Who Will You Elect?

Well, you know, it'd be an understatement, you know, to say that there's a lot going on in the world today. Excuse me. You know, we could go through a list of things that are there and the news anymore is never boring. It's always got something in it and, you know, there's common themes. Of course, the COVID crisis, coronavirus, it's still there front and center. It's nice to see that the cases are going down and the number of deaths are going down.

It's still with us, though, and will be with us for some time. You know, we have another senseless act in Kenosha, Wisconsin that has dominated the news. Not the first time that we've seen something like that. Not the first time that we've seen the reaction to it. It's becoming almost too commonplace in America to see these things happen and then the reactions that are not at all lawful at all, but we see ourselves in a time where violence marks the earth, where people protest by committing other crimes as well, and it's becoming a mark of the land, just as much as these senseless acts that promote or that prompt these things on earth.

And, of course, we've had the presidential campaigns here the last couple weeks with the Democrats and Republicans rolling out their platforms and rolling out their campaigns and nominating their presidents and all the show that goes along with that. And you've probably seen the snippets of all those things, and both candidates believe they're the best one to lead the country forward. Both candidates can espouse their past in the midst of a country and a nation in a world that really hasn't changed a whole lot over the last several years.

It still has the same problems and they just seem to get worse and worse and worse. But you've seen that occur, you've listened to what they have to say, and perhaps some of us, as we listen to some of those things, we find ourselves leaning one way or the other. We learn that the answer to any of the world's problems is not in mankind, it's not in one party, it's not in one candidate.

As things go on, everything will stay the same. And I hope as we're going through this, we might find ourselves motivated to do something and thinking we have to become part of the process. I just caution us all to remember, we are citizens of the kingdom of God. We're not here to be part of this world.

We know that the only answer to this world's problems are Jesus Christ returning. It's not in this party or that party or this man or that man. It's only in his return. And you and I were called to make our calling an election sure, to be sure that we are following God because that's where the future lies and that's what's best for all of mankind. I want to open here today in Matthew 16.

Scripture that we've talked about a few times, but I think it bears going back to to remind us because as Jesus Christ began his church and said that on that rock, him, the church will be built. There was this incident that occurred right after that as Jesus Christ is walking with the disciples and it's instructive to us.

In Matthew 16 and verse 21, after Jesus Christ told them that he was going to begin his church and had been revealed to them that he was the Son of God, it says, from that time Jesus began to show to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised the third day. That was the plan. That was the plan of God set from before the foundation of the earth.

That was what was going to happen. Peter, you know, picked up on what he was saying, you know, said, took him aside, took Christ aside, and began to rebuke him, saying, far be it from you, Lord, this shall not happen to you. Again, you know, we look at that first and we think, we can understand what Peter is saying. We would say the same thing, no, I don't want you to die. I don't want any harm to come to you. But Christ's words are striking, you know. Striking when you look at what he said, he turned to and said to Peter, get behind me, Satan.

You are in offense to me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men. You know, Peter's heart was right. But Peter, Jesus Christ was instructing him, don't be wishing against the will of God. This is the will of God, that I will die, that I will be raised the third day.

It sounds awful, I'm gonna suffer, but that's the will of God. Don't be on the wrong side of the will of God. He is in control, the plan will go as it is, and we need to keep that in mind as we might get involved and excited by the things of the world and have this or that. Don't get involved in the things of the world. God is in charge, whoever he wants in office will be in office.

We don't want to find ourselves voting against God's will, because we don't know what God's will is. We can kind of imagine, we can talk, we can speculate and say, well if this happens this, if that happens this, you know whatever happens, it's God's will.

We need to keep that in mind of who we are, what God has called us to. You've probably heard so many times in sound bites over the last few days, this is the most important election in US history. Both sides are saying it, right? This is a crossroads. We are either going to go one way or another way. Most important election in history, and in a way I believe it. In a way I believe it when I look at what, you know, what is both sides are saying and what is going on, and it may well be the most important election in US history.

Doesn't mean we go in and put ours, our, you know, our ideas in there. We can look at this, we can, you know, I look at as entertainment, you know, a lot to watch what's going on and to just see what's happening, but it will be God's will. But it is the most important election in history. You know, you and I shouldn't be participating in that, but you know what? We have an important, the most important election in our history going on right now.

You and I. You know, there are, there are powers in the world and there are exactly two powers in the world. You and I know well and well one of them, and we know well the other one. And one of the rulers of this world called the God of this world in 2nd Corinthians 4 verse 4, he's been in power for 6,000 years.

And there's another power that you and I have been called to, who is, who would come to earth and fix, saying he can fix all the problems, he can make it the way it needs to be. And you and I, who have had God's calling, who were told, you know, we are the elect, or we should be working toward being the elect, that we should be making our calling and election sure, we have a choice far more important than who wins this election coming up on November 3rd. That's God's will. But it is our, it is in our domain to choose who will rule, who will we choose to have rule over us, who will we choose by the actions in our lives and what we do, what we do from here until the time.

Will we choose the incumbent that's been here for 6,000 years, and we see the West, the world is in us today? Or will we get behind the one that we know and we're told can make everything right for all of mankind, not just in one nation, not just one group, not one ethnicity over another, but for all of mankind equally. And so for us, you know, the election, the choice, what we do in our lives and what we do, you know, is important for us, not just for the next four years, but for eternity.

