Election 2016: Lessons Learned

Hello again. Thank you, Dave. Very nicely done. And congregation. Well, yesterday, I did something that I've never done before, and that is actually tune in to the inauguration. I guess I never felt compelled to do it before. I didn't really feel compelled yesterday, but I guess this past election season was so controversial, but I just wanted to see how it all turned out. And I'll have to say I was impressed with the pageantry and everything that I saw going on in there.

And America and Britain do do it right. When there is some pomp and circumstance to be done, it's kind of nice to see everything that goes on in that regard. And I listened to some of the speeches, and I listened to the things that were there, and I thought it was a day that was, as opposed to everything we've been hearing in the last year, kind of a day that everyone seemed to be unified. And I thought that was kind of nice. I saw some pictures on the news later on in the evening about Democrats and Republicans being together, and I thought, wow, I wonder how long this will last.

Monday, when we get back, will the news return to its old way? But it's at least nice that for one day, one day, everyone seemed to get along together and enjoy each other's company. But you know, I couldn't help but think, as I watched and saw the culmination of what we've been listening to on the news for the last year, that there has been a lot go on this past year.

You know, I've heard many times, you've heard it too, as you've listened to the news, this has never happened before. This is something we've never seen before. And in many ways, the news commentators in that respect are correct, because there are things that we listened to and things that we became aware of, and the way things were presented that perhaps in our lifetimes, we've never seen them happen before. And I was reflecting on some of that and some of the things that we've been exposed to and some of the ways things have been presented.

And there's a lot we can learn. There's a lot we can learn from the last six months that we've lived through. A lot of things that we can learn to maybe be sure that we avoid. Because one thing we know for sure is that, you know, the media does shape a lot of people's thoughts.

You know, we listen to the news, we tune into the Internet, we are fed with various attitudes, we are fed with various things, no matter how old we are, and certainly for our young children who watch what's going on with the adults of the world, there were some strong messages that went out to the United States and to us.

Things that are not so good that as Christians we would be well reminded that we don't conduct ourselves that way. And things that our children should be reminded of. Because America and what we saw in this campaign, it was to another degree over what we've seen in the past. And I want to talk about some of those things today, some of the lessons that we would learn from election 2016.

Because in it we will find some things, the differences, a growing difference between the people of God and the people of this society. And God called us to be in the world, Jesus Christ made that clear, but we're never to be part of the world. And what we see in the world around us, and as we see that gulf between God's way of life and American way of life, or at least the American way of life that the media and maybe some candidates, the candidates would talk about, we have to be aware of what is going on. Media certainly has an influence, we're reminded of Ephesians 2,2, where it says, Satan is the prince of the power of the air.

And certainly, as we look at our time now, we would have to say, absolutely, Satan is the prince of the power of the air. The attitudes, the opinions, the way things are presented are certainly in a way different than they have been in the past.

We're also aware of the fact that our leaders have on us, because, you know, if we look back over the last ten years, America's a far different place in terms of its morality than it was ten years ago, maybe even seven, eight, nine, five, six, seven years ago. You know, if someone had told me ten years ago that the law of the land would approve and sanction same-sex marriage, I don't know that I would have believed it.

I would have thought, no, I don't think that can happen. It doesn't seem that that's realistic. If someone had told me five years ago that our media would be talking about transgender issues and about bathroom rights, I would have scratched my head and wondered, what? I mean, that's not even on the scale, right?

I mean, of anything that we would be talking about. And yet, we've seen our news consumed with those type things, and we see even our national leaders involved in those things and championing things that are so against what even regular human life is like and what the laws of nature have been back from time immemorial. Now, we're reminded, too, that people follow their leaders, because you look in the Bible and you can see, when righteous kings ruled, like David and Josiah and Hezekiah, the people followed God.

But even in the matter of the very next king taking office that would turn against God, the people followed them. Not every single one of them, but we're reminded that people can follow, that we people do follow. And people listen to what's going on around them. And all too often, I suppose, that can even find its way into the church if we're not cautious of what we're doing, cautious of what we're learning, and reminding ourselves of who we are, what standards we live by, and to be discerning the good from the evil and the proper way of life and the proper attitudes from the improper attitudes we see.

So today, I want to talk about six things, looking back over the election, that we might want to take note of and see where our attitudes are. Learn what the Bible has to say so that we are living not in the way of the world, that we're not allowing our minds to become permeated or saturated, or even think that it's okay to live in these ways or have these attitudes, but things that we would do in accordance with God's way.

And perhaps, as we look at these six items, we'll see a little bit of prophecy, a little bit of things that would portend what's coming down the road for us as we look down the age and realize that Jesus Christ will return, and when He returns, He's going to return to a troubled world, a lawless world, a world that will be thoroughly deceived. And if we don't know the truth, and if we don't live the truth, we can be deceived right along with it.

