friends government is not the answer for the soul of a Nation Jesus is and may God bring Revival again to the United States of America so until Jesus comes until Jesus comes get out there vote be his ambassadors be salt and light in this world and Advance the kingdom of God for the glory of God to stem the tide of evil in our land until Jesus comes let your voices be heard let your votes be counted and let God arise and let his enemies be scattered amen and amen to the glory of God to the glory of God well welcome to Cornerstone Chapel Welcome to our online viewers as well and welcome today to election sermon 2024 who's ready for this so it has been said that if you don't want to ruin a good dinner party then don't talk about faith or politics well today I'm about ready to ruin a good dinner party because we're going to talk about both today in the house of the Lord now if you're new to Cornerstone let me explain what's going on and why today is different from most Sundays in 2008 I was asked by David Barton and his historian and the founder of wallbuilders whether or not I ever preached election sermons I said David I don't even know what an election sermon is and he pointed out two resources to me that I have here it's a TW volume set entitled political sermons of the American founding era 1730 to 1805 these are sermons that pastors preached over these many decades During the period prior to the Revolutionary War and subsequent to the Revolutionary War because pastors understood their duty to stand in the pulpit and to take God's word as the lens through which we evaluate everything and the pastors would speak out about the issues of the day the policies of the day the politicians of the day and even the candidates running for office they were unashamed in their pulpits that two volume set records many of those sermons and yes even during the colonial period there was Voting in America in fact we have the privilege of living here in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Virginia General Assembly is the oldest continuous lawmaking body in the Western Hemisphere established July the 30th 1619 so we have a great heritage here in Virginia of voting we have a great heritage here in Virginia and in other states of pastors proclaiming God's word as the standard by which we evaluate all the issues of the day and so the church has always played historically at least in our country a critical role in speaking out about faith and politics and how Faith should shape our politics now some of you might say well what about the separation of church and state pastor G and shouldn't churches stay out of politics well that phrase separation of church and state is not found anywhere in our founding documents not the Declaration of Independence not the Bill of Rights not the Constitution where did it come from why are people throwing that phrase around so much these days in 1802 when Thomas Jefferson was President of the United States he received a request to answer a question concerning religious freedom that was posed to him by the Baptist convention in Danbury Connecticut and in a personal letter not some executive order Jefferson in 1802 wrote to the Danbury Baptist and he explained the importance of the First Amendment to protect religious Liberties and in that letter in 1802 he did write about building a wall of separation between church and state but the intent behind the letter was to help the Baptist understand that government intrusion was limited by the First Amendment and that they had religious freedom to exercise freely without religious intrusion and so therefore the first amendment is given to us in part to keep the government out of the business of the church not the church out of the business of government but over the years Jeff phrase separation of church and state in that personal letter has been used to remove God from the Public Square and to remove Church from government influence and it is also intimidated a lot of pastors from addressing things that are referred to as political in the pulpit and if that didn't intimidate pastors then the 1954 Johnson Amendment did in 1954 Congress approved an amendment by then Senator Lynden Johnson to prohibit 501c3 organizations which include Charities and churches from engaging in any quote political campaign activity under the threat of losing their tax exempt status by the way receiving um election uh registration to vote and recruiting election officers as we're doing today is perfectly legal it's not a violation at all of this particular law but the 1954 Johnson Amendment did again intimidate pastors from speaking out for fear of losing their tax exempt status let me just say a couple of things about this number one I appreciate that having tax exempt status is a nice benefit from the government but if I as a pastor don't say to you what I'm confident God wants me to say for fear of losing our tax exemption then I am bowing to government instead of God and I can't do that but let me hasten to also say that if you're giving to the church is only to get a tax right off instead of giving to the Lord then your giving is bowing to government instead of God thanks to one of our elders here at Cornerstone and a constitutional attorney who was argued before the US Supreme Court on several occasions thanks to Mike Ferris the Johnson amendment is currently being challenged in US District Court in the eastern district of Texas because it prohibits free speech and our church is listed in that filing as a witness in this case because last year three years after my 2020 election sermon the IRS came after us threatening to remove our tax exemp status because of that sermon now