For eternity. Because the choice we make will stick with us forever. Who will we follow? Who will we select? Who will we choose? Who, if we can use the modern term going around, who will we elect in our lives? So today I want to kind of lay out a campaign for you, right? We got the two candidates. I'm going to propose that we choose an enthusiastically-gippet that you and I have before us is better equipped to do that. We look at security, national security, global security, you know. Foreign policy is always something. Who can keep us safe? The responsibility of a leader is to keep his people safe.

To keep them, you know, on a secure boat. Which candidate? Which candidate would that be? You know, we have to look at the character of the leader as well. You know, character becomes more of an issue over the last couple of elections, I think, than even before. Although it's always been there as you look back in history. Who is the person, because you want to elect someone that has the right character? That's, you know, that's honest, that's truthful, that you can rely on. That isn't just feeding you a bill of goods, but have something else in mind.

You know, that along with that would be, are they compassionate? Do they care for the people? Are they there because they want to help people? Are they there for themselves and to enrich themselves and and to make them great? You know, what is their platform is what they call it. What is their plan? Does their plan make sense? When you look forward, I say, yes, I can get behind that. I can get behind that platform. It leads to where I want to go. You know, they want, you look at fairness and government and the involvement of government.

And of course, today, you know, down at the list of the top seven is environmental issues. As people are aware, what happens to us who have, you know, insurance, who have ever had medical bills and whatever. I mean, we have affordability sometimes of health care, you know, but everyone needs it. It seems like with all the research, disease and cardiac concerns, it's still there. It's one of the leading causes of death. You know, God said at the time, He brought Israel out of Egypt.

If you'll do what I will ask you to do, none of the diseases of Egypt will be upon you. And we look back and we see, you know, there was cancer in Egypt, there was heart disease in Egypt, there was diabetes, there was inflammation.

There were all these things that were there today. So, has the current God of this world solved the problem of health care? Are we better off under His domain? Are we a healthier people? Are we a happier people? Emotionally as well as physically. You know, we can even, we can talk about emotionally, right? Because as time has gone on, look at where the world has been.

More people are depressed today in a time where we have plenty, or at least a lot of people have plenty. You know, antidepressant drugs, other things that are on the market have just skyrocketed. Drugs, etc., that we have. Do we have to have people investing their life savings, even becoming bankrupt, because they have to put all their trust and buy these medicines, do these things to get well? Or can they put their faith in the King?

The King of the earth who can make it all well? And He's already shown that He can do it. Let's go back to Psalm 103.

Psalm 103. You know, here in the first few verses of Psalm 103, David who, David who chose God to be his king, he followed him and not the God of this world in his lifetime, the same opportunity that you and I have to do. He says in Psalm 103, verse 1, Bless the Lord, O my soul, all that is within me, bless His holy name.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and don't forget His benefits. He forgives your iniquities. He heals your diseases. He redeems your life from destruction. As we look at the world around us today, how many lives are in destruction because they're wracked, you know, wracked with disease, wracked with pain, even having financial difficulties because they just can't afford anything else except to pay for medicines. How many trillions of dollars are poured into hospital buildings that cripple our economy and how much could be freed up with other resources if the king of this world, if the one we were following, if the one who had the power, who was the God of the world, was able to free all this up and heal our diseases?

I tell you, the incumbent has failed miserably. He has failed mankind miserably. Mankind chose him back at the Garden of Eden and said, We will follow you. He has been a miserable failure. And he's had 6,000 years to fix it, and it only gets worse. But you know, like in any government, it doesn't take just the leader, it takes the people to do things as well. So, of course, in health care, it isn't going to be just Jesus Christ who comes and heals everyone.

Certainly he can do that, but we have our part in it as well. And one thing that doesn't happen so much in the current world, with the answer being just take this drug, this drug, keep doing everything you're doing, we'll just give you a drug for this and a drug for that, there's going to be some education on how to be healthy, because God created us as physical people, and He created us in a way that we have to take care of our bodies. And so there will be an education on how we take care of ourselves. And believe me, it'll be far different than the education that we get in the world around us today.

You know, food, food will be a key element. It's the fuel that feeds us. It's the fuel that strengthens us. It's the fuel that that can make us very well, or as we see around us today, what we eat, simply the results are it makes us very, very sick. And very, very dependent when we look to doctors and the way of this world to heal us. You know, the doctors today, the doctors today, and healthcare today, very seldom talk about what you eat and what you need to do, what you need to do to keep your health and to turn it around. It won't be that way under the New King.

It's that way in this one. It's this way under this regime and under this God that the world has been following for 6,000 years. It won't be in that way. There will be education in every single aspect of life at that time. This is how to live. This is how you were created. This is what you do. You want a happy life. You want a healthy life. You want to wake up in the morning and be energetic and full of excitement about what's going on that day and feel good.

This is what you do. You know? And we might say, is that a promise? But no, it's not just a promise. We see it here that happened. Let's go back to Daniel 1. Daniel 1, another man who didn't choose to follow the kings of the world that he, the government that he was in, he chose to instead follow God. He didn't follow what their commandments were during that. He followed, he obeyed the laws of the land, but he followed God's principles even when he was a young man and even when he was brought out of Judah into Babylon, a world-ruling empire at that time and in the court in the court of Nebuchadnezzar.