So the first point I have is attitudes that we saw in the election that we would want to be aware of. What we saw that marked it in my mind as I think back over it, we saw a lot of accusations, we saw a lot of name-calling, we saw a lot of imputed motives, we even saw some character assassination or attempted character assassination. As opposed to being a campaign that was based on policy, it seemed to be a campaign on who can dig up the most dirt, what can I accuse you of, what motive can I impugn to you, and can I cast doubt on you as a person and maybe even not even get to the point where people don't even want to have anything to do with you down the road, as opposed to me just winning.

Well, I would think we would all know that those attitudes, that permeates society not just, not just in the last six months because we see it, we've seen it happening for a long time. Some of the more popular shows on television are the gossip shows, right? You tell me what's going on with this celebrity, we'll give you the salacious little details about it. And people are glued to that. They want to hear the dirt. They want to hear the things that are so tantalizing and so interesting. We have papers that are dedicated to just that, the TV station that's dedicated to just that.

And the political landscape became dotted with that as well. You know, we always need to remember how Satan operates. And that Satan is never a cheerleader for the people of God. He is always looking to see what he can do to the people of God and accuse them of it. Let's go back to Job. Job, we've been looking at the book of Job here. If you've been going through the study sheets, by the way, we'll get you another study sheet on Chapter 5 through 8 here out by Monday. But looking at Job, we see in Chapter 1 how Satan operates.

He operated that way then. He operates this way now. In Verse 6, well, you'll remember Job as you read through it. Job was a righteous man. He didn't do anything to deserve what befell him. God called him blameless, upright, a man who shunned evil, a man who feared God. But in Verse 6, we find Satan approaching God. It says, Satan wasn't out looking for good. He was looking out to see what he could do, what he could find, what he could do, because there are certain things that Satan does. God said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job? There's none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil. High praise. High praise for any of us who be here. God say that about us. Awesome. But Satan does what Satan does. He tries to cast doubt on Job's motives. Really? Well, maybe Job follows you and worships you, God, for a reason. Look at his life. He's blessed in all areas. He's got a nice family. He's got lots of material wealth. He's well known in the East. He's a man who you'll put a hedge around. You protect him on every side. Why wouldn't he worship you? But, Satan says, just touch him. Touch him and take away. Take away some of those things and let's see what happens to him. God listens to Satan. God allows Satan to do that. To test what's in Job's heart. But I want you to pay attention. What does Satan do? What's the attitude he projects? Oh, there's a reason they do this. It's not that they really love you. It's because of what you do for them. Take away what you do for them and Job will curse you.

But you know the story. Job didn't. At the end of chapter 1, it says, he didn't sin in his lips. He didn't curse God. Instead, he worshiped him. And Satan's back another time. And God says, did you see what Job did? He didn't curse me. We touched him in ways you never even thought possible. He experienced every single thing that could happen in his life more than any of us have ever experienced. Satan says, well, okay, fine. But you didn't physically hurt him. He didn't experience any personal pain. If we give him some personal pain, then he'll curse you. Because you know what? Flesh means a lot. And if we hurt, we won't trust God. God gives him permission to do that. Job is afflicted bitterly. He doesn't. But the point is, Satan, the attitude he has, what he does is, he imputes motives. If you hear people saying, they do this because this. Don't think that they're really who they are or who you think they are. They're only doing this because of whatever. Wow, we better stop. We better take notice of what we're thinking because that's not an attitude of God at all. That's an attitude that's espoused by Satan. That's an attitude that's espoused through the airwaves. We heard it for the last six months. If we ever hear accusations about people. Because Satan throws out accusations left and right. He's always accusing the brethren. Let's go back to Revelation 12, verse 10. It happens now. It's happened back through all of the time of man's time on earth. It happened even before man's time on earth. There's a way that Satan got those third of the angels to follow him. He was always casting doubt on God and God's motive. He was always accusing God of something. He was always making himself look like he was the one to follow. And that they should forget what God had done. Back in Revelation 12, verse 10. Speaking of a time yet ahead of us, it says, I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ have come, For the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. That's what Satan does. Accuse.

If you look up the word devil, the word devil, what it means in the Hebrew is accuser, slanderer. God calls things, calls beings what they are. Accuser and slanderer. That's what he does. And what he would like you and I to become is that. And through the airwaves. We've heard an awfully lot of accusations. We've heard an awfully lot of slandering, attempts to destroy someone's character and to turn people against people, just the way Satan would have us turn against God and just the way he had his demons turn against God. Back in Isaiah, Isaiah 58, Isaiah 58 speaks about fasting and the type of fast that God appreciates. We're looking to him to remove the yoke of bondage and sin on us and to show us where our faults lie rather than fasting that God will open the eyes of other people so that they may see their faults. In Isaiah 58 and in verse 9, verse 6, you see God says, this is the fast that I have chosen. He goes through some verses there. In verse 9 it says, then when you do this, then you shall call and the eternal will answer. You will cry and he will say, here I am, if, if you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and if you take away speaking wickedness.