thankfully with the help of our lawyer friends at Alliance defending Freedom we were able to retain our tax exempt status I don't know for how long friends and I do pray that the court throws the Johnson Amendment on the ash heap of History where it belongs so since 2008 and every four years since around a presidential election cycle I have simply revived an old tradition here in America by bringing to you today an election sermon and to encourage you to vote to vote according to your personal consciences and biblical value values you see that's all I really need to do is to say please vote according to your personal consciences and biblical values I don't need to tell you who to vote for because I have done my best to be faithful in this Pulpit week after week after week to speak about the current issues of our day through the lens of the Bible so that you will be equipped to know who to vote for or who not to vote for based on whether that candidate's policies more closely aligns with Biblical values or not so if I've done my job consistently over the years you should already know I don't need to stand up here and say vote for a particular candidate because you hopefully have been equipped enough to understand what scripture says and to have your god-given Sanctified consciences Guide You In This Very important decision and it should be based on their policies if hopefully they have told us what their policies actually are and by the way by the way please save the emails accusing me of being political today because I'm not being political I'm just being biblical in today's teaching you see the fact is that the culture has hijacked the narrative on social and moral issues that the Bible has already addressed and then the culture has Twisted those things distorted and perverted those social and moral issues into political issues and then told pastors like me and Christians like you to stop being so political well I have news for our culture God had a say on all these subjects long before there was even a word political God in the Bible speaks about life National borders immigration economic Prosperity biological sex marriage parental Authority Israel even the environment it's all in the Bible God had the first word long before anybody and so it's important understand we're just talking about the biblical issues and we're looking at what is happening in our culture and especially on the presidential election level and saying who most closely aligns with the things that the Bible talks about and if Christians would come together and vote their values we can change America we can change America and we can change America not because we believe in Christian nationalism that is a disparaging term that the left has thrown at the church because they're accusing us of trying to turn America into a theocracy I have no Illusions we will not be a theocracy until Jesus comes again and I pray he would come quickly that's when we will really be a theocracy in the world but I say that we can change America just because we as Christians love God and love our country what's wrong with that we love God we love our country we hold our Bibles we understand the importance of religious freedom and the values that the Bible speaks about because Psalm 33:12 is true blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord that's what we want for our country and so now that you can see where all this is going today all that was just an introduction free of charge I'm going to pray in a minute and it will give any of you cover if you want to slip out while I'm praying because you feel too uncomfortable with all of this listen you came in Freely and freely you can go no judgment all I would ask is that if you remain you stay courteous in God's house this is not a place for you to protest or a time to disrupt the service so that you can get your two minutes of fame I know the saying really is 15 minutes of fame but I guarantee you it will only take two minutes for our security to show you a Bible study at L detention center and let me say this too you're free to disagree with anything I have to say today you're free to disagree and you're still welcome to be here we don't practice the cancel culture the way the world does they have intolerant tolerance to people who have a different view okay you can have a different view from what I'm about to say today and you're still welcome here as long as you are not divisive and you strive for Unity and Harmony in the body of Christ frankly I will probably offend just about everybody at some point today in something that I'm going to be saying here but I'm going to do my best to speak the truth and to please an audience of one and his name is Jesus amen so so with that let's pray together Father in heaven we thank you for this beautiful day that you've given us We Gather here in your house we open open up your word we want to understand our world and our culture through the lens of the Bible we have two candidates running for president we have KLA Harris we have Donald Trump we have a lot of elections in other offices that are also on the ballot and we just pray for wisdom and we pray God for your mercy and we pray God for your guidance and we pray God as Daniel 2:2 says you raise up Kings and you depose them and we trust your righteous hand to be involved in this whole process to guide us to help us and we thank you Lord for the freedom that we enjoy of living in the greatest country on Earth in the United States of America and we give you the praise and the glory and the honor together in Jesus name and everybody said amen I'm going to read five verses out of the Book of Ezekiel if you have your bibles if you would