And he had to make a choice. He had to make a choice, right, when he came there. And the supervisor of the young men who were in the king's court told him, this is what you eat. You know, he made a choice. In Daniel 1, verse 8, it says, Daniel purposed in his heart that he wouldn't defile himself with the portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank. So he requested to the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. It wasn't just on clean foods, it was what they were eating, the stuff of what everyday food or the food of the rich in Babylon was.

He looked at it and thought, well that's not the way to health. That's not what I was trained in. So instead he chose, as you go read through the verses he chose, give us vegetables. You know, the steward was like, what?

You can't just eat vegetables. Wow, you've got to eat all these other things, right? You want to enjoy life. But the steward, Daniel said, just let us look at it for ten days. Let's just see it for ten days. What happens if we just eat these things and not all these delicacies and all the things, you know, probably an array which which we would look at and look at our world around us today and say, look at all the delicacies we see and how much nutrition and how much good are any of those in theirs?

So Daniel and his comrades did that in ten days in verse 15. It says, their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king's delicacies who were being fed the very best. So the steward took away their portion of delicacies and the wine that they were to gave to drink and he gave them vegetables.

Oh, I saw this, I saw it work. You know what? Everyone's eating this from now on. Look how fresh, look how energetic, look how sharp these young men are. Get away with the food that we've been eating. Let's eat this instead. This is the way to health. This is the way to vibrance. This is the way to emotional and physical health.

The way the world will live under the king that you and I have to elect, have the opportunity to elect, to choose. The way that we could live right now if we elect him, if we believe what he's saying and we apply the things into our life. So, you know, we look at health care, you know, do we go, do we choose this way? Do we choose what's going on for, you know, hundreds of years in this country? 6,000 years under man and just see man continue to be sick.

See a continue to rely on substances and doctors and hospitals and endless trips to the doctor? Or do we follow the king that can bring this all to an end that heal all our diseases and make health care a thing that we are absolutely thrilled with and not a thing that bankrupts us, that oppresses us, that keeps us down and keeps us tied to someone other than God? The choice is yours and mine. It's up to us, right? God's given us the choice.

Who do we elect? Who do we elect? Do we elect the king to come to earth to replace the current God? Or do we choose by the way we live our lives, what we do every day, do we choose? I choose the incumbent. I kind of like the way things are going in this world. Well, that's health care. Let's look at the economy. You know, we all, we all, you know, the economy is important to everyone. It's just a way of life that we have things that we can, you know, substance or the resources that we can buy.

We all want to provide for our families. You know, not all of us have all talents that we could do everything, you know, ourselves and be self-sufficient in every single area we need, even in ancient societies. They bartered and there was an economy that went in because we had to have others help us with some of the things that we did in life. So money is a necessary thing and God never, you know, never in the Bible does he ever say money is evil.

He says the love of money is evil, but he never says money is evil. It's just part of what, how the world operates and has always operated. And so, you know, if we look at the world around us today, you know, we happen to live in a very, very well blessed land, but we're one of how many nations on earth, 200 some nations on earth.

Would any other nation on earth willingly trade to be where we are today? Absolutely. Absolutely. That's why we have the immigration issue that's there. We want what you have because where we are living, it's not nearly as good as what you guys have. So we can come at this from a little bit of a different viewpoint in America than the rest of the world would be, which would willingly and happily trade places with us in an instant.

And that's what they would like, that's what they would like to do. But how does God feel about economy? When we look at the economy, even in America today, and of course it's been gotten to the point where with this virus we have things going on that are, you know, that have crippled the economy a little bit, but none of us are really hurting, I don't think, and if you are, I hope you'll let us know.

But we live in a time that has been, you know, very good, but it's not, you know, where it appears to be going. You know, you look at the world around us and you listen to some of the rhetoric that's going on in the media and what some of the candidates are saying, and you know, some are very displeased with the way America is.

I would like to see it go in a different direction, you know, but you do have to wonder, are they looking down the road? Because if we look outside of the parameters, not saying anything about anything that's going on in this election, this United States election today, let's look at the world as it has always been. Okay? You have economies that have always throughout history benefited the king or the rich of those nations. It's always been that you have a ruling class that has all the opportunities, you have another class, and then you have a lower class, and it was almost an act of God if you can move from one class to another.

If you happen to be born into one, you are going to have plenty. If you happen to be born into another, you just didn't have the opportunities to move, move, and educate yourself and improve yourself and do better. That's been the history of mankind. When mankind is resurrected, you and I, when we talk to them, we're going to be amazed at the way they live their lives. It was nothing the way you and I have been able to have the opportunity to live our lives in this country.

The way we've been able to live our lives is nothing like the people in the world around us have. You know, you can look at other places. You look at Venezuela, for instance. You know, they have what has happened. It was at one time touted as an up-and-coming country, and yet they've been depraved by and held back by corruption, and leaders that keep everything for themselves, and inflation has gone through the roof and the place is a mess.

You look at places like New Nigeria that has an abundance of oil. It should be one of the richest nations on earth, and if it had a righteous, realer leader, could well be, but it's always been, ah, I'm here to enrich myself, and the ruling class has always done that. And so even in America today, you know, we know that those in power enrich themselves, and it's always a ticket to it. It's just one of the things that happens in life.

This is one of the examples that the God of this world has set. You know, He had a very responsible position before, you know, back whenever. If we look back at Ezekiel, well, let's look back at Ezekiel 28. Ezekiel 28.

