(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Amen. Alright, we're there in Joshua chapter number 5. I'd like you to keep your place right there. We're going to come right back to it. But go with me if you would just real quickly to the book of Psalms. Psalm 33. So keep your place right there in Joshua. We're going to come right back to it. But go with me to the book of Psalms. Psalm 33. If you open up your Bible just right in the center, you'll more than likely fall in the book of Psalms. Psalm 33. And today, as we've already announced, we are beginning a brand new series entitled Mixing Politics and Religion. And the reason I chose that title is because today, you know, you talk to people and they act like it's the unpardonable sin to mix politics and religion. And you can't, you shouldn't do that. And separation of church and state and all of that. And we're going to spend the next several weeks actually as we go into this election. And the only reason I'm doing this during the election time is because during this time, people are thinking about politics and thinking about these things. And I want us to learn about what the Bible teaches about politics. The Bible teaches us everything we need to know about everything. And the Bible is what we need to always reference back to when it comes to what we should think, what we should believe, how we should act. We should always go back to the Bible. In this series, what we're going to do is we're going to learn from the Word of God how we should think about and also what we should do as Bible-believing Christians regarding politics. I feel like there's a little bit of an echo, Brother David. You can help me with that. I'd appreciate it. So we're going to talk about how we should think about these things and also our actions, what we should do in regards to politics. Now let me just go ahead and say this because when it comes to our type of churches and within Christianity, there's a lot of different extremes when it comes to politics. And we're going to talk about some of those throughout the series. But I will say this, within our type of Christianity, and of course that would be kind of the conservative Christian, you know, Christian churches, there is a major imbalance that many, not all, but many conservative Christians have and many conservative Christian churches have and many conservative Christian pastors have. And it is that they put Christianity and patriotism almost on the same level, if not on the same level. And what I want to do this morning is just kind of give an introductory sermon to get us grounded in this idea of politics and religion. And we're going to talk about this. We're going to learn lots of things in this series, but I want to begin this morning by just helping us understand what the Bible teaches about these things. And we're going to talk about three terms today, God, country, and government. God, country, and government. And let me just say this, if you are not used to a Bible-believing church or a Bible-preaching preacher, and you say, I thought all preachers were, you know, preached the Bible. Well, you've got a lot to learn then. But if you're not used to a church that checks all of its theology based off the Word of God, a church that is not interested in just formatting itself to what the average church believes or the average American believes, then you need to just mentally prepare yourself right now. Because look, everything we believe around here needs to be proven from the Word of God. It needs to come from the Bible. We can't say, well, we believe it because this is what, you know, all Christians believe. No, we believe what the Word of God says, period. And we want to begin here in Psalm 33 and verse 12, and let me just go ahead and give you this verse, Psalm 33 verse 12. The Bible says this, blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. The Bible says blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. Today you have a lot of people, you know, saying God blessed America. Now let me ask you a question, though. Is God really, God the Lord, Jehovah God, really the God of America? Because the Bible says blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people who may have chosen for his own inheritance. We're going to begin today by just this introductory sermon on the subject of God, country, and government. Go back to the book of Joshua, if you would, but as you turn there, let me just begin by kind of defining these terms or helping you understand. Why do we need to understand these terms, God, country, and government, or why do we need to differentiate them? Number one, we must understand God, and God is not the same as country, and they are not on the same level. Now you might say, well, nobody puts God and country on the same level. Oh, really? Have you ever heard this term? We need to go do this for God and country. Well, when people say, you know, we're going to go fight this battle for God and country, we're going to go fight this war for God and country, we're going to build this economy for God and country, you know what they're doing is they're placing God and country on the same level. Please understand something, God is not the same as country. They are not on the same level. Let me say this, country is not the same as government. Country is not the same as government, and we are to differentiate the two. There's a quote by one of our founding fathers, it's commonly attributed to Thomas Paine, though there is no proof that he said it, but the quote says this, the duty of a true patriot is to protect his country from its government. Please understand that there is a difference between God and country, and there is a difference between country and government. Country and government is the system, the structure, with the authority to conduct policy, actions, and affairs of the state. That is different than country, and that is different than God. So with those introductory statements, let's go ahead and jump into the sermon. I'd encourage you to write some of these things down, especially if this is new to you, you might want to jot some of these things down. That way, look, you shouldn't believe what you believe because Pastor Jimenez said it. I'm going to prove everything to you from the word of God, but you know, maybe you can write these things down. And study it, and look at it. Now, if going home and studying it is watching YouTube videos, then just quit fooling yourself, alright? Studying is harder than watching a video. Studying means you open up the Bible that God gave you, and you actually read and study the word of God, alright? So when I say study, you know, I say study and most people think, YouTube videos? No, no, no. I'm talking about open up the word of God and