Don't point the finger at someone else. Don't say, he did this. I know the reason he did this. This is what he's all about. I heard this. I'm going to take it from this and make sure everyone knows who he is and what he's done. Don't speak wickedness. Don't be one who's an accuser. Don't follow the example of the world and young people who hear these things. Don't you become like that.

You know, God, God pretty much in the example of Miriam and Aaron. You remember back in Numbers 12, and they were speaking against Moses and they had some issues with his wife and who he married. And that led to, and who does Moses think he is anyway? Why are we following him? You remember, you remember the pronouncement of God when he called Miriam and Aaron to account and he said, you don't accuse, you don't speak against people that way. And Miriam had to undergo through a time of leprosy. So she got the message. I think both of them learned, don't fall into what Satan does.

You don't become an accuser of the brethren. You don't fall into that. You don't find that to be the way you get your entertainment and the things that you enjoy doing is by hearing the juicy gossip and everything that goes along with that. And I guess, I guess, you know, one of the things that comes about from people talking about each other and maybe honing in on one person and thinking about them is that it takes its form and becomes something a lot more than just maybe an entertaining type of thing to do that we think is innocent.

It could become, as we saw in the campaign, almost character assassination. At the end, I think both candidates wanted us to really, really hate the other person. That after this election, we will want nothing to do with either one of them, that their reputations would forever be tarnished. And perhaps, perhaps, they've done things that deserve that. I don't know. That's for God to determine, not me.

But you know, back in Matthew 5, Jesus Christ talked about the commandments of God and He took it from the physical that we need to obey to the spiritual. In Matthew 5 and verse 21, He talks about the words that we say, or that we can say, about one another, about family members, about our neighbors, about our leaders, about anyone.

Our teachers, fellow students, or whatever it might be. Matthew 5, 21, Christ says, You've heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.

And whoever says to his brother, Acha, shall be in danger of the counsel, but whoever says you fool shall be in danger of hellfire. There are some stern words in there from Christ. Let me read to you what William Barkley in his commentary says about these verses. It says what Jesus is saying here is this. In the old days, men condemned murder, and truly murder is forever wrong. But I tell you that not only are a man's outward actions under judgment, his innermost thoughts are also under the scrutiny and the judgment of God.

Long-lasting anger is bad. Contemptuous speaking is worse. And the careless or malicious talk which destroys a man's good name is worst of all. The man who is the slave of anger, the man who speaks in the accent of contempt, the man who destroys another's good name, may never have committed a murder in action, but he is still a murderer at heart. We can do a lot of harm with words.

The media does a lot of harm with words. We heard presidential candidates, both of whom wanted to be our nation's leader, do a lot of harm with words. God says that's not us. We don't do that. We don't take the way of the world. We do what God says to do. So when you hear accusations and you tune into the news, and I have a feeling that going forward, we'll hear a lot more accusations and impugned motives and attempts to discredit whoever it is on either side of the aisle, as they say in Congress.

Listen to it, but don't let it become part of you. Don't ever let yourself think it's okay, because everyone does it. It's not okay. God's way is the way that we live.

Another thing that I think marked, at least for me, as I thought back over the election and some things that I thought were interesting to watch, was on the part of both candidates, and this isn't only in the campaign. I've noticed it before when I worked outside in another job, people's refusal to apologize. I remember thinking and watching things on TV and things that were just, you know, that looked like we were in open and shut case. Well, you know what? The way you end that is you just simply come forth and you apologize. Even if what you said you thought was right in spirit, apologize for doing it.

Don't let it continue going on. And none of the candidates did that. They didn't set a good example. None of them came forward and said, yes, I blew it. Yes, I did wrong in that case. Yes, I misspoke. There was always an excuse. There was a term, and you hear it continuing, double down. Doubling down on what you say. God's people and the mark of a Christian isn't to double down on what you say. The mark of the world is to double down on what you say.

The mark of Satan is to double down and never admit you're wrong, never apologize, never go back and try to heal any relationships. Satan, for as long as there has been a heaven and a physical earth and mankind has been on earth than before, he has never gone back to God. He doubles down on what he did. And even though it's silly when you look at it, because he knows what the end result for him is. He can't possibly beat God. His way can't possibly come over or overcome God's way. He can't possibly be the end ruler of the earth, because Jesus Christ will return and conquer him. And yet he stubbornly doubles down and keeps doing things even though he will lose.

God's people should never, ever refuse to apologize, and certainly, if we take that to the next level, to repent. When we do something wrong, or someone brings something to our attention, even if we may have been in the right and we handled it the wrong way, said the wrong words, maybe responded in anger in a way we shouldn't have, we have a God-given responsibility for Christians to apologize and to heal that.