turn to the Book of Ezekiel chapter 3 three uh Ezekiel is uh not quite in the middle of your Bible it's about 2/3 in the Book of Ezekiel from chapter 33 you can listen if you don't have a Bible I'm just going to read the first five verses Ezekiel CH 33 verse 1 again the word of the Lord came to me saying son of man speak to the children of your people and say to them when I bring the sword upon a land and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their their Watchmen when he sees the sword coming upon the land if he blows the trumpet and warns the people then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning if the sword comes and takes him away his blood shall be on his own head verse 5 he heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning his blood shall be upon himself but he who takes warning shall save his life this is a reference in ancient Israel to how they would select one individual to be upon the city walls to watch out for any approaching enemy or any potential attack against that walled City and if the Watchmen saw such impending disaster coming or some threat on its way the Watchman would blow a trumpet then it was up to the people whether they're going to heed the sound of the warning or not and if they would heed the sound of the warning then they would save their lives if they just decided oh well no big deal then their life might very well be required of them and the Watchmen would not be responsible because he at least did his part to sound the trumpet and kind of that ancient parallel uh I hope to serve as like a Watchman today sounding a trumpet and then you have to decide what you do with all of that and the reason I think it's important to sound the trumpet is because the freedoms that we have enjoyed and the country that we love are in Jeopardy and I say that not as hyperbole I say that based on reality because of the way that our country and our culture has been trending over the past few years really in the past few Decades of course I am proud to be an American I believe in Americans America's exceptionalism but I like many of you are concerned for her future and and I need to say this at the onset of this study together do not look to a person to save us do not look to a person to save us our faith is not in a political hero our faith is in the savior his name is Jesus he is our only hope for America Jesus is our only hope for America but until he comes again he has charged us with being his ambassadors in this world to represent him and he's charged us to be like salt and light salt to be sprinkled Upon A decaying culture as a preservative as an antiseptic and light to shine the truth into a dark world to that end we have a moral obligation to represent Christ as ambassadors and to be salt and light in this world reflecting him well and so political engagement is one way one way to be ambassadors and to be Salt and Light in the world and by political engagement I mean advocating for policies that promote righteousness voting for candidates who most closely represent our Biblical values praying for our elected leaders and holding them accountable and even running for elected office if Christians do not stay politically engaged guess what will fill the vacuum every evil demonic practice good government cannot save us but bad government can destroy us and so the question I want to challenge us with as we approach this presidential election is this what can we do to advance the kingdom of God for the glory of God and to stem the tide of evil in our land until Jesus comes that's the question I want to challenge us with affecting public policy and staying politically engaged is something you see through the Bible you look in the Old Testament look at the prophets of old like Moses Elijah Daniel Isaiah Jeremiah they all spoke truth to power they all confronted Kings they all influenced National laws and they also influenced social conscience in the New Testament you see John the Baptist he wasn't afraid to confront King Herod the most politically powerful person in that area at the time Jesus even weighed in on the topic of taxes he didn't stay disengaged aged and when he stood before Pontius Pilate the governor of Judea at that time before he was crucified he said everyone on the side of Truth listens to me he was okay speaking truth to power he was okay speaking about things that would otherwise be labeled today as political and so I want to share three things with us that I believe will help us Advance the kingdom of God for the glory of God to stem the tide of evil in our land until Jesus comes and here's the first one if you're taking notes we got to get this friends God uses flawed sinful people God uses flawed sinful people one of my biggest concerns this election cycle is the Christian who wants to do the right thing but can't vote for a candidate who doesn't have the total package and I hear Christians talk like this I hear them say things like I don't like a few things about this person's personality or a couple of their positions but I can't vote for the other candidate because they're they're they're too far from my biblical values and so I'll just sit it out or I'll vote for a WR in which is a vote for nobody nobody this is a binary election that's it and and listen I understand elections are serious things with serious consequences but please please tell me what other decisions do you make in your life that must meet 100% of the criteria what other decisions do you really say if it doesn't have 100% I'm not doing this I suspect that everybody here attends Cornerstone but we don't meet 100% of what you would like like some of you are like really love the worship the