study what God actually says. So let me give you some statements in regards to what the Bible teaches about these things. Number one, we should give our allegiance to God. We should give our allegiance to God. This is what the Bible teaches. And please understand this, and you're not going to hear this in many churches today, but God is above countries. God is above all countries, and God is above all nations. In Joshua chapter 5, we actually have a perfect example of this, and we could look at many passages and look at many illustrations, but Joshua chapter 5 is a great example of this because of the fact that Joshua, who is leading the children of Israel, and by the way, let me say this, this is the children of Israel in the Old Testament. This is God's people, not the synagogue of Satan of today, but these are actually God's people, the children of Israel, doing what God has called them to do. Joshua has led them into Canaan land, crossed over the Jordan River, and he's getting ready to fight the first battle at Jericho. Notice Joshua chapter 5 and verse 13. The Bible says this, And it came to pass when Joshua, now when you see Joshua there, just think this, he is the commander in chief. He is the boss. He is the leader. He's not a king. He's not a president, but he's the one that God put in charge. The Bible says, And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, there stood a man over against him. Now, let me just say this, and I'm going to prove this to you from the passage here in a minute, but that man is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ appearing in the Old Testament. Theologically, it was referred to as a Christophany. It is Christ appearing in the Old Testament. You say, well, Christ wasn't even born to the New Testament. Yes, but he is God. He is the I Am. He has always existed, and here we have Jesus appearing to Joshua on the plains of Jericho. The Bible says, There stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went unto him and said unto him. Now, I want you to notice the question that Joshua asks. He's asked a very specific question. He says, Art thou for us? Now, when he says us, he is referring to the nation of Israel. He says, Art thou for us or for our adversaries? When he talks about the adversaries, he is referring to the nations of Canaan. Because the nations he's about to go into battle with. He says, Are you for us, the nation of Israel, or are you for our adversaries, the nation of Canaan? If Joshua was alive today and he was an American, you know, here's how he would say it. He'd say, Are you for the Americans or are you for the Muslims? Right? Are you for the Americans or are you for the Russians? Are you for the Americans or are you for the North Koreans? Are you for the Americans or are you for, you know, Nazi Hitler? Whatever illustration you want to use. Joshua's asking a very specific question. By the way, I don't fault Joshua. If I'm out, I'm the commander in chief. I'm out praying and meditating out on the field. If some guy shows up with a sword, I want to ask, Hey, are you with us or against us? That's what he's asking. He says, Are you with us? Art thou for us or for our adversaries? Now, it's a question that has a specific answer. I am for you. I am against you. I want you to notice the answer that comes from the Lord Jesus Christ is an odd answer. He says this, verse 14, And he said, Nay. The interesting thing that it's not a yes or no question. The word nay means no. It can also mean rather. It means no, actually, instead. No, rather. Joshua says, Are you for us or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay. Are you for the Americans or the Russians? No. Are you for the Americans or North Koreans? No. That wasn't a yes or no question, Jesus. Are you for the Americans or the Islamic radical? No. The answer is no. He says, And he said, Nay, but as captain of the host of the Lord, am I now come? What can we learn from that? Here's what we can learn from that. God is above countries and nations. God's for America. No, nay. God's for America versus our unpatriotic enemy. Nay. God is not for any nation. God is above every nation. I understand, look, I understand that this sermon and this series is going to get me all sorts of emails and attacks and people are going to say, You're a communist from Venezuela. You know, the fact that I served in the United States Air Force and received an honorable discharge doesn't count for anything. And by the way, we have a lot of veterans here in our church and many of them agree with this sermon and this philosophy. It has nothing to do with, you know, being a communist. But please understand something. If the question is, Do you give your allegiance to a country? The answer is nay, because our allegiance belongs to God. We should give our allegiance to God. Art thou for us or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay. He said, but as the captain of the host of the Lord, am I now come? What does that mean? Here's what he's saying. He's saying, I'm not for you or against you. I came to take charge of you. Joshua fell on his face to the earth and did worship and said unto him, What sayeth my Lord unto his servant? And this is how we know that it was Jesus in the flesh, because he says he's a man and he worships him as God. And the captain of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Lose thy shoe from off thy foot for the place wherein thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so. See, God is above countries. God is above nations. You don't have to turn there. In fact, I'd like you to go to the Book of Deuteronomy if you would. You're there in Joshua. You just go back one book into the Book of Deuteronomy. I'll read to you from Isaiah 40 verse 17. You can just jot this down if you want or it's actually in your bulletin. You can look at it in your bulletin if you'd like. Isaiah 40, 17, the Bible says this, All nations before him are as nothing. Even America? Yeah, all nations. We're not Calvinists. When the Bible says all, it means all. All nations before him are as nothing and they are counted to him less than nothing and vanity. Please understand this. Please understand this. God is above all nations. God is above all nations. And let me just point something out for you and help you understand. If it bothers you that I say that, if it bothers you that I say, hey, God, because it doesn't bother you that I say, God is above North Korea. Amen! God is above Russia. Amen! God is above Cuba. Amen! God is above America. Well, wait a minute, preacher. Wait a minute. Why do we get that reaction? I promise you we get that reaction. There will be e-mails. There will be comments. Why do we get that reaction? Why does it bother you that the Bible says that all