And we know when we talk about Satan, the God of this world, the current King, the incumbent, if you will, you know, we know that he had a very irresponsible place, one of three archangels in heaven. You know, God tells us in Isaiah 14, he was created with wisdom and beauty that was unparalleled, but it wasn't enough. He wanted more. Ezekiel 28 in verse 17, If pride entered in, your heart was lifted up because of your beauty. You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. He was a corrupt being. You know, we can look at every nation on earth, we can look at everything through the history of mankind, and we see that corruption is everywhere. It marks the societies of the last 6,000 years under this current God's rule and leadership. It's the same thing he did. You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. And so he was cast out of that kingdom. Get out of here. We don't want any of you in this kingdom, in this domain, in heaven, that has always been perfectly unified, perfectly happy, perfectly energized, perfectly together with joy that none of us can even begin. Well, we may be able to begin to understand, but we'll fully experience when that king returns. And we have through our lives chosen him to be our king. I cast you to the ground. We don't want any of that. And so he brought to this domain, and mankind said, yeah, we'll take that. Yeah, we'll take that. We'll take the corruption, you know. And the kings of the world, as we talked about a few weeks ago, have adopted the same thing. I'm king. I, therefore, I get what I want. It's all about me, and I keep these people, you know, oppressed before me. I don't allow them to rise up because that's a threat to me, and no one's going to interrupt my power.

It's not in my interest for them to develop or to become more than they need to be. It's in my interest to keep them held down. Now, we could talk about greed, right? Greed, we could give a whole sermon on greed. It's extant, certainly, in the world around us. And as we look in this country, from what it began as, with open markets and everything, and we look what's going on around us today with salaries, we can see the greed in it.

And it's going to destroy. It's going to destroy, you know, this country, along with the other things that are prevalent in it as well. But that's the current leader. You know, in 6,000 years, nothing's improved. Nothing's improved. It's all the same. When Jesus Christ returns, there will be an economy that's set up on principles. He's already shown, you know, through the nation of Israel, that he brought out, that was clearly his nation.

He said, you're my people. You're an example on the earth. You're going to follow me. You know what? He provided everything they needed. They didn't want through 40 years in the desert. There was no food, there was no water. He provided everything they needed. They were happy. Even their clothes, even their sandals didn't wear out. They never wanted for anything. Matthew 6, when Jesus Christ was on earth, the coming king that would replace the God of this world, he said, you know, seek first my kingdom.

All these things will be added unto you. Don't worry about it. Don't fall into the trap of this world where you have to think about it, and you have to get ahead and maneuver and do this and do that. Just to get yourself ahead and get what you want. I will give it to you. Just live the life that needs that you need to live.

But along with it, there's going to have to be education because the people coming out of this domain, the people coming out of this kingdom, of this God, of this world, this Satan, who's implied and influenced people with his ideas, which are exactly what he did that got him cast out of the best place that you can even imagine. He's infested all of us with that, too, and there has to be a reeducation. Let's just look at a few verses here because there will be a worldwide reeducation so that the economy can function and be a benefit to everyone.

Not just in one country or a handful of countries, but for every single person everywhere in the world at that time. Let's start with 1st Timothy 6. I kind of quoted this verse a little bit ago, but let's go ahead and look at it anyway. Again, nothing wrong with economy. There will be economy, you know? There will be economy in the Jesus Christ Kingdom. It's not the money.

It's not that. It's but the love of money, that evil greed, that evil what's in it for me? How do I get something for me or my loved ones? The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. By their actions, by what they did, they elected the incumbent. I want to live under the incumbents domain. I want to continue living this way that's been going on for 6,000 years and all of my life, rather than choosing the future and choosing that by the choices they make. You know, there's things that are going to happen.

One of the problems in our world today is, you know, there's a... let's look at 2 Thessalonians 3. You know, in that economy, everyone will have work. And mankind was made to work. You know, Jesus Christ still works. God the Father still works. People were not created to just sit back and do nothing and have everyone else take care of them. Now, there comes a time in life when you're older and things like that where you retire. And the Bible shows that. But here in 2 Thessalonians 3, also in 1 Timothy, it says, you know, for even when we were with you, Paul writes, he says, we command you do this.

If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. You know, it's not just government handouts that are going to solve the problem. People will be productive. They will be learned. You know, and it's a way to happiness. Want well-being? Want depression to disappear? Get busy. Have a purpose in your life. Do something. Do something with it. And don't just sit home every day and worry about everything. Verse 10, yeah, for we hear that there are some who walk among you in disorderly manner, not working at all, but our busy bodies. Because we kind of fill our time. If we're not working, you know, we can be busy bodies.

We can be gossips. We can be violence on the streets and find some meaning in our lives by something directed by the God of this world that is the opposite of what God had intended for mankind. There's always going to be something to fill our lives. It should be productive work, not just the things that may go on. Let's look at Leviticus 23. Leviticus 23. You know, there's a principle of not just you either, right? It's not just what I make. You know, I want to make more money so I can do more things with it or buy more things for myself.

You know, God built into His nation, you know, back in Israel and He talks about it in the New Testament today and certainly will be part of the kingdom that's coming if, well, not if, when Jesus Christ returns, that will be part of if we select Him, if He's our choice. Leviticus 23 verse 22, you know, it comes at the tail end of the instructions to keep the feast of Pentecost. It says, when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest.