preaching guys a little you know but I still come CU I love the worship or the other one I hear is you know worships too loud don't really like it it sounds too rock and roll I'll come 20 minutes late because I like the guy who preaches I've heard you I know or I got to wear my earplugs I don't really like you know how loud the worship is but they good they do have good children's ministry or they're not quite as charismatic as I might like but they they have good youth ministry or I wish they'd emphasize missions more but they they do have a good women's ministry listen I you don't make a decision based on 100% you make a decision based on does this in the majority sense seem to fit and and does it make sense for you nothing is 100% based on certain criteria are you married are you married you listen to me you did not choose that spouse cuz they met 100% of everything you loved them and you're like this is the best of any other choices and don't some of you look at me and like no that isn't true I married her cuz she meets 100% of my criteria yes she does pastor G she makes 100% of my criteria well guarantee you don't guarantee you don't she's gotten snoring and fungus toenails that was not part of the original [Applause] deal so listen there's no perfect spouse there's no perfect Church there's no perfect child there's no perfect job there's no perfect neighborhood and Jesus is not on the ballot there is no perfect candidate get over looking for the most perfect person but you had better vote for the better choice not a perfect choice Proverbs 1434 says righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people every candidate is a flawed sinful human being including kamla Harris including Donald Trump and I think personally that evangelicals have for too long looked for the candidate based on likability and how strong their faith was in Jesus and if those things don't line up then then they're not good enough for me to vote for because I need to vote for a good person because good people promote good policies right not always not always and policies are always more important than personalities because personalities come and go but policies will live long after them a nation will not Thrive because of the righteousness of the leader but because the leader promotes righteous policies and that's a big difference because here's the reality when you read your Bibles the reality is that there were some righteous leaders who did unrighteous things and there were some un righteous leaders who did righteous things and God used them both God used them both What mattered most was the righteous thing the king did not the righteousness of the king per se God used both the righteous leaders and the unrighteous leaders in the Bible David was a righteous leader he was a man after God's Own Heart but he committed adultery and he counted the fighting man which incurred the wrath of God as judgment upon the nation though he was a righteous king after God's heart God used David God used Hezekiah Hezekiah was also a righteous King but Hezekiah had terrible foreign policy that also incurred the wrath of God as a national judgment he was a righteous King but God used him even though he did an unrighteous thing look at Samson Samson was a righteous judge who had a weakness for women and God still used him for the benefit of the nation and Samson ends up in Hebrews 11 as part of the Hebrew Hall of faith now listen I'm not making excuses for their bad behavior or their sin they all paid consequences for their sin my point is that God uses flawed people to promote good policies for a nation You See It All Through the Bible and God used unrighteous people too for the same reason you look at King Nebuchadnezzar in your Bibles king of Babylon King Cyrus in your Bible King of Persia those two guys were Pagan as Pagan comes and yet had God put it on their hearts to do righteous things for Israel and for the Jewish people and for that reason they were unrighteous kings that God used because of their righteous policies that promoted good for the benefit of the nation please stop looking at the person and look at their policies some of you say well I can't vote for the orange man the orange man's a bully he sends out Mean Tweets and I don't like the guy you know terrible personality or on the other hand you're like I can't vote for her she's a cackling hen she always is cackling about stuff she repeats the same dumb phrases about unburdened by what has been and people make it about the two of their personalities let me tell you something on a personal level I'd rather have a mean orange man who gave us three Supreme Court Justices to overturn roie Wade than a joyful hen who believes in killing babies in the ninth month so we have to stop focusing on who's a good candidate because Jesus said in Luke 18:19 no one is good except God so there is no good candidate there is no righteous person but God can still use the righteous and the unrighteous to accomplish his good purposes which leads me to the second Point number two vote policies over personalities I'm going to share with you seven and you know I could have chosen different ones this is not a you know the only list you could come up with but I have chosen seven top policies with Biblical support that I think are worth considering in this year's election in no particular order here's the first one judges Isaiah 1: 126 says God says I will restore your judges as at the first and your counselors as at the beginning afterward you shall be called the city of righteousness the faithful City what is God saying there he's saying when you choose right judges they will bring righteousness to The Land by virtue