We don't see that in the world today. I didn't see it much in the workplace. I've said it before here. Whenever I would have an employee problem, and I would bring the people in, it was always a brush of the feather to have the person say, you know what, I did it. Yeah, I did that wrong. I didn't follow through, and I thought, ah, perfect. Your, your, my opinion of level of view has just gone through the roof. But all too often it was, I didn't do that. Someone told me that. I was watching what he did. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Excuse after excuse after excuse after excuse. It was irritating, it was frustrating, and it was not at all what God would want, and it's not what he would want in the church.

Job never, if you go to the end of Job, he never tried to challenge God. When God showed him who was powerful, and Job could have in that chapter 42, if he was of the mind of the world said, you know God, you weren't justified. You weren't just, he tried to do that, right, through the intervening chapters.

But in 42, when God showed him his power, and he had the right to do anything, Job just said, I was wrong. I should have never spoken against you, I was wrong. David, when it was brought to his attention by Nathan, what he did with Bathsheba and the baby, he repented. We repent, we apologize, we heal relationships, we heal relationships with God, because unhealed relationships can lead to something far more than just a rift between people.

You know, as I was listening to some of the news things, let's go back to Proverbs 18 while I talk here. As I was listening to some of the news stories through the course of the last year, you know, I'd hear tidbits on the news, and I thought, oh, I'd make the trial. Well, you know, that was definitely the wrong thing to do.

And then I turned to another channel, and I'd hear another part of the story, and I thought, oh, well, that makes things a little clearer. Maybe it wasn't as bad as I thought, and it began early on, to dawn on me, oh, the news isn't giving me the whole story. They're giving me the things that they want to hear, to, I guess, to their opinion and mind. It's reminded me of Proverbs 18 verse 17. Proverbs 18 verse 17. The first one to plead his cause seems right until his neighbor comes and examines him.

We have to hear both sides of the story. We can't just take one side and make our determination and condemn the other side based on what one person says. That's why Christ said two or three witnesses. Listen to the whole story, get the whole story. All too often what we learned in this election is, just give the piece of information that fits your cause or backs your opinion on it. That's not at all what we should do as Christians.

And, you know, not as Christians, we should never be part of the deceitful things that would just give a part of the story to make us look good and not give the whole story. That can be pretty difficult at times when we're at fault. It's very tempting to say, well, you know, this is all you need to know right now, but maybe the whole piece needs to be done because God is about the whole truth and not just about partial truth.

We know who's about partial truth, right? That's Satan. That's not God. How did Satan get Eve to turn against God? How did Satan get Eve to turn and choose that tree of the knowledge of good and evil when she knew God, walked with God, and Adam walked with God, and then a serpent comes along and gives him part of the story?

Did God say you won't die? Yes. And Satan said, you surely won't die. Apparently what he meant, you're not going to die in the next 24 hours, but they certainly were going to die. She listened. She bit. And the course of human history was set. Not for God's people to do that. Back in Revelation 12.9, we were back in Revelation just a few minutes ago, all too often with Satan, all too often in the world, all too often in the things that we listen to, there's an intent to deceive.

An intent to deceive. I'll just give you part of the truth. I'll just make this comment to you, and we'll go the rest of the way there. Revelation 12, verse 9. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the devil, accuser, slanderer, and Satan, adversary, enemy, who deceives the whole world. Satan deceives. The people of God don't deceive. Purity of heart. Pure truth. That should be what leads us, guides us, and that's what we should seek for and strive for. And if you find yourself ever having strayed from that a little bit, and someone brings it to your attention, let me get back to my original point here that I strayed from.

Apologize. Apologize for it and make the matter right. I started to say that when we don't apologize, when we don't follow the concepts of Matthew 18.15. Now let me, you know, let's read Matthew 18.15. I didn't intend to turn there, but let's.

Matthew 18.15. Moreover, if your brother, Christ says, if your brother sins against you, if he offends you, if he does something that sets you back, something that's wrong against you, if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.

Confront it. Talk to him about it. Don't just let it simmer in your mind. Don't let it build up into the point that you're just angry and bubbling over every time you see that person or think of that event. Don't just disappear and never ever be seen again. Talk about it. There's only one way of healing. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. Then I would hope everyone in here, if someone came to them, and I would hope that I, if anyone has anything, that you would say it. Not going to get mad, not going to condemn you. Work together. And then we will be brothers again and united again.

So it goes for spouses, too. Don't be mad. Don't be bitter. Apologize. Remember who you are. Remember that God is a God of relationships, and we are to be building our relationships. Parents and child, apologize if something's gone wrong. Because of an lack of apology, it can lead to something much worse. It will lead to resentment. It will lead to bitterness. It will lead to people being separate from each other. And Hebrews 12, 15 is pretty clear that when bitterness sets in, many have become defiled. None of us want to be on that end of the equation.