You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger. I am the eternal your God. So it's a concept that we look out for each other. You know, Christ said, you'll always have the poor among you. He says they're there for a reason. For us to learn to love, for us to learn to share, for us to learn to look out for one another. Imagine a society where people were working together and looking out for one another, and there was the love that went there. Oh, I see a need you have.

I will fill it. And not just wait for something else to happen or let them, you know, just foment in whatever they're in. There will be a different law and a different attitude that's spoken there. You know, Proverbs 22. Proverbs 22 and verse 16, follows along the same thing. It says, He who oppresses the poor to increase his riches. You know, we may not see that in our United States, in our corner of the world.

You look at other countries, you look back in history of mankind for the last 6,000 years. Oh, the poor have always been oppressed. Why? To increase their own riches. He who oppresses the poor to increase his riches and he who gives to the rich will surely come to poverty. There will have to be reeducation. People will have to look at things differently and behave differently and not just think continually, it's all about me. It's all about what I want. It's all about what I need. It's all about what I can accumulate.

Totally different than the world around us that has been directed and influenced by the king of this world, the God of this world, who was always about what's in it for me. I want this. I want that. I want to be God. I want this. I want people to bow down to me. It's never about others and their well-being and he's handled his control of this world in the same way. You can mark down Psalm 52 verses 6 and 7, but let's go back to Proverbs 3. Part of our economy and something that's always talked about in presidential campaigns is taxation. It's an issue this time. One will cut taxes, the other one will increase taxes. All these things that go on with it. In Proverbs 3 verse 9, if we want to continue in that way, that's kind of what we do every four years, eight years, or whatever it is. Up and down, up and down, and whatever. In Proverbs 3 verse 9, it tells us kind of what it will be like when Jesus Christ is king. It says in 9, honor the eternal with your possessions. Back in 1 Samuel, I think it's 1 Samuel 29, David gives a very meaningful prayer when he's gathering offerings for the temple. God has told him he's not going to be able to build it, that solemn and will, but he takes this offering up and he gives a beautiful prayer. He says, you know, God, everything is yours.

Everything is yours. We're just happy to have it, and we willingly give it to you. We willingly give it to you because we recognize where we come from or where it comes from. Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first fruits of all your increase. You know, there will be a tax. It'll be called a tithe. The same system that we live in today. It'll be enough. It'll be able to handle all the needs of the government at that time that's in stake the same way it would be if it was implemented today. It won't be the taxation of today where here we have a certain rate to hear about other countries that have rates of up to 40 and 50 percent and say fun things. It won't be that way. It won't be that way. It'll be the straight 10 percent, the same way that should be today if we weren't under the God of this world who is always looking to tax. And you know, God warned his people, Israel. Back in 1 Samuel, when they were choosing, they had a choice kind of like you do. Will you choose God as king? Or will you choose a man as your king? And they wanted a man they wrongly chose. And God said, this is what's going to happen. This king is going to want this for himself, and he's going to want this and this, and you will be miserable under him. But they chose him anyway. And mankind has lived under it, and we've lived under it. You know, what will we do?

You know, Malachi 3, God says, you know, do it. Follow what I say. You tithe to me. You don't worry about anything else. You give it to me, and let me take care of it, and you honor me with it, and you see how much I will give. You see how much I will take care of you when you honor me first. And so God says that, and that's the way things will be in the world when he is king, that I am urging all of you to select today and for the rest of your physical lives here. Let's go back to Micah. Micah 4. Micah 4 and verse 1. These are scriptures that'll doubtless be read wherever you're going to the Feast of Tabernacles. It says, it shall come to pass, Micah 4 verse 1, it'll come to pass in the latter days that the mountains of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains. It'll be above every nation. It'll be the supreme government. It'll be exalted above the hills. There will be other little domains out there with other kings, all submissive and all following the lead of the overall world ruling king. And people will flow to it. Many nations will come and say, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways. We will walk in His paths, for out of Zion the law will go forth, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between many peoples. He will rebuke strong nations afar off. And then he talks about how we'll get into that here in a minute in national security. They'll beat their plurs and the war will be taken care of. But in verse 4 it says, everyone, you know, not just in America, not just in Canada, not just in the United Kingdom, everywhere. From the very southernmost nation, the very poorest nation in today's world under the jurisdiction of the current incumbent God of this world, everyone to there, to the richest person on earth, everyone will sit under His vine and under His fig tree. Everyone. Everyone will have an opportunity to have that land and to enjoy life and the physical blessings that God has given. It won't be just for the select few. It will be for everyone in that righteous government. And notice he says, and no one shall make them afraid.

The king that you can choose, that you could be your king for eternity, is more than capable of doing everything that he said. We've seen it. He's done it with his people. He's done it with you and I who have chosen him. If we're following his principles and if we're living the way of life that he's called us to. Do we want that for eternity?

Do we want that for all of mankind? Or do we want the incumbent, the current God, and let it go to where it is and have it and end up you know wherever it's going to end up. And we know it's not this current cannot sustain itself that will not last forever. Let's talk about security. National security. Let's talk about global security, right? One of the responsibilities of every leader is to try to keep his people safe.

You know, it's always been a thing in this world that that's just been it. You know, no matter what you had, if you're a nation with plenty, you always had to worry about who was going to invade and take us over. You know, and James 4 tells us, you know, why do wars come about?

Because someone else wants what you have. They want it for themselves. And so the history of mankind has always been about wars. You know, back in 2003 there was an article in the New York Times. Let me just, you know, probably been updated, but I'd, you know, but this is what they said back in 2003 when they were talking about wars and national security.