of their decisions it is important that we have good judges and and don't underestimate the importance of the president of the United States in selecting federal judges in Donald Trump's single term he appointed 220 six federal judges that is an amazing number proportionately more than any of his predecessors who had two terms again Donald Trump appointed 226 federal judges Obama in his two terms appointed 320 George W bush in his two terms 322 Bill Clinton in his three two terms 367 so proportionally Trump comes in 226 I mean federal judges is an important aspect of who is president of the United States and when it comes to the nation's 13 Federal appeals courts which have final word on most legal appeals around the country Trump appointed get this 54 federal appellant judges in his single term you know how many Obama appointed in his two terms 55 so it is important that you consider when you're electing someone what's the ramification on judges who will get appointed and obviously of course that also includes Supreme Court Justices they play a huge role in the future of our nation in terms of judging and ruling in righteousness and so ask yourselves what C I'm not asking for a verbal response I'm just saying these are the things we need to consider going into to vote which candidate will appoint the best judges and justices number two we have to consider border security these days and let me tell you God's in favor of borders just in case you you don't know this is acts 17:26 and God has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on the face of the Earth and has determined their pre-appointment times and the boundaries of their dwellings God's not opposed to boundaries or borders in fact when he divides up the land of Israel between the 12 tribes of Israel he gives land allotments according to particular boundaries and borders and if God is in favor of boundaries and borders then surely he's in favor of Defending those defined borders so National Defense is an important thing at the same time time know the heart of God he's also favorable toward the alien in Zechariah 7:10 it says do not oppress the widow or the fatherless the alien or the poor we should take care of the Widow the fatherless the alien and the poor but when it comes to immigration there is a right way and a legal way for aliens to come into our country there's a right way there's a legal way I I know many people who were not born the United States who have immigrated to the United States praise God we should be pro-immigration but I know many people who have done it the legal way the hard way it's taken them years years to get their American citizenship all the while there are millions how many now 20 million who have been streaming across the southern border into our country getting getting free hotels free cell phones free college education and why ultimately because some people think it'll develop into a voting block at the expense of our national security I have a personal friend who this is firsthand information who was down at the border last year he said Gary I saw on the other side of the Border pulling up several coach buses and you know who got off every single person in those several coach buses was a young military AG male from China coming right into our country where's the borders are where's the borders are so ask yourselves the question which candidate will best protect our national security number three I think the subject of Israel is important Genesis 12:3 God says clearly I will bless those who bless Israel and I will curse him who curses Israel and in you all the families of the Earth shall be blessed I I don't I don't think it's appropriate to support every policy of every foreign Nation I'm sure every foreign Nation doesn't support ours I don't support our own you know so I'm not saying that cart blanch everything Israel does is right but what I do know is God says we better be Israel's Ally because he will bless those who bless Israel and God will curse those who curse Israel and we cannot have our politicians cozying up to the enemies of Israel we there must not be daylight between the United States and Israel in terms of our support we have to stop criticizing the prime minister of of of Israel that man is in the most difficult position I could possibly imagine someone to be in and he's under tremendous pressure and scrutiny when Benjamin Netanyahu came and addressed a joint session of Congress on July the 25th 2024 I think it was a disgrace that vice president Harris as president of the Senate was not sitting behind him on the dis but in all fairness Senator JD Vance was out campaigning and he wasn't there either the United States must show its unwavering support for the nation of Israel because the threat against Israel is great from Hamas Hezbollah the proxies of Iran and we must be putting pressure on Iran and stop unfreezing their assets and doing all we can to show our unwavering support for Israel cuz he who blesses Israel will be blessed and whoever curses Israel will be cursed and you need to ask yourself which candidate will best support the nation of Israel number four religious liberty is important especially to us there are 613 laws in the Old Testament when you count them all and God summarizes the most important in 10 of them that are found in Exodus chapter 20 the first of the Ten Commandments is what we call the conscience Clause it's Exodus 20:3 you shall have no other gods before me why is this a conscience Clause because it means that if my allegiance is supremely to God there are no other gods nothing else and no one else I worship above God then that means I should not be required to bow down to or submit