men. “Proud to marry Brian and Joe at my house. Couldn’t be happier.

DOI: “Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

 

C. God does not expect us to forget about our religious freedoms.

Joe Biden and the democratic party will continue to oppose religious freedom.

ILLUS. : Democratic party is against “The Religious Freedom Restoration Act” that allows religious health care workers the freedom to decline their involvement in abortions and Church based adoption ministries that place children with heterosexual couples only.

ILLUS.: On October 13, 2020, a third grader at Simpson Central Elementary School, located in Pinola, Mississippi, was forced to remove her mask that said “Jesus Loves Me” in large pink letters across it. 9 year old Lydia Booth was ordered to remove it. Alliance Defending Freedom  has been advocating for religious liberty, the sanctity of human life, freedom of speech, and marriage and family for more than 25 years, filed a federal lawsuit November 2, 2020 on behalf of Lydia and her parents, Matthew and Jennifer Booth.

Joe Biden is also committed to the restoration of the Obama mandate to restore abortive Rx drugs and make 501-C-3 organizations provide these drugs against their religious liberty.

-That is a direct violation of their individual right and it is against scripture.

ILLUS.: Church shut-downs- I understand why it was done, but I also understand our need to worship.

D. God does not expect us to support socialism.

A Joe Biden presidency will welcome socialism.

He has sided with Bernie Sanders on key issues.

Kamala Harris is the most leftist senator in all of the US Senate.

He was silent for several months while Marxist, & Socialist organizations inflicted mayhem across America.

-The Democratic Party has become a LEFT-EXTREME GROUP.

-Why is that an issue?

For more than 200 years wherever socialism sought to gain a foothold, the church suffered.

-In France following the French revolution.

-20th century, Latin America, Hugo Chavez, Venezuela, my daughter was on a Missions trip to, communists surrounded the hotel. Our Mission’s organization had to hire the military to defend the hotel. It was a stand-off for several days.

Asia the socialists have viewed the church as an enemy to be destroyed, or at the least to be silenced and marginalized.

POINT: Socialism is a soul robbing ideology that always leads to totalitarianism where the government seeks to be the voice of God in the lives of its subservient citizens.

-For this reason socialism has been vigorously denounced by all persons of faith.

-Mob Rule is one of the chief tactics of socialism.

-We see this played out in Antifa, and defund the police movements.

-We are told Silence is violence, but in a perverse sense of irony, Joe Biden and his party reaped the benefits of several months of silence when it came to his silence on the riots and violence in America’s cities.

-Again-Joe Biden can be called out for giving AID, comfort and encouragement to those who are SOCIALISTS.

-Whether they be the demonic forces in the streets being lead by Marxists, nihilists revolutionaries or those in government office who seek to move our nation so far to the left that it is barely recognizable and openly hostile to the church.

-THEY ARE OPPOSING THE CHURCH.

E. God does not expect us to support policies that are against our Christian faith.

Joe Biden’s positions seek to subvert and weaken the Christian faith.

ILLUS.:Companies like HOBBY LOBBY would once again be targeted for the enforcement of the Obamacare mandate.

-They won in court because they were an overtly Christian company.

-Senator Kamala Harris: “The Knights of Columbus is an all-male extremist group. The Knights of Columbus are the men’s ministry in the Catholic church, and my father is a Knight.

-They are basically a men’s group that supports outreach.

-My dad is not an extremist.

-Kamala Harris called Amy Connet Barret a dangerous extremist.

-Bible believers are being labeled as out of touch. Dangerous and harmful.

ILLUS.: Thank God for a Born-Again, Tongue Talking Catholic named Amy Connet Barret, the unborn finally have a voice on the supreme court.

-The media would like us to think: “They are not that bad.”

They are just politicians. Just politicians?

-The willful destruction of 68 million babies in the womb isn’t that bad? This number includes 23 million black babies. I believe Black Babies Lives matter!

-That isn’t that bad? -WHAT COULD BE WORSE?

-President Trump was the most Pro-life president we have ever had.

-It is a hard pill to swallow knowing that our new president will staunchly support abortion.

Abortion is the pre-eminent moral issue of our day. The sanctity of marriage and religious liberty follows a close 2nd and 3rd.

-The right to life is mentioned first in the declaration of independence.

-It represents government’s most important responsibility concerning life. Don’t let anyone, from any party, from any faith tell you otherwise.

-These moral issues stem from our nation’s rejection of God’s moral law.

-This rejection has been seen in many decades of disobedience.

ARCH BISHOP FULTON SHEEN:

“A nation always gets the kind of politicians it deserves. If a time ever comes that the nation’s Jews, Christians and Catholic’s have to suffer from a totalitarian state which would deny them the right to worship God according to their conscious, it would be because for years they thought it made no difference what kind of people represented them, and because they abandoned the spiritual for the temporal.”

-No one person has the answer to America’s problems.

-No party has the answer to America’s issues.

-Only God is the answer. That is a statement of HOPE.

-Christians do not have the right to despair. Why?

 

Because Christ is risen. We have HOPE.

-We are called to be salt and light.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Remember what God has done for you.

God did it all. God who never sinned has forgiven you and I, and we want to reserve the right to not forgive others when we have been totally forgiven.

-God is all about forgiving people who do not deserve it, and giving them chances they never had so they could become what they never could be without God’s grace.

-Do not allow anger to paralyze you as a Christian.

GRACE: Grace means that you can quit feeling inadequate. You’re not perfect, and you’ll never be in this life. You need God’s grace to think of your life, your circumstances, everything around you as God does. … God’s grace is sufficient for every moment of every day. HIS GRACE = FORGIVENESS

 

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