nations before him are as nothing and they are counted to him less than nothing? Please understand this. God does not get on the agenda of nations. Nations get on the agenda of God. God is above countries and nations. Yesterday my wife and I were driving down the road and we see that street preacher on San Juan and North Gate. You know, he used to visit our church for a while and then he actually protested against us during the protest. And he's out there, you know, he's always preaching all sorts of silly false gospel, repent of your sins garbage. He's out there yesterday and we see him and he's got a little bullhorn and he's preaching and he has this ginormous Mexican flag, just waving this Mexican flag. You know, I'm driving around thinking to myself, what is, and you know, I love Mexico and I love Mexican people and our church is filled with Mexican people, but you've got to ask yourself this question. What does the Mexican flag have anything to do with the gospel of Jesus Christ? He's out there preaching the gospel supposedly while waving this ginormous Mexican flag and you think, what does one have to do with the other? But wait a minute, the average independent fundamental Baptist church in America today has a ginormous American flag as their background on their pulpit. And you've got to ask this question, what does the American flag have anything to do with Christianity? I don't know why this is, one of the sermons that I've received the most hate for is a sermon entitled God's not an American. I didn't think that was a deep theological, you know, God's not an American, what? I didn't know that. Well let me tell you something, God's not an American, God's not a Mexican, God's not, God is above countries and nations. All nations before him are as nothing and they are counted to him less than nothing in vanity. God is above all countries. Let me just say this, God, Bible believing Christian, supposedly, right? I mean I would hope you're here this morning and you say I'm a Bible believing Christian. Okay, well let me tell you what the Bible requires of you, what God requires of you, God requires complete allegiance. Are you there in Deuteronomy chapter 6? Deuteronomy chapter 6, look at verse 5. Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 5, I'm going to show you some verses from the book of Deuteronomy but honestly we could spend the whole morning going past verse and verse and verse throughout the Old Testament and New Testament that both teach the same concept. I'm just going to show it to you from Deuteronomy for sake of time but there's lots of verses like this throughout the entire Bible, you can study it on your own. Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 5, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all, notice that word all, with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might. He says look, you need to love the Lord thy God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might. Now when you look at that you got to ask yourself, okay, if I have to love the Lord my God with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my might, what does that leave? And the answer is not much. You know that God requires complete allegiance? Go to Deuteronomy chapter number 11, Deuteronomy chapter number 11, look at verse 13, Deuteronomy chapter number 11 and verse 13. Deuteronomy 11 verse 13, the Bible says this, and it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God and to serve him with, notice what the Bible says, all your heart and with all your soul. Look at verse 22, same chapter, Deuteronomy 11 verse 22, the Bible says this, for if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you to do them, notice the words, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways and to cleave unto him. Go to Deuteronomy chapter 30 and verse number 6, and again I'm just showing you that God demands, God commands, Paul in the New Testament would say Christ which is my life. God requires and God commands and God demands complete allegiance. Deuteronomy chapter 30 and verse 6, the Bible says this, and the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart and the heart of thy seed, to love, notice, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, with all thy soul that thou mayest live. Look, he says, love the Lord thy God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might. Love him with all your heart and all your soul. Love the Lord your God, walk in all his ways, cleave unto him with all your heart, with all your soul. What does that leave? Nothing. And by the way, and we won't take the time to do it, but Jesus in the New Testament, in fact you go to Matthew if you would, Matthew chapter 5, in the New Testament Jesus reiterated this, to love the greatest commandment is to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy might. To love him with all your strength, to love him with all your being. Now look, if God requires us to give him all, then there is room for nothing else. Please understand this, God requires allegiance. What does the word allegiance mean? It means loyalty or commitment of a subordinate to a superior or of an individual to a group or cause. God requires loyalty and commitment, complete allegiance to him. The sermon this morning is entitled, I Pledge Allegiance. And we're going to be talking about what it is and who it is that we should honestly pledge our allegiance to. I'm not necessarily preaching on the pledge of allegiance that we recite as Americans, but let me just go ahead and say this, the Bible says that we should pledge our allegiance to God. And by the way, let me just say this, the Bible actually tells us, Jesus actually tells us that we should not swear, that we should not make vows or make an oath. Can somebody please explain to me why across the United States of America today church after church after church are standing together and pledging their allegiance to the flag? I mean, you find conservative Christian churches all across the nation, entire congregations standing and saying, I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God. Really? And the Bible says, excuse me to mess you up with the Bible. And the Bible says, Matthew 5, verse 34, if you've got a red letter of this in the Bible, these words will be in red because these are actually the words that Jesus spoke, not that they're any more important than any other part of the scripture, I just think it's interesting. Jesus said this, he said this, but I say unto you, swear not at all, neither by heaven, for it is God's throne, nor by the earth, for it is his footstool, neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king, neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black, but let your communication be