It said, the title of the article was, What Every Person Should Know About War. And it said that in the 20th century alone, an estimated 108 million people died during war. All in the name of national security. A hundred eight million people. That's a lot of people, isn't it? It's one-third of all the people that live in America today.

And they said that in probably in history there's no way to know exactly, but 150 million to maybe as many as a billion in history have died simply during warfare. As people, as nations, have defended themselves against invaders, people who would take over their domain, look at the cost in human life, look at the misery, look at the strife.

You know, again, we've lived in a period of relative peace in most of our lives in this country, right? Some of you have been involved in the wars and whatever in the past, but we lived in relative peace. We have no idea what it's like to have that be going on around us. But people around the world do. You know, if we lived over in the Middle East, we'd have a very different outlook if we had a choice between the king of this world and the king of the world that you and I have to choose. If God had opened their minds to that, they might look at that and say, absolutely, bring it on right now.

Because that has been just a ravished place. But 108 million people in the 20th century, and they said as they went back of the last 3,400 years, they could only document 68 years of the last 3,400 years where no wars were being fought on earth. Isn't that amazing? Out of 3,400 years, only 68 years when they went back that they could say, no wars, no wars were being fought.

So is national security a key aspect of where we look today? I mean, is it a part of our lives? Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, the country and the world is right to talk about national security because under the domain of this God, this current God of this world, you can't do anything but.

You have to be armed, you have to be ready, you have no idea when someone's going to come in and ransack you, you have no idea when you're going to be attacked, you have no idea when someone's going to just totally disrupt your life. And at the time we live in now, that could happen literally in an instance even before we're done here today.

Everything could change. Everything could change if someone pushes a button somewhere in the world and all our lives change and we find ourselves under attack. National security, the violence that has marked this world, the violence that, you know, marked the world back before Jesus Christ or the God of the Old Testament, you know, said, I'm going to destroy the world. It's so violent, it's so corrupt, I'm even sorry I made mankind. Look what they've done, look who they're following, look what it's made them be.

And Jesus Christ said at the time of the end, it's going to be this way, it's going to be that way again. And certainly if we have our eyes open, if we're not just, you know, burying our heads in the sand, we can see it's going in that direction.

We see the writing on the wall, which doesn't take any kind of, you know, genius to say, whoa, this is what's happening, things get worse and worse and it keeps moving in this direction. We can see where things are going under the current domain. Violence, you know, we'll talk about national security, what about the amount of domestic violence that goes on in this country, let alone all the countries of the world. You know, violence marks it. You know, what about all the, you know, attacks? Look at the violence going on in the streets around America right now. Some for an unbelievable 80-some days if it's still going on. You know, what spirit is behind that? What spirit is behind that, that someone could just make themselves go out for 80 days in a row and, you know, protest and be violent and tear things down and destroy things. That's not the spirit that anyone wants to follow if they're thinking straightly, but that's the spirit of the current, of the current God of this world. Not the spirit at all. Not the spirit at all of what, you know, the king that we choose now and for eternity if we're thinking clearly. You know, again, I'll give you Ezekiel 28 and verse 16. Well, let's just go there. I often say let's turn there, but let's look at Ezekiel 28.

You know, often people will emulate their leaders, and certainly this world has followed the lead of its, you know, 6,000-year king, prince, whatever we want to call him.

In Ezekiel 28, verse 16, by the abundance of your trading, well, there's the economy again. It's all about him. By the abundance of your trading, you became filled with violence within. Violence, anger. That marks the current God of this world. It doesn't at all. It's not at all in the platform or character of the king that you and I have an opportunity to choose. Who is the king of peace? Who is the prince of peace? Who knows how to teach the way to peace so that no longer will there be any wars on earth? You know, again, when Israel was his people, the chosen of that world at that time, he fought their battles for him. When people came against them, you remember in Exodus 17 with the battle of Amalek, you know, Moses and the people had to fight, but as long as they looked to God, as long as Moses had his hand raised, God prevailed. And how many times, just recently, we talked about Jehoshaphat and we talked about Elisha. When armies were gathered about them, God protected them. God defeated those armies.

Do we choose to follow a God who's going to bring armies and violence among us? Are we going to end wars among us? Or do we choose a God who will fight our battles for us, even in this world, and then trust him to do it? And then he will do that forever. You know, we won't take the time, but you can look in Ezekiel 38, I think it is, that talks about how when there's even insurrections in his kingdom, he'll take care of Gog and Magog who go back to their old ways and decide they're going to attack a country that's at peace, a country that's at peace and without walls, and God takes care of it. They will learn its peace, its unity, its harmony.

And he is strong, and he can maintain that peace, and people will live it.

As the current God of this world, at all, performed in this area, is he someone you would choose to follow? You know, you look at the violence in the streets, and you know, you see some pictures sometimes from Minneapolis and Portland. I guess Kenosha, if it keeps going on, will be that way as well. And you just see total devastation. It's kind of like a bomb went off in those cities, right? It's like, really? They just kind of did that, and they just did that? You know, it talks about cities of the world being laid desolate. And all for often, you know, I mean, we know nuclear bombs, and bombs can do that. Sometimes lately, I wonder, can we do it to ourselves because of the violence and the anger that's inbred into people in this land? And might we be? Might, under the God of this world, might we bring that destruction on ourselves? It'll come one way or another. It'll come one way or another. I convey to you, the God of this world has failed miserably. He's no one you want to follow. Everything you read would say, run the opposite direction.