We want to heal. We want to heal and not listen to the world around us that would say, Never admit you're wrong. We want to be people who follow the principles that God would say. Third thing, I noticed and I saw it on the news a little bit yesterday as well. There's a growing tendency in the country for people to rebel or refuse to submit to authority. And that's always been there, I guess, but maybe not as vocal as we've seen it in the last four or five years and as we've seen it here in the last maybe even two or three months.

People just simply refusing to submit to authority. A few months ago, I gave a sermon on the Fifth Commandment and how it needs to be taught at home and we need to teach our children respect and respect for authority begins at home. Our respect for authority begins at home and our children respect parents for who they are.

And they're taught to respect teachers and it goes on to bosses and other people that are in authority in their lives. We have a very peaceful society and the child is very happy. Rebellion never leads to happiness. Rebellion never leads to anything good. And so, you know, I know this week one of the stories was a congressman who just weren't going to go to the inauguration. And frankly, that irritated me, not because of what they were doing, but because of the example they were setting.

You know what? Their job. And our jobs, and I have to think, you know, and back to some of the bosses that I had, if I disagreed with the decision they did or disagreed with something they put into place, I said, I'm just not going to support it. I'm not going to support it. I wouldn't have lasted five seconds, nor would any of you. You would have just been shown the door. Our job is to support. Our job is to submit as long as we're not being asked to do something against God's will.

Romans 13, verse 1, Paul tells us, submit to the authorities. The authorities that are in place are of God. 1st Timothy 2 tells us, pray for the kings. Pray for the peace, because in their peace you will find peace. God gives us a pretty good example back in Jeremiah. To his people who ignored Jeremiah for so many years, and they found themselves in captivity. Let's go back to Jeremiah 29.

Jeremiah 29, verse 4. They didn't listen to Jeremiah. They didn't want to submit to God. They didn't want to do things his way. They didn't want to admit they were wrong. And they found themselves in captivity to Babylon. It wasn't a place that they wanted to be. They were serving a king that they didn't want.

Not serving a king they didn't like. Living in a land that espoused morals that they didn't like, that they didn't subscribe to. But they found themselves there, and that was a condition that they were in. Verse 4 says, these are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah. Thus says the eternal, verse 5. We have heard a voice, I'm in the wrong chapter, 29.

Verse 4. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon. Remember, whatever situation we're in, God knows. God knows exactly where we are. God knew exactly where Judah was. God knows exactly what's going on in America. He knows all these things. Whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon.

Verse 5. Build houses and dwell in them. Plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters. And take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters, that you may be increased there and not diminished. Go ahead and live your life. Don't spend your life wishing you weren't there. Don't spend your life fighting against the king.

Don't spend your life in rebellion. Live your life in the situation that God has put you in. And verse 7, seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it. For in its peace, you will have peace. We never have peace in rebellion. We never have peace in trying to force things our own way. We find peace as the people of God in submitting to authority, as submitting to God.

Never, never, when that authority tells you to sin against God or do something against his law. But living in the situation that you find in submitting to authority, submitting to your boss, submitting to the government, as long as it doesn't contradict God's way.

Young people, old people, the attitude of rebellion that you see in the world today is not of God. It is of Satan. The original rebel was Satan. He's the one who took a world, a universe that was perfectly peaceful.

For all of you, turn it up until that time, and when he rebelled, it divided them. And we have the situations that we live in today. When you hear rebellion, when you hear people resisting authority, it's not of God. That's one of the attitudes that are broadcast by Satan, because that's what he does. And it doesn't lead to anything good. Satan's rebellion hasn't led to anything good.

It never will. Except that Jesus Christ will return, and that he will establish a kingdom that will last forever and ever.

As we listen to the news, as we watch what's going on, for the last four years, eight years, I suppose, it's been Republican against Democrat. And one house will decide we're simply not doing what the other wants. We'll simply just sit back and do nothing or stall it in any way we can. And perhaps the next four years will be the same way. I don't know. May well get worse than that, because as Satan intensifies the power of the airways or his message, I don't know that I see it getting better. Rebellion, divisive attitudes, separating one for another, leads to a lot of the things that we see going on in America today. Government that won't work together, contested elections, racial tensions, name calling, all the things that we see going on around us. But people just simply will not do what they're supposed to do. Christ had some strong words about houses that became divided. Back in Mark 3, words that he would say to the world today, words that he would say to America today, words that he would say to any of us today who we might be living in a house that's divided and not healing and not coming together as one. Mark 3, verse 24, if a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

He doesn't give any kind of options there. That kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. So if we look at the world we live in, the divided world, as you listen to the media, they talk about it. It's a divided country, half and half, liberal, conservative, one for one ideal, never shall the other accept the other. A house divided itself cannot stand. A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. Some prophetic implications for a nation that will not do what it needs to do to heal itself and get back with God, and there's only one way for our homes, for our nation to come back, and that's to come together and lay down some of these things that we see so prevalent in all society around us, that we hear promoted on the media, and that we're part of every single day. We're in the world. We hear the things of the world. We can't be of the world. We can't become like them. As I speak of some of these things, these things can even find themselves into the Church of God. Paul talked about those things back in Acts 20, and he said, you know, I'm sorrowful because I know that what's going to happen down the road is, these attitudes of Satan is going to find it in your church, and right from among yourselves, there will be others who try to lead you away. And so we know there's been those who simply will not submit to authority.