yea, yea, nay, nay, for whatsoever is more than these cometh to evil. You know what Jesus said? Jesus said, don't swear, don't vow, don't make an oath, just say yes or no. Are thou for us or against us? Nay. He says, let your communication be yea, yea, nay, nay. What's a swear? What does it mean to swear? Here's the definition. To make a solemn statement or promise, undertaking to do something or affirming that something is the case. What's a pledge? I don't think there's anything wrong with the pledge of allegiance. Okay, you know, I'm not against you. You want to do a pledge of allegiance, go for it. I'm just telling you what the Bible says. What's a pledge? Here's the definition. A solemn promise or undertaking. A pledge is a solemn promise. What does it mean to swear? A solemn statement or promise. It's the same thing. Pledge, in fact, the synonym for the word pledge is oath, promise, or vow. Oath, promise, vow, pledge, swear. These are all words that mean the same thing. The Bible tells us, the Bible tells us, that we're not supposed to swear. But I say unto you, swear not at all. Neither shalt thou swear. He says, let your yea be yea and nay, nay. He says, look, when it comes to Bible even Christians, we shouldn't have to swear. Oh, I swear, no, I swear. You shouldn't have to do it. Look, you should have enough character and integrity of your life that when you say yes, it's yes. When you say no, it's no. In fact, in our nation, in our nation, because of the fact that there used to be a time, that time is long gone now, but our nation, there used to be a time when there was many Christians who understood the Bible and believed the Bible. In our nation, they actually made it legally a thing, where when you are to swear, you know, before a judge or before a jury or whatever, when you are to give, that you could do it by oath or affirmation. That legally you did not have to, you know, I swear to tell the whole truth, you know, the truth, the whole truth, not the Bible, that you could just do it by affirmation. What does affirmation mean? It means that you're just affirming yes or no. That you're going to say, no, my religious convictions keep me from swearing because Jesus told me not to swear, not to pledge, not to make an oath, and I'm just telling you the truth. Affirmation. Yea, yea, nay, nay. So I'm not preaching about the Pledge of Allegiance, but if you're interested, there you go. I don't have anything wrong with that. Okay. Jesus had to swear not at all. Jesus says, neither shall thou swear. Jesus said, but let your communication be yea, yea, nay, nay. Go to the Book of Romans if you would. You're there in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans. I realize I've already lost some of you and that's fine. This is what the Bible says. And look, here's what I'm telling you. Disprove what I'm telling you from the Bible. What have I said so far? Here's what I've said. God requires complete allegiance. Disprove that from the Bible. Show me in the Bible where God said, no, no, you're supposed to give your allegiance to a nation. Show me that. Here's what I've said so far. God doesn't want you to swear. Prove that to me from the Bible. Here's what I've said so far. God is above nations. Disprove that from the Bible. If you can disprove it from the Bible, then you're good to go. Then I'll take it, I'll receive it, I'll accept it. Here's point number two. I said, number one, we should give our allegiance to God. Here's point number two. We can have affection for our country. Please understand this. I'm not standing up here saying, I hate America. We need to, you know, get our muskets and go fight the government. Bring back the 1776. And by the way, let me tell you something. The reason that the Revolutionary War could be fought is because they were fighting a world power across the ocean with technology like muskets. You think you're going to fight the government today? You're crazy. We're going into an end times world government, a police state, all right? It's just a little different. And if you don't understand that, I don't know how to help you. Look, the Bible says what it says. There's coming a one world government. There's coming a one world religion. It's the truth. It's a reality. And I'm here to tell you something. Your little God bless America is going to be heading it up. This American country will be leading the way for the anti-Christ. But please understand this. We should give our allegiance to God. We should give our allegiance to God. But we can have affection for our country. And when I say that, what I really mean is that you can have affection for your earthly countrymen. You don't love America. You know, I love Americans. Well, we've given the last 10 years to create a church, an army of soul winners that goes out every week and knocks doors and preaches to God. Tell me something more loving you can do than try to save a soul from hell. Romans chapter 9 and verse 1. Notice what the apostle Paul said. Romans chapter 9 and verse 1, the Bible says this, I say the truth in Christ. I lie not. Now, Paul prefaces a statement by saying, look, what I'm about to tell you is the truth. It's not a lie. And he has to say this because what he's about to say is so radical that you and I would think, ah, Paul, you're lying. I say the truth in Christ. I lie not. My conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost. Notice verse 2. That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. Notice he says, for I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ. Here's what he's saying. He's saying I would wish, I could wish that I would die and go to hell is what he says. He says, I could wish that my soul were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh. He says, you know, I'm burdened. He says my heart is broken because of the fact that my kinsmen, my brethren have rejected the gospel. He said, in fact, if I could go to hell so they could be saved, I would. That's what he's saying. What's he talking about? He's talking about his countrymen. Look at verse 4. Who are Israelites? To whom pertaineth the adoption and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the service of God and promises. See, Paul, I would submit to you, Paul, you know, Paul wrote a lot of negative things against the Jews. I mean, if you don't know that, you haven't read the New Testament. He says all sorts of negative things about the Jews and the Jews' religion and all the wicked things they did, but you know what? He didn't love their religious system and their government system, but he loved the people. He said, in fact, he said if I could die and go to hell so they could get saved, I would. So please understand this. You know, we're kind of laying the foundation for how we should think about