And there's a choice in your and my lives, the election of our eternity, if you will, by who we choose, and the way we go about choosing that, not by pulling a lever, but by what we do every day in our lives and the choices that we make, following the way that he prescribes, or just kind of staying in the way that we've done all of our lives and that this world has done.

Let's talk about character here for a minute as we wrap it up. Character is an issue you do want your leaders to be someone you can trust, someone that's going to tell you the truth, someone that you can rely on. Now let me just, you know, where Satan is concerned. Let me just give you some of the aspects of his character that you know very well because through what he's called in the Word of God, we learned something about him. Early on, he was called a serpent, kind of sneaky, kind of crawling on the ground, kind of deceptive, not anything that you really want to run across in your garden, or at least me, run across in your garden or in your yard. Kind of strikes fear in you, but there he was in the Garden of Eden and he appeared as a serpent. And we're told that he's cunning. He's deceptive. He leads you down one path, but he's got a totally different purpose in mind. You know, he's called a lion. He's called a lion, but not in a good sense, not that he's fierce in defending his people, but a lion in the fact that he's just laying in wait. How can I destroy this one? How can I devour this one? How can I pick this one off? How can I not help the weak of the land, but how can I just pick them off? And he does that with God's people one by one. He's not interested in helping people. He's interested in destroying people. His whole mission in life is contrary to what God's mission is to bring life to everyone. His mission is that you and I and every man, woman, and child on earth would be dead and that we would have absolutely no hope of eternal life. His mission is death. He's crafty. He's cunning. He can make it sound really good. He can make things appealing, but he's just laying in wait, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

You know, he's called Belial. Worthless. Worthless. Wicked. Totally wicked. But at the same time, he appears like an angel of light. Oh, man, I look so good. I say the right things and boom, boom, boom. But it's all designed to lure you in. It's all designed to kind of like a fish, right?

Fishermen. I'll reel them in, and then I'm going to nab them, and I got them.

Are we savvy enough to see through it? Are we, with God's Holy Spirit, savvy enough to see through the deception and not be lured in by what this world has to offer, because what it has to offer, the end result, is not anything that anyone thinking, anyone reasonable, anyone that has a choice would ever, would ever choose.

You know, he's called a dragon. You know, dragons, I mean, they're kind of like these mythical creatures, but they're not good. They're there to destroy. You know, they're there to destroy. He's a dragon. He tells us that he deceives the whole world. He's lured them in. Only purpose, lead them away from God. He's an adversary, and then we just read in the last week in the Bible study in Revelation 9, he's called the polyon destroyer. You can see what character, what Satan, the current god of this world's character is by just looking at the names that he's given, and you know what? All you got to do is look around. Just look around, and you can see that that's true. You and I see it. You and I have had our eyes opened, and we can be grateful and thankful to that.

Satan doesn't look to develop people. He doesn't want you to become better. He doesn't want you to live forever. He looks to oppress people. What he does is accuse people. When we see him, what does he do? Is he up there saying, hey, look at this, look at this person. Look how they've grown. Look what they're trying to do. No, he's up there saying, look what they did. Ha, ha, ha. Look what they did. They're not following you. Ha, ha, ha. Is that the kind of leader you want that doesn't support you, but is always looking to accuse you? Is that who you would choose? Because that's who the world is following right now, and that's the world we live in for 6,000 years.

Or, on the other hand, would you choose a leader whose very word, every single word you can rely on, that you know when it's spoken, it is absolutely going to happen? He's not going to mince words. He's not going to just flatter you to reel you in, but there may be corrective words that you have to do this. You have to understand that. You have to become this. You have to put this out of your life. What you're doing is wrong. All designed to make you better, to allow you to live for eternity, all to become a better person, a more productive person, and a person that is ever developing because he's interested in the potential of mankind, not in oppressing him.

And we can say, how do we know that? Well, look at Israel, right? Look at Israel.

Again, his people. Look what he did. He took a slave people, and he made them, and as they followed him, you know, made them into the richest nation on earth under Solomon. If you go back and look at 1 Kings 10, 9, 10, and that area, you see, everyone was flocking to Israel. They were the cream of the crop in the world when they obeyed God. When God blesses and when people follow him, he's there. Let's look at Mark down Isaiah 53, 53-9, but let's look at 1 Peter 2 to see the character of the king that you and I are choosing. Because he lived on earth just like we have.

We don't just have to, you know, take his words and say, how do we know? Because he was here on earth. He lived under the domain of this current God of this world, the Satan, Apollyon, Belial, serpent, dragon, deceiver, cunning, deceitful. 1 Peter 2.

And verse 2.

Verse 22.

Let's begin in verse 21. For to this you, not you and me, for to this you were called, because Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example that you, that's you and me if we choose him as king, that you should follow his steps, who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth.

What he said you could rely on. Who when he was reviled didn't revile in return. When he suffered, he didn't threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously.

He sacrificed his life. He went through unspeakable agony. Why?