People who accuse, people who slander. If I can make your name bad, it makes me look better. Not at all. Not at all the way of God. God says you discern what's going on. You discern the actions of others. You follow the way that God promotes, and you don't follow the way of Satan. And you don't let it into your midst, in your homes, in your church, in your personal lives. We all need to be warned of what God wants us to do. Fourth. Fourth thing I noted.

And you know what? I think I got ahead of myself in point two. That's how I got myself off track. My fourth point is, partial truths are also lies. And I already turned to Mount Proverbs 1817, didn't I? Hearing about the matter. Okay, we'll save ourselves some time then. Fourth point. Partial truths are the same as lies. Satan. Satan looks to see how we conceive. We cannot be deceivers. Jesus Christ is clear. He says, in the end time, there's going to be much deception. There will be all sorts of attempts to mislead you. And it says, if the elect aren't sure of themselves, they too can be deceived. It can't be deceived. We have to know the whole truth. We have to follow that truth. We have to make sure that we know God are close to Him, and that no matter what comes our way, no matter how right it seems, no matter how miraculous it may seem, that we would follow Him. Deceit can't be part of our lives. It can't be part of the Church, even though it is so big a part of the world around us. Number five. We have the acceptance and the capitulation to immoral actions and immoral lifestyles. We heard about partial birth abortions. Same-sex marriage was on the list. Transgender issues were on the list. Bathroom rights were on the list. Businesses have closed. Governors have been toppled. Because they took a stand that they didn't want that, that that wasn't part of what society should be going to. And they lost. And they lost. I remember hearing one of the candidates, when they were wondering how it would be answered, what they thought of these things that went on in the land, saying, it's the law of the land. To assume Supreme Court decided that, I didn't. And kind of excused it that way. It was an opportunity to stand up for what's right. It's an opportunity to say what the Bible says, and we're going to stand for what God says, but in the heat of an election, you kind of say what the people need you to say, if you want to get elected.

The people of God have to be clear what morality is, what the Bible says is right, and what the Bible says is wrong. It started many, many years before 2016. Premarital sex has become a byword. It's almost become kind of a way of life in America that every one of us are aware of.

Same-sex marriage are not only talked about on news, it's talked about in the TV shows. You can hardly turn on a TV show, a sitcom, or anything without seeing someone in that situation. It's almost as if people of that lifestyle are championed, even above regular people. They're seen as heroes. They're seen as people who are championing the cause, the new civil rights. I can't help but think that God looks down on a nation and people who have gone so far astray, that they don't know what the clear thing is that has been standing in humanity from the beginning of time, from the time there was man. And yet in our age, life-long, mankind-long principles are overturned. Abortion. In abortion. Back in 1972, when abortion was passed, it seemed like an awful thing. Now it's just kind of an everyday common thing. We know it's wrong, but it doesn't excite us. Maybe it does you. I know it's wrong. I'm against it. I would tell anyone I'm against it, but it doesn't create the ire that it should in me, as some of the other things do. More and more, we see our country sliding away from even the basic principles of morality. And our children can follow the same line. If we're not standing in the gap in our homes, if we're not the ones reminding and teaching what the principles of God are, and not allowing schools and TV and friends to teach us what's right, but allowing God to teach us what's right, God gives a strong command to parents to teach what is right and to insist on that in your home. He gives a strong command to all of us to insist on that in our lives, and not to compromise with the world. Live in it. Don't become part of it. Stand in the gap. Make known what you believe when you are asked. And stand for what is right. But all too often today, just the opposite is, it makes you wonder when you hear about some of the things that couldn't have even crossed minds a year or two ago, that that would ever be an issue that we were talking about in America. You have to wonder, where did that thought come from? I think we know where that thought came from. When I first heard about bathroom rights and transgender rights, I thought, are you kidding me? I could have lived from now until the day I died. That would have never entered my mind. It's never been an issue. And here it is, a news issue. Basketball tournaments are being moved because people are against it. Where does it go from here? What's next on the list? Well, prophetically, I know we're not at the end of that rope. Things will become more and more apart from God. Let's go back to Daniel 7. Daniel 7. Speaking of the end time, and the fourth beast power that will appear on the earth, it tells us some of what even lies ahead of us, even beyond the things that we've lived through in our lives. And if we could stop here and go back 20 years in time and see how we thought then and realize where we are today, I think we'd be mind-boggled. Between now and the return of Jesus Christ, I think we're going to even be more surprised what happens in the days ahead. Daniel 7 and verse 23.