these things. Number one, we should give our allegiance completely to God, but we can have affection for our country. Look, you can have love for your earthly countrymen, and you should. You should love the people around you. We should want to see them get saved and walk with God. But please understand this. You know I can love my countrymen and have allegiance to God. Because of the fact that you, you're there in Romans, go back to the book of John, if you would. If you go backwards, you have Acts and then the book of John. John chapter 15. Do me a favor. When you get to John, put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there because we're going to leave it and we're going to come back to it. John chapter 15. Let's just talk about what does the Bible teach about these things? Look, you can have love for your earthly countrymen. In fact, I think you should. Why did we have eighty-two soul winners go out knocking doors yesterday? Because we have love for our earthly countrymen. Why have we planted five churches over the last ten years up and down this state and the west coast? Why have we done that and in other parts? Because we have love for our earthly countrymen and other countrymen. Why do we do what we do? Because we love people. So saying, hey, our allegiance belongs completely to God doesn't mean that we cannot have affection for our country. You can have affection for your country. You can have love for your countrymen. But please understand this. When you got saved, and maybe you don't understand this, maybe you haven't been taught this, maybe I failed to teach this to you, but when you got saved, you became a citizen of a different country. You became a citizen of a heavenly country. Let's look at it. John 15, look at verse 19. John 15 verse 19. If ye were of the world, notice what it says. If ye were of the world, this is Jesus speaking, the world would love his own. Some of you are like, oh, now I get why everybody hates you, pastor. Yeah. If I was of this world, the world would love his own. Yeah, the Bible says that if every man speaks well of you, there's a problem. If the world loves you, look, if the world loves you, if the world hated the Lord Jesus Christ, you say, ah, the world didn't hate the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, really? That's why they crucified him, right? How did the ministry of Christ end? Oh, right, they killed him. They hated him. And I'm supposed to believe that as a minister and a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, the world's not going to hate me? And by the way, let me just say this. I'm going to preach about this. But when you're supposedly a minister and a follower of Jesus Christ, and everybody loves you, Billy Graham, everybody loves you, Joel Osteen, everybody loves you, there's a problem there. They didn't love Jesus. But I say unto Jesus, excuse me, John 15, 19, if he were of the world, the world would love his own. But because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Go to John 17, look at verse 14. John 17, verse 14. John 17, verse 14, the Bible says this, I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. You know the Bible says that as Bible-believing Christians, you and I are not of this world? Look at verse 15, I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world. We're not going to become Amish, go get some land somewhere and get away from everything. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. Look at verse 16, they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. John 18, look at verse, and look, I'm just showing you a few verses we could look at a lot more. John 18, verse 36. John 18, verse 36, Jesus answered, my kingdom is not of this world. My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, please get this. Look at this. You know that people attacked me? We had a group that quit our church and tried to take as many people out of the church as possible. And their whole thing was, this is a wicked country, we got to raise arms against the government, and Pastor Jimenez, you need to lead it. And I'm like, wait a minute, no, no, no, hold on. Yeah, right, so I can get out there on the front, I look behind me and they're all gone, right? No, we got to fight the government, we need a new revolution. Oh really? My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight? That I should not be delivered to the Jews, but now is my kingdom not from heaven? You know how Jesus actually said, hey, don't fight for this kingdom, this is not my kingdom. I'll take up arms and fight, it's a battle for the Lord. I don't know who you think you're fighting for, but my Lord, his kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, Jesus said, then would my servants fight? One day I am going to fight, it'll be with the Lord Jesus Christ on a white throne at the Battle of Armageddon. Until then, you go ahead and keep your draft. When you got saved, you became a citizen of a heavenly country. Go to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. You're there in John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 2. You say, oh, all these passages you're showing us, these were all just, Jesus was just being, you know, it's hyperbole and he's just using illustrations, it's not, it's not, you know, legally like we're just part of a different nation. Okay, Ephesians chapter 2, look at verse 19. Let's get into some, you know, legal terminology. Ephesians chapter 2, verse 19. And I don't have time to preach through the entire passage of Ephesians 2, I've done that. You can go on our website, on our YouTube channel, find Ephesians 2 and get the entire context. I'll just show you one verse, Ephesians 2, 19. Now, therefore, ye, and the ye there, if you look at it in its context, is the Gentiles or the uncircumcision. He says, now, therefore, ye, he says, are no more strangers. He says, you used to be strangers and foreigners. You used to be strangers to the nation of Israel. He says, now, therefore, ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God. You know, not only did you get saved and you became a child of God and you're part of the household of God, you also became a fellow citizen with the saints. With a heavenly country. When you got saved, you not only got a new family, you got a new country. Go to Hebrews chapter number 11. Hebrews chapter number 11. If you start from the end of the Bible and you head back, you have Revelation, Jude, 3 and 1 John, 2 and 1 Peter, James, Hebrews, Hebrews chapter number 11. Hebrews chapter number 11. You can't have love for your earthly country, man. I think you should. We can have affection for our country, but please never misunderstand this. You are a citizen. If you're saved, you're a citizen of a different country. I thank the Lord that when I was growing up, we moved here, I might as well say it, they're going to post it all over Facebook anyway. I was born in Venezuela. Moved here when we were four years old. I thank the Lord, I thank the Lord that I did not grow up in a home. My mom and dad taught us growing up, you know, we didn't fly the Venezuelan flag! And we didn't fly the American flag. Growing up, this is what we were taught, hey, we're Christians. Our allegiance belongs to God. Our allegiance, when we got saved, we became citizens of a new country. Hebrews chapter 11, verse 13, Hebrews 11, verse 13. You say, I just don't think this is very scriptural. Really? Because I'm really showing you a lot of scriptures about this. Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 13, these all died in faith. By the way, Hebrews 11 is that great hall of faith. All of the Old Testament saints who exercised great faith, these all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off and were persuaded of them and embraced them. This is what they confessed, notice, and confessed. What does that mean? This is what they said. This is what they spoke. And confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. What's a stranger? It's a foreigner. They confessed that they were strangers. They were foreigners and pilgrims. What's a pilgrim? Someone who's traveling. Someone who's just passing through. They confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. And by the way, please understand this. When you got saved, you became a stranger and a pilgrim. You are on a journey to your heavenly country. I don't know why some of you get so concerned with this world. Just the things of this world I need. All the things this world has to offer. Hey, I'm just passing through. You know when you're traveling somewhere and you're not going to stay there very long? You don't try to take a bunch of stuff with you. They confessed that we were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Verse 14, for they that say such things, please don't miss this, declare plainly that they seek a country. This is prophecy of the United States of America. No, it's not. Verse 15, and truly, if they had been mindful of that country from when they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. That's what a lot of conservative Christians are doing today. But now, they desire a better country. You know what I desire? A better country. What's a better country? One where Jesus is the king and not Trump. I desire a better country. One where we uphold the laws of God and not destroy the laws of God. But now they desire a better country, that is, and heavenly, whereof God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city. Here's all I'm trying to tell you. Look, I'm not trying to offend you. I'm not trying to start a fight with you. But please understand this. When you got saved, you became a citizen of a different country. A heavenly country. Now, you can have affection for your earthly country men, and you should. You say, I love America. Okay, then we'll see you out soul winning. Oh, no, no, I love America. That means I put a flag out in my front yard. I'm not going to actually try to go get somebody saved. Okay, sure. I love America. Okay, then let's go out soul winning. That's what somebody said. I love Americans. And I love Filipinos and Mexicans, and I've knocked on doors in those places, too. Well, say to him, tell me you love America while you're letting America die and go to hell. And you know what would have helped America, and what would have saved America, and what would have been great for America, is if Bible believing Christians stood up and said, our allegiance belongs to God. Because the best citizens this country will ever know are citizens who say, I won't pledge allegiance to your flag, I won't give my allegiance to you, I'll follow the Lord Jesus Christ, and that will make you the greatest citizen the world has ever known. You know the husband who says, I will give my love completely to God, and my wife will come second in that love, will be a much better, a much greater husband than the one who says, I'll give all my time and energy to my wife. Okay, we'll see you in divorce court. You'll be a better parent if you love God more than you love your children. I just don't, that doesn't make any sense. Doesn't need to make sense. It's the Bible. Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you. We should give our allegiance to God. God is above countries and nations, God requires complete allegiance. We can give our affection to our country. You can have love for your country, early countrymen, and I think you should. But you are a citizen of a heavenly country. Number three, go to Romans chapter 13. This is the big one. You're not allowed to go to this passage during coronavirus. Romans chapter 13. You're there in Hebrews or John. If you kept your place in John, you have Acts, Romans. I said, number one, we should give our allegiance to God. I said, number two, we can have affection for our country or our countrymen. Please understand this. I'm not preaching, I'm not preaching that we should, oh, I should hate this country. Look, we should love America. In fact, I'm preaching like this because I love America. America does not need a bunch of preachers getting up and affirming her. America needs a bunch of preachers getting up and rebuking her. You can have affection for our country. Number three, we are under limited authority, under the limited authority of government. I knew it. Here's where it comes. The communist is coming out. Look, let me tell you something. The Bible is my boss. I don't care what you say. I don't care what you say and what your Bible college says. The Bible is my boss. And the Bible says that we are under the limited authority of government. Key word there is limited. But please understand this. We do not believe in anarchy. So before you come with your muskets and say, Pastor, lead the charge. We don't believe in anarchy. The Bible doesn't teach that. Romans 13, look at verse 1. Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. Pastor, I don't think you should be reading this right now. I mean, this is not going to go well with all the conspiracy people out there. I never try to build this church off of conspiracy theories. I'm going to read to you the word of God. This is what the Bible says. You can like it or you can lump it. This is the word of God. Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisted the power, resisted the ordinance of God. And they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. The Bible does not teach anarchy. The Bible teaches that government was created by God. Now, please understand this and don't lose me here. The Bible teaches that God created government. Today, I am teaching a sermon, preaching a sermon. Go to the book of Acts, if you would, Acts 5. Just go back one book. Today, I'm preaching about how we should think about things. Because look, you cannot understand what the Bible teaches about politics if you don't understand that as a Bible-believing Christian, my complete allegiance belongs to God. But I can have affection for my country. In fact, I should. And that God has given authority, God has given limited authority to government. We're not anarchists. We're not anarchists. And please understand this. There are two extremes within the conservative Christian movement. There are two extremes. One extreme is, you know, what we call the Fox News Baptist. Where just basically anything Fox News says, that's Bible. Trump good, Biden bad. Fox News said it, I believe it. Let me tell you something. Trump's bad, Biden's bad, Pelosi's bad, they're all bad! They're all wicked as hell. I don't think you should say, you're going to offend everybody. You know, it's like my spiritual gift. Honestly, I think God has given me this ability to take these positions that offends everyone. No one's happy. Because you know, usually as a Baptist preacher, you've got these two extremes. You've got the Fox News Baptist, then you've got the Chuck Baldwins, right? The libertarian, we're against the country, but every sermon's about citizenship and America and the Constitution. You know, so if you stand with the Fox News Baptist, then all these guys get mad at you. If you stand with these guys, then all the Fox News Baptists get mad at you. I don't stand with either one of them, they're all wrong, all of them are wrong. Hey, Chuck Baldwin, he's great! Oh really? You know, he sits there and makes fun of the Fox News Baptists for wrapping themselves around the American flag while he surrounds himself with the American flag. Look, there's something wrong with the church when every sermon, every sermon's about the Constitution. About your rights. Look, the Bible teaches that we have limited, that government has been instituted by God and government, biblically speaking, has limited authority. Key word there is limited. Acts 5, look at verse 29. Acts 5, 29. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men. Now look, don't take that to the extreme that says, therefore we should never obey anything the government says ever. We're always against the government and just our default is government's always wicked. That's how some conservative Christians are. Don't tell me that's not true. That's how some of you are. Everything the government does is wrong, I'm not going to obey any of it, though it says to drive 45 miles an hour, I'm going to drive 55 miles an hour. I'm going to drive 55 miles an hour. I'm against everything the government does. Well then you have a problem with God because God instituted government. God did not institute the government that you and I live in. He instituted government with limited authority. But he instituted government. We're not anarchists here. Don't come in here trying to think that we're going to go and wage war against, you take your musket somewhere else, okay? Maybe we'll give you some bow and arrows, I don't know. But at the same time, we're not Fox News Baptists. Trump good, Republican good, everything the American does is good, bless God. God's an American, no we're not that, we're definitely not that either. But the Bible teaches that we are under the limited authority of government. There is a time, there comes a time when we ought to obey God rather than man. Let me explain to you where we're going with this series. You're there in Acts 5, go to Acts chapter 1. Next week I'm going to preach a sermon called Separation of Churches State. And I'm going to teach you from the Bible, and some of you are not going to like this, because we're going to tie in the First Amendment. Religious freedom. Let me tell you something. And maybe I'll say this, maybe it will entice you to come back. Religious freedom might be an American concept, you didn't get it from the Bible. The Bible, the Bible, I'm sorry to mess you up with the Bible, but the Bible does not say, I never, I never, I'm going to get into my sermon next week, I missed that verse where God said, hey, the Muslims should have the freedom to worship his God. You got that from the Bible? No, you didn't. Separation of Churches State is not a concept found in the Bible. By the way, let me mess you up with this, it's not even a concept found in our Constitution. And it's not a concept even practiced by our country, and we'll talk about that next week. The week after that, I'm going to preach a sermon called Christian Civil Disobedience, because though we believe that government is instituted by God, we're going to talk about how government is instituted by God, which governments are instituted by God, because people get this idea, they're like, oh, well, when Obama was president, then of course that's not of God, but when George Bush was president, that was of God. That's where I met in the Bible. Say, I don't know what you're talking about, Pastor, or you just come back. We'll mess you all up. We're going to talk about the authority that God has given government and the limits that God has given government, because there is a time when we say we ought to obey God rather than men. But that's not every time. That's not everything. We'll talk about that. Week four, I'm going to preach a sermon called The Rulers of the Darkness of this World. Leading into Halloween, we just thought it would be a good one. The demons you need to be afraid of are the demons in Washington. And we'll talk about that and learn about that, and then we've got some other sermons after that. Please understand this. I'm not trying to offend you. I'm not trying to upset you. But as Bible-believing Christians, we must emphasize what God emphasizes. Do you understand that? We must emphasize what God emphasizes. By the way, one of the reasons that I like to, and this is not an example of it, but one of the reasons that I like to on Sunday nights and Wednesday nights preach what we call expository sermons, where we just preach through the Bible verse by verse, the reason I like to do that is because it allows us to emphasize what God emphasizes. We should emphasize what God emphasizes. And please understand this. I don't know if I'm going to get a lot of blowback from this and a lot of negative feedback, but look, if Christians were honest today, if conservative Christians were honest today, they would have to admit that many conservative Christians have overemphasized politics. I get these emails from these different people who do live streams and stuff, and they're like, oh, tonight we're doing a