Because he did it for his people, his subjects. Here's a leader that sacrificed it all for you and me. He wasn't looking to see what's in it for me, or he would have said, I'm not doing that. He did it for you and me. He's already proven his love for people of all races, all ethnicities, all backgrounds. He's already proven it. And he lived his life without ever submitting to the God of this world. He lived it apart from what Satan would have him do despite temptations. You know, we think we have temptations. We have no idea the temptations that Jesus Christ went through. And he threw the power of the Holy Spirit in him. And because of the joy set before him, because he knew what he was leading to, what life was leading to, that it was worth it. This is the choice that he made. And truth? I mean, we have his word right here, right? In all our laps, we have his word. Can you find one bit of error in this word? Even one? Even one small one? No.

Absolute truth. What's written here, history has proven, is absolutely going to absolutely happen.

What's written there is absolutely going to happen.

You know, social justice. Social justice is a cry in the land today. And understandably so.

I think we all have a lot to learn in that area. Social justice won't be an issue.

Well, it may be in the early days as we all learn what it is, but social justice won't be an issue with Jesus Christ as king. It certainly is an issue under the domain of this current god of this world because people are screaming it everywhere. And you can't go anywhere in the world where you don't see social injustice, right? It's a total inequality in every single corner of the earth, including in the United States. It won't be any social injustice under this king.

You know, when he was on earth, when he lived, he lived in a society of like, well, you're a Samaritan. I'm not going to talk to you. Oh, if you're a Roman centurion, you're below me. I can't talk to you. What did we see him do? He spoke to the Samaritan woman.

He responded to the faith in the Roman centurion. In his lineage are Ruth and Rahab, not just all members of his chosen family because he's there for all of mankind.

And he is perfectly, perfectly impartial. Romans, Romans 2.

Romans 2 and verse 11, a very simple verse. To the point, absolute truth, a mark of what you will get when you follow this king and choose him. Romans 2 verse 11, there is no partiality with God. None. In that world, the cries and what's leading to violence and everything that we see around us today won't be there. It'll be a perfectly just, everyone equal, everyone treated equally, everyone growing, everyone developing, everyone feeling the zest of life, the zeal of life, the purpose of life that motivates us, that makes you want to get up in the morning, rather than whatever happens in the world today among those who are depressed and have nothing to do and just are waiting for whatever it is they're waiting for. His platform is perfect. His platform is the one that every single thinking, rational, awake human being would choose if they had the opportunity. And they will have the opportunity in the millennium and in the second resurrection, but you and I have the opportunity today to choose that. And if we're thinking, if we're at all putting things together, it'd be like there is no choice. His plan is flawless, his plan is perfect, his plan is for eternity. And we see it, and as we go through the holy days, we see it played out every year. On the other hand, you know, on the other hand, would you, will you continue to yield to a God who lies, to a God who has absolutely mishandled everything that's put in his hands, who has never been for people, who keeps them wrackled with health and sickness, who keeps them oppressed, who keeps them held down, who keeps them in war, and who brings violence on them all the time, and has had them governed by kings and kings like him who just want them to just want to arrange themselves and make you do what they want you to do. And what they want you to do doesn't lead to anything good. It just leads to misery, strife, tears, heartbreak. The choice is clear. The choice is clear. Luke 4.

When you look at it, there is no choice. Or I guess I should say, the choice is clear.

Luke 4 verse 18. Jesus Christ, when he was on earth, the king to come, the king that you and I have the opportunity to choose in our lives today, excuse me, in our lives today and have those blessings we read about on Psalm 103 that we read throughout the Bible on us today, he said this as he stood up, knowing that he was there at that time, but knowing he would be returning to heaven and then returning to establish his kingdom on earth. In Luke 4 verse 18, he says, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He's the God to come. He's the king of kings and Lord of lords to come. The Spirit of the Eternal is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel or the good news to the poor. They've lived in poverty and isolation. Their lives have been miserable. They've been mishandled. They've been mistreated. They've been abused. To preach the good news to the poor, he sent me to heal the brokenhearted who have lived through violence in their homes, violence in their nations, who have been wrackled with disease, sickness, crippled under the ways of this world. He sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives who have always been held back and held under his domain because God's way is the way of liberty and the life, the way to everything good and perfect, recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. That's the choice. That's the words. Do you believe them? Is that the choice you make? Because the time is now for us to make our calling and election sure. God sees you and me as his elect.

It's time for us to make sure to make our calling and election sure. How do you choose Jesus Christ as King of Kings? Not by simply pulling a lever or mailing in a ballot.

You do it by the way you live your life and the way you do it now.

If you believe and if you choose him, you no longer march. You come out of the war, you no longer march to the God of this world. You come out of this world and you start doing things and disciplining yourself to diligently follow everything he said and build that into your lives, to teach it to your children, to keep it in the forefront of your homes, to keep it in the forefront of your minds, keeping and realizing we're not citizens of this world. We're citizens of a kingdom to come that will be better for all of mankind. And God has called and chosen you and me to be part of that movement. There can be nothing greater on earth, nothing greater go greater purpose on life in life than to be part of something that will have such a dramatic change and be so good for all of mankind.

You know, forget the protests. Forget all this other stuff that goes on in the world. Choose to be part of what the real change in the world that will make a difference for all of mankind by the examples we live today. Let's close in Deuteronomy 30.

Deuteronomy 30 and verse 19. God makes the choice clear in these verses.

I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you. I've set before you life and death.

I've set before you blessing and cursing. And I tell you, choose life that both you and your descendants may live. And how you choose that is you love the Lord your God, you obey his voice, you cling to him. For he is our life and the length of our days that we may dwell with him in his house and his kingdom forever.