to anything or anyone that conflicts or competes with my loyalty and allegiance to the supreme god of heaven so this is why we call it the conscience Clause we need to start to ask ourselves in this election who will defend American conscience particularly on the level of religious freedom it means that doctors who object to performing abortions on religious grounds won't be forced to it means that cak makers and graphic designers and photographers who object to providing their services on religious grounds won't be forced to it means that companies that object to providing abortifacient drugs as part of their Health Care Program won't be forced to it means that Christians who object to taking a VX on religious grounds won't lose their jobs so ask yourselves which candidate is going to preserve religious Liberties and America's conscience because we only have one supreme god that we should bow down to number five the issue of biological sex god makes it clear in Genesis 1:27 God created man in his own image in the image of God he created him male and female he created them God assigns biological sex in the womb we don't get to decide if we want to be a different gender and to support that legitimize it or celebrate that is contributing to mental illness instead of helping people to realize the beautiful design that God created them to be and that's what we should be about Booker T Washington said quote a lie doesn't become truth wrong doesn't become right and evil doesn't become good just because it's accepted by a majority end quote 14 States currently have what are called transgender Health Care shield laws among them Minnesota Governor Tim Waltz signed legislation last year making Minnesota a trans Refuge State listen to this if a minor child has been unable to obtain gender confirming care because one or both parents object the Minnesota law allows courts to have quote temporary emergency jurisdiction over the child Governor Walt signed that into law they're coming after your children and all this gender confusion has led to biological boys competing in girls Sports using girls restrooms and denying girls their fundamental protection and the Title Nine rights that they deserve so which candidate will best protect God's design of biological sex number six family this is out of Psalm 1273 behold children are a Heritage from the Lord the fruit of the womb is a reward I don't need to tell you we've all seen parental rights have been incrementally stripped we've had to fight for parental rights children are being targeted by Progressive evil agendas that's not an overstatement that is happening we have to fight for our children God has designed the family and is he has entrusted children to our care they don't belong to the state they belong to God and God has entrusted them to us so we better manage what is what he's entrusted well and realize that if Government tries to intrude in the family it's a violation of what God's design is intended children are a Heritage from the Lord they are fruit of the womb from him number seven and I'll end with this one the topic of life in Acts 3:15 God is called the author of life and in Proverbs 6:17 it says God hates hands that shed innocent blood so the question is which candidate will best protect protect life now this is where some of you may not like to hear what I have to say on this but I I got to say it anyway because the truth of the matter is this we do not have a pro-life candidate in this race for President we don't Donald Trump has moved much more in the center much more left than what he was in 2016 in 2020 he is now going around advocating for a 15-week ban on abortion in case people don't understand CU I think it's a misleading label I think it should be referred to as a 15we allowance okay the 15we ban that he's in favor of means that you can have abortions through 15 weeks and then we shouldn't have anymore all right let me quote to you cdc's own number are you ready for this 95% of all abortions in America happen in the first 15 weeks when someone is going around saying I'm for allowing abortions for 15 weeks you are in effect saying I'm for killing babies just a little bit less than the other person okay I got to say this I got to say this Donald Trump by his influence has stripped the Republican National platform of its language the strong language that used to support life in 2016 and in 2020 the number of words the Republican platform protecting life in 2016 and 2020 1300 words it's been paired down to in 2024 90 words the protection of life is not there like it once was and this is of great concern to me what is tragic in our nation right now is that in all truthfulness the Republican party today on the in the area of a abortion is what the Democrat Party was 30 years ago 30 years ago Bill Clinton was the one who said that abortion should be safe legal and rare that's basically what many in the Republican Party are saying today we've become the Democrat Party of 30 years ago on this topic now of course the other side is far worse the other side is far worse the Democrat Party has gone even further left on abortion and believes that it should be legal in all cases up until the moment of delivery this is comma Harris's position advocating for no restrictions on abortion celebrating murder and then using as a campaign slogan it's just Reproductive Rights no it's murdering babies and in case you don't think she's serious about it why is it that it was allowed outside the doors of the Democratic National Convention for there to be a mobile abortion Clinic aborting babies as they were having their convention if that does not speak to evil I don't know what does and how can