live stream, and I click on it, and it's like, tonight we're talking about the coronavirus. And I'm like, it's like the 50th live stream you've done on the coronavirus. Are you serious? What is there more to say? I don't like masks. Okay, I get it, you don't like masks. You really got to talk about that much? It's like the 40th sermon you've preached on that subject. Good night. And here's what I'm saying. Is that what God emphasizes in the Bible? See, if you preach the Bible, you'll end up emphasizing what God emphasizes. You teach the Bible, you'll emphasize what God emphasizes. Acts chapter 1, let's do what God emphasizes. Acts chapter 1, verse 6. When they, therefore, were come together, they, this is the disciples, asked of him, this is Jesus, by the way, this is Jesus after his resurrection, right before his ascension. When they, therefore, were come together, they asked him, saying, because look, look, Christians have always had this tendency to get sucked into politics. And here's the disciples, they said, okay, Jesus died, now he's resurrected, he's in his glorified body. Lord, look at the last part of verse 6, they're asking Jesus a question. Lord, will thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? I mean, a political question. Are we going to have a revolution? Should we get our muskets? Lord, will thou at this time restore again the kingdom of Israel? And he said unto them, it is not for you to know. The times are the seasons. By the way, that phrase, times or seasons, is connected to the end times. You know what Jesus is saying? He's saying, my kingdom will come when it's the millennial heavenly kingdom of Jesus Christ. There's no earthly kingdom that's going to give glory to me on this earth. That's what he's saying. It is not for you to know the times or seasons which the Father hath put in his own power. Look, we ought to emphasize what God emphasizes. Here they say, are you going to restore the kingdom? Nah. No, rather actually, isn't this interesting? But ye shall receive power. After that the Holy Ghost will come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in Judea, no, Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Why do you preach about so much? Because we emphasize what God emphasizes. Because you can barely preach through two or three chapters in the Bible and not find a connection or some sort of mandate or an illustration. To win souls. They said, hey, are you going to restore our nation? And he says, no, actually I'm going to send you out to every nation. Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Here's what I'm telling you. Please get this. Here's what I'm telling you. If Jesus was alive today, he'd not be making video after video after video about wearing masks. I hate to burst your bubble. I don't like wearing masks either. That's not what he'd be focused on. He wouldn't just be preaching sermon after sermon after sermon about the Constitution and the coronavirus. You know what he'd be doing? He'd be doing what he was doing back then, preaching the Gospel. As Bible-believing Christians, we should emphasize what God emphasizes. Throughout the Bible, God does not emphasize believers getting involved in politics. Now the Bible teaches us a lot about government and politics. We're going to spend the next several weeks talking about it. I'm not an anarchist. There is government that God has created with authority, limited authority. There has been Christian civil disobedience all throughout the Old Testament and New Testament. We're going to look at it. There are times for us to stand up and say we ought to obey God rather than men. But the Bible still says that we are to be subject unto higher powers. Well now you sound like a, no, but my allegiance is to God. My affection to our country. And the limited authority goes to the government. This is what the Bible says. And I'm sorry, you're not going to find this sermon preached at the average conservative Christian church. I understand that. But here's the question. I mean, you show me, here's where God said, here's a prophecy of George Washington. Okay, you show me that and I'll get up next week and say, sorry, I missed it. Thomas Paine, right there. It's not there. God is above nations. God is above countries. God, are you for us or against us? Nay. No. Neither. Rather. Will thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? Ye shall receive power. After that the Holy Ghost has come upon you. I mean, is it interesting, do you understand that things are put into context for reasons? They asked a political question and he answered with a soul winning answer. The attack hurled at me is, you're not political enough, you're just always talking about soul winning. Well excuse me for being, trying to be like the Lord Jesus Christ. We should emphasize what the Bible emphasizes. We should not emphasize what the Bible does not emphasize. And unfortunately the reason that the average preacher in America, the average Christian in America, the average Bible believing, conservative, patriotic, apple pie eating, murica loving, Christian can't tell the difference is because they just don't spend enough time. They spend more time with Fox News than they do with the word of God. They spend more time with YouTube and conspiracy theories than they do with the word of God. They spend more time on all this political stuff than they do with the word of God. Then somebody shows up with the word of God and says, well actually let me show you what the Bible says. You're a communist! You know, call me whatever you want, I'm a Bible believing Christian. And my allegiance, my allegiance belongs to God. My allegiance belongs to God. My affection to our countrymen who we love and want to reach with the gospel. Because we emphasize what God has emphasized. There is authority given to government that is limited. But as Christians we must emphasize what God emphasizes. Let's bow our heads in the word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord thank you for making things so clear in scripture. And we as Christians want to muddy things up, mess things up. Christians literally leaving churches over political issues that mean nothing. Christians literally leaving good soul winning Baptist churches because the pastors stand on masks. Lord please help us. Lord help us. Help us to be Bible believing Christians, not just to say that, to actually read the Bible. And figure out what we believe based on scripture. Lord I pray you'd help this church, help this church to emphasize what you emphasize. Thank you for guiding us, thank you for giving us scriptures like Romans 13. Thank you for teaching us what we need to know about everything. Lord help us to learn and understand. In the matchless name of Christ we pray, Amen.