The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth. And we know that's the beast of Revelation 13, the beast that will arise out of the sea. That the whole world will marvel over. The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all other kingdoms. It will devour the whole earth, trample it, and break it in pieces. It'll be a tough government, not like any of the governments we see on earth today. We talk about Russia, we talk about Putin and what his aims are. He's going to look like absolute nothing compared to what this beast power has in mind. What he wants to do, we will think, bring back those days, because his fourth power is like nothing that is on earth today. He will devour the whole earth, trample it, and break it in pieces. The ten horns are ten kings who will arise from this kingdom, and another shall rise after them. He'll be different from the first ones. He'll subdue three kings. And he'll speak pompous words against the Most High. Ah, he's not going to submit to God. He's going to rebel against him. He's going to be talking about how this Bible, this Word of God, has no place in the world today. We don't need to follow that. We'll do our own things. He will speak pompous words against the Most High, and he will persecute the saints of the Most High. He will see to it that those who disagree with him on this moral issue or that moral issue are persecuted. Because it's not enough that you just understand the position. You have to accept it. We see that in the world today. It's not enough that you would just say, you know what, not an issue with me. I don't want to talk about it. No, no, no. You need to accept it. That's going to continue more and more and more and more. He'll persecute the saints of the Most High.

Pain. Pain like Job felt, maybe. What will be our response? Will we stand by God? Or will we cave to the pressure of the world around us?

Keep your finger there in Daniel 7. Let's turn back to Matthew for a minute.

Matthew 5. The beginning of Christ's Sermon on the Mount. The first few verses are the Beatitudes.

I listened to one of the people who gave a benediction thing and he was reading, or maybe it was in the first part, I don't know. He was reading through the Beatitudes. Whatever modern translation of the Bible he had sounded far different than the Bible that we should have. And it teaches us all, read the Bible and make sure the translation that you are reading is true and gives the accurate version of what God intended. And not the watered down version that I heard on TV yesterday. But if we look at verse 11, Christ as he says, blessed are the peacemakers, blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, blessed are the merciful. And it teaches us all, read the Bible and make sure the translation that you are reading is true and gives the accurate version of what God intended. And he says in verse 11, blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. When they blaspheme you, when they accuse you, when they slander you, when your name is put out there with the intent of destroying you in any way, shape, or form because of what you believe. I haven't experienced that in my lifetime yet. It's going to happen. Society, we can see it's happening, it's going in that direction. There is a time when people will hate you simply because and they will seek to destroy you simply because of what you believe and all the tactics that we see going on. All the attitudes of Satan that are being espoused through the airwaves today that will continue to intensify will be used against us. Especially as society, to the gulf between society's way and society's law and God's law increases.

Let's go back. Let's go back to Daniel. You kept your finger in Daniel 7. I didn't, but I will find it here. Daniel 7. We read verse 25, Isn't that interesting? Times and law. We've already been changing law. The law of the land is against the law of the Bible in so many areas of morality. Going forward, more laws will be changed. As mankind thinks in his pride and in his personal superiority to God that he knows better, he'll put more laws in. The change, the very laws of nature. And that ours are blatantly against God. It's already happening. It'll happen more with this fourth-based. He'll intend to change times and law. And then the saints will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. What we see happening today is kind of one of those things that's going to continue to go on. It'll intensify in nature. We have to be aware of it. We have to make sure it doesn't become us. We have to make sure our children don't think that this is the norm, but that they know what the truth is. We have to make sure and guard our minds and hearts that we don't fall prey to society around us and think all these things are just okay.

Christ calls what's happening today. What will happen in the future? Lawlessness. All the law will be done away. All the law will be done away. In Christ says in Matthew 24, he says, because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will wax cold. Lawlessness will abound. The very laws of nature, the very laws that have described or led mankind, even basic laws, lawlessness, whatever you think is right, is okay. Time that we see happening is time that is yet ahead.

One more thing, my sixth point. The international tension that I see. The international tension, the international interference that marked the time that we were in the world that was just passed. I don't know that it will die down anytime soon, but this whole idea of Russian hacking is something that is real. I mean, it really did happen. And it really is a concern. A couple years ago, maybe last year, we did the seminar here, the local seminar we did for the public.

We talked about the types of warfare that are in the world today. And it's not just military warfare like it used to be. You know, cannon against cannon, or even nuclear weapon against nuclear weapon.

There's all sorts of warfare today. There's economic warfare. And there's certainly computer and hacking warfare. Because one of the areas that it has been shown the United States is vulnerable in is in our computer and technology areas. Russia somehow, or whoever did it, certainly was able to get in and find emails and use those for whatever advantage that they thought they should. Should be a real concern to our government, should be a real concern to us. Of something that's happening in a warfare that isn't the typical kind of warfare. You know, just last week, I think it was, or the week before this last one, I was watching the news and they showed that on C-SPAN.