someone vote for that that is what is being reflected by that party as my friend Seth grber said those who murder The Unborn cannot be trusted to govern the born [Applause] my last point is this number three voting is not just a right I'm convinced it's a duty in Luke 12 Jesus teaches a parable about two servants who work for the same Master the master goes away and he entrusts his work and his possessions to the servants and when he comes back what does he find well well one he calls an evil servant because that one did not take care of he was not a good Steward of what God had entrusted to him but the other one he calls a wise and faithful servant because he took care of what the master had entrusted to him it's a picture of Christ Christ has gone away he's the master we are just serving him and God entrusts a lot to us and one of the things he has entrusted to us is the wonderful privilege As Americans of living in the greatest and freest country in the world the United States of America and he's entrusted this freedom to us and we know the saying freedom is never free and so what are we going to do with what he's entrusted to us are we just going to sit it out are we just going to say well let everybody else vote I I don't like this I don't like that so I'm just going to sit it out listen as disparaging as this sounds every election has been about the lesser of two evils the lesser of two evils and we have to decide what can we do to advance the kingdom of God for the glory of God and stem the tide of evil in our land until Jesus comes cuz if we do nothing if we check out if we remain silent evil will rush into the vacuum that's why it is an incumbent upon every single one of us to be engaged in all of this yes I know you might have to hold your nose when you go to vote but the alternative is far worse what will happen if we don't stay engaged listen to me on this there are 90 million self-identified evangelicals in America who are eligible to vote 90 million of that 90 million 40 million do not vote and of that 90 million 15 million are not even registered to vote that's 55 million Evangelical Christians who are saying I'll let evil take over because I'm going to do nothing that's a disgrace we have no one to blame except ourselves and we have Wicked policies righteousness exalts a nation sin is a reproach to any people when the righteous are in Authority the people rejoice when the wicked are in Authority the people groan I don't know about you I'm tired of groaning I don't want to groan so it's a duty it's not just a right and a privilege it's a duty we can remain silent God used I think a great person William wilburforce God used wilburforce in British Parliament to effectively outlaw slavery throughout the British colonies it was his Christian faith that moved him to take the lead on this and wilburforce said quote let it not be said that I was silent when they needed me now listen I'll wrap this up I'll be honest with you and maybe you can tell through some of the things I've said I'm not an enthus I am not an enthusiastic voter this year I'm going to vote but I'm not enthusiastic not as much as I was in 2016 or 2020 not as much as I was the first time I voted in 1984 for well but but but it is our right and our duty to vote um I I will say this I have I've never met vice president Harris I have met Donald Trump twice he is as raw and unfiltered in person as he is in public I was sitting with a group of about 10 pastors up in uh um New Jersey at his place in New Jersey and um he was unfiltered even in front of us and and using foul language and I'm sitting there going we're pastors and he and he still doesn't even care enough to watch his mouth around us there there are things I personally don't appreciate about him but his policies some of them and so I think of what Frederick Douglas once said quote I will Unite with anyone to do right and no one to do wrong I will Unite with anyone to do right and no one to do wrong in World War II the United States joined forces with a bad guy Stalin to defeat a worse guy Hitler and sometimes that's what we do we say I don't particularly like this individual don't even agree with all their policies but I got to fight a greater evil and so sometimes we do what we need to do not because it's an enjoyable thing to do but it's the better of the choices and I close with this in the 1940s Adolf Hitler gathered all the prominent clergy in Germany at his place in Berlin and he wanted to reassure them that he had their backs churches in Germany were state subsidized and Hitler said to all these prominent clergy he said don't worry with me in charge I will take care of your subsidies your churches would not be harmed one of those clergy in the room at that time a great man of Faith Dietrich Bon hoofer stepped up to confront Hitler and when he did the other clergy took a step back and Bon Hofer said ER itler we are not concerned for the church for Jesus Christ will take care of his church we are concerned for the soul of Germany and Hitler said to him air boner you do not need to worry about the soul of Germany I will take care of the soul of Germany friends government is not the answer for the soul of a Nation Jesus is and may God bring Revival again to the United States of America he's our only hope he's our only hope so so until Jesus comes until Jesus comes get out there vote be his embassadors be salt and light in this world and Advance the kingdom of God for the glory of God to stem the tide of evil in our land until Jesus comes let your voices be heard let your votes be counted and let go God arise and let his enemies be scattered amen and amen to the glory of God to the glory of God