For 10 minutes, somehow Russian TV appeared on C-SPAN. And they didn't know how that happened. I think we know how that happened. You know, we hear about these computer glitches where airlines are shut down and thousands of flights are cancelled and they don't know what happened to them. And they always respond, oh, it's just a glitch in our computer. Perhaps, but I have to wonder, there's a lot of activity going on in the world today.

China, we know China hacks into computers, we know North Korea has done it, we know Iran does it, we know Russia does it. There's a lot going on, and a lot of vulnerabilities on the part of America. The election brought that out, and there will be those who try to dismiss it, but it's something we should be aware of. Because it does have, perhaps, prophetic implications for down the road, something that we can look at.

See what Jesus Christ was talking about when he said, when you see the leaves on the trees, when you see those buds, know that summer is near. We see things about NATO, right? I mean, comments have been made in the last few days about NATO being obsolete, needs to fund itself. And the response from Europe has been swift. Angela Merkel was very swift when she heard those comments back a few days ago. That now is the time that Europe needs to rely on itself.

It needs to unite, and it needs to defend itself. Since World War II, Europe has depended on the United States for its defense. And that's been a pretty loyal alliance. But here, lately, we hear cracks in that alliance, and we hear it happening from our side. And Europe is responding in the only way they really can. But Europe, in the last 50 or 60 years, 70 years, hasn't really talked about uniting, except from the European Union perspective and the Commonwealth and whatever, but not militarily. But for the first time, we see some of that happening.

We look at Israel, and Israel has been in the news. Mr. McNeely, when he was here a few weeks ago, he said, Remember this UN resolution number 2334? That's the one where, apparently, the United States abstained from voting on it, and it went down to condemn Israel for a continuing building in the West Bank. And he said, watch that. And Israel has been up in arms over that.

The position of the United States, I understand, is that the two-state solution in Europe isn't going to work. Even in talk of moving the embassy from Tel Aviv, where it's always been, to Jerusalem, which would be a slap in the face to the Palestinians. Europe was swift in their response to that as well. They are going to commit to a two-state solution and separate themselves from the United States in that matter.

If we go a different way, they're staying with the position that they've had for a while. So all of a sudden, we see these splits and we see these divisions in the world that weren't there. They were there. The rudiments of them were there, but they keep growing and they keep escalating.

I think we know where the end of it is going to be, if we know the Bible at all. Let's turn back to 1 Thessalonians.

Only God knows what is going to happen. We know that the powers that be are in position, and He knows exactly what's going to happen. He knows what the actions are of humans. He knows the results and the reactions from Him. He knows the ways of Satan. He wants us to know the ways of Satan too and to be aware of them and to discern the spirits. We might, as some have asserted, see a period of resurgence in the United States. The economy may pick up. Perhaps for a while it will look like there's safety. I don't know. Maybe just the opposite will happen. But in chapter 5 of 1 Thessalonians 1, Paul says this. He says, Concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. We don't know when God is going to set in motions the final events that are going to lead to the return of Jesus Christ. We should know that. For when they say, peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes.

I've said it before, and I'll say it more. Don't ever fall prey to what the media says. Don't fall prey to what society says. Peace and safety, peace and safety. It may well happen. It may be for an extended period of time. I don't know, and neither do you. But it behooves us that we stay close to God, so it doesn't come upon us as a surprise. Verse 4, You, brethren, are not in darkness. This day should not overtake you as a thief. It will overtake us as a thief if we pay attention to the messages of the world. It will overtake us as a thief if we're not paying attention to what God says and listening to the world around us if we're becoming of the world rather than just in the world. And it'll be a pity if that happens to any of us. It'll be far more than a pity if any of us find ourselves in that situation. So I think, you know, when we look at the election just passed, there's a lot we can learn from it. There's a lot we can learn about society. They can learn a lot about where society is going, and a lot what we need to be aware of going forward, and not allowing society to have an effect on us or the way we see things, the way we perceive things, the way we talk about each other, the way we talk about bosses, the way we talk about friends, the way we talk about anythings. We should never be people who would let accusation and finger pointing enter our lives. We should never be people who are prone to deceit, who will just give a half-truth to get someone to agree with the things that you want. We should not be people who refuse to apologize. We should not be people who refuse to heal the wounds when it's in our power to do those. God wants peacemakers. Now we should never be people who succumb to the thoughts and the ideals of the world around us. We should know what the Bible says, and no matter what society throws at us, we stand for what God believes and not what society says is right, because it's what God says is right that is right. A lot we can learn. Let's close in Philippians. Philippians 2.

Philippians 2.

Paul's words, I think, sum up. Sum this up very well. Philippians 2, verse 12.

He was writing to the church of Philippi. It's writing to us. It's the same words we would say to you. 12, verse 12. Therefore am I beloved. As you've always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you, both to will and to do for his good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.