Rick & Bubba Bible Study Live - July 1, 2020

welcome into the Wednesday Bible study from the broadcast Plaza and teleport excited to spend time with you missed you last week I hope everybody had a great week some of you probably with the fourth of July coming up are probably on vacation this week whatever the case may be thank you for your prayers had a great time with family it's good to be back and hopefully you caught up on maybe some Bible studies that you missed if you ever want to go back and go through into the other series that we've done in the Wednesday Bible study they can all be found audio only by going to Burgess ministries my last name Burgess ministries.com click on listen if you prefer to do the video format which I don't know why you would look at me unless you were made to We certainly have a lot of archives here on the Rickon above a youtube channel but we don't go as far back as we do with the audio archives because we didn't start the YouTube archiving until a few years ago but anyway a lot of the series though you can't find on video as well and to find those it's simple just stay right where you are on the ring above a YouTube channel or if somebody sent you this link no you can go to the Rick and Bubba YouTube channel click on the playlist you'll see the Wednesday Bible study or men's Bible study look at that and you can go back on whatever we've archived on the YouTube channel as well let me open us in a word of prayer because we've got a lot to get in today we're going to cover two chapters in the book the unsaved Christian by Pastor Dean in Sarah from Tallahassee Florida and the only reason why we're doing - I told you you know a couple of weeks ago I feel like we've kind of covered what chapter 9 talks about I'm gonna get a give you a brief on that but then we're really gonna jump in to chapter 10 and once again God's timing is perfect it will deal with what we're gonna be talking about this week with Independence Day coming up it will be very topical so let's bow for a word of Prayer ask God to be with us as we unpack this commentary but also the Word of God Lord Jesus thank you so much for the grace of Mercy you've shown us we are living in a world of chaos how many times we've all gone to Matthew 24 and begin to to look over what you had to say about the times that look an awful lot like the times we're living in right now and you said when we get to these times that that we should begin to prepare that you could return it anytime you could but you know one thing we know for sure we also could die at any time so may we be living our life in a way that reflects that we truly you know have this faith in you that we claim the type of faith that is a faith of action may we be found being sanctified I be made holy may we be found obedience may be would be found to be fruitful and not abusing the grace that you paid such a price to give us be with us today lord help us to learn help us to be refined and help us to be ready to stand up for you and with you as we face a godless world in the name of Jesus we pray amen so I do want to do want to touch on that a little bit so we look at chapter 9 and remember if you're if you're new to this series and I can tell you this series has garnered more email than any series prior because it is doing something that the Bible tells us to do as we said in 2nd Corinthians that we are to assess ourselves and it's this is not an intended to do anything other than what the Bible says for us to to be fully sure that that we are part of the faith that we claim the look and see to out do I belong to Christ as my does my life look the way scripture says it should look and sometimes we can't really do this if we're not challenged to examine our life and ask these difficult questions I'm also coming to you in all humility teaching this because I myself am a former cultural Christian I lived out this culture of Christianity I know exactly how it feels like I know how it's justified I know what it looks like because I was this man and and so I want you to know that this is not me sitting back and and being self-righteous or smug or anything like that this is a book that that somebody gave me here in the at the studio I read it these were things we've been talking about for over four years in the Wednesday Bible study and then of course it's put us - made us look at scripture and the way we handle ourselves and and today is going to be one that's gonna probably get some pushback I'll go ahead and tell you that because it's gonna it's going to take on some idolatry that some of us have that we shroud in patriotism and nationalism sometimes and we're gonna we're gonna find out about our politics a little bit today and and and how we got to be real careful about mixing our relationship with Christ and our call from our Lord and Savior versus our call maybe to our country and some of this is probably going to be upsetting and some of it but but I would just invite you to kind of just calm down and be willing to listen and listen all the way through on what what is being said today but as I've always said and this may be even more important be sure that you calm down and listen to what I what is not being said today okay so many times doing talk radio for as long as God has allowed me to do it it really it frustrates me when somebody will call up and we've been talking we've been talking about some sort of behavior or this that and whatever and somebody will call up and say well I don't do that and you know what I say well then we weren't talking to you okay yeah if you're if you're not doing what the topic is talking about then that topic wasn't addressing you but if you are then you know you need to take that and apply it I think that I had a lot of time on vacation to to spend with the Lord and spend time with my family and with my mom and dad and so I was kind of reflecting on the the world that we're living in I really just turned off the switch and said I'm not gonna watch any news III don't I don't really I'm not going to be concerned about what the chaos is going on in our country and in the world for the next seven days I'm just gonna spend time with family I'm gonna be present I'm gonna invest in them I'm gonna rest and I'm going to you know when you're sitting down on the Gulf of Mexico looking out at just the vastness of it and you realize that you know this same Gulf of Mexico that is so unpredictable it can can kill you like that and it's raging and out of control that the the God that we serve tells what to do and it does it you know you kind of become in all of God sometimes when you look at his creation when you pause for those moments and and one of the things when I was listening that I felt pretty clear that God was saying to me and I think it applies to all of us in these times that we're living in it's a real simple statement but it's really profound I kept hearing the Lord saying prepare as if tomorrow is going to come made me be responsible take care of your responsibilities because tomorrow may come but you need to start living like it's not coming and I remember just hearing that in my spirit and thinking my goodness Lord what exactly are you saying and of course a lot of times God will just say I'm saying what I'm saying go ahead and live your life and be response and prepare for the things that need to be done as if tomorrow is coming but you better start living your spiritual life as if it's not live your worldly life like tomorrow is coming taking care of the tasks doing the things supposed to do pay your bills go to work take care of your family but your spiritual life if there's things in your spiritual life that you're not right with me or you're not treating serious or you're not giving time to and attention to I would stop all that and I would start preparing that tomorrow may not come and you're gonna face me and I will tell you that's that was my big takeaway from last week and and that and and you know what I say to my Lord and Savior you know what I say to the great I am Thank You Roger that I'm listening and I won't just listen I will actually apply so as we jump in to this today I'm not gonna spend a lot of time in Chapter nine no offense to doctor I mean to Pastor Dina and Sarah I have great respect for him and I like what he's saying in nine I've told you the things I agree with what he's saying I told you things that don't necessarily completely agree with when it comes to you know going after the sinner's prayer and inviting Jesus into your heart I think we've covered that and I just don't think it warrants any more time if you missed that part of us talking about that I would go back and catch that but I will say the one thing in summary of chap turn on that I think is important and that is that the church has got to stop being so numbers oriented now I'm not against numbers you know we have this many people we think made decisions for Christ and this and that or we're growing our church that's fine nothing wrong with that as long as you're not growing it by trying to make God more palatable you know if you're growing your church by trying to make God something that people would be more comfortable with I'm not for that what we really didn't need to do and certainly the numbers will be what they are now what we need to do is submit to the authority of Christ be writing reconciled back to a holy God submit to his lordship and instead of us trying to make God something we're more comfortable with why don't we let him make us something he's more comfortable with now if you've been listening over the last 4 plus years you've heard me say that before so what I'm saying is this it's not about numbers are not the end-all but there's certainly nothing wrong with them you know why look at look at Acts chapter two you know what they give us a number so there's nothing wrong with that but it can't be the the motivation let me see how many people I can get you know that claim that you know they're there that they made a decision for Christ today then I want to turn that number in and look how great our church is or how great our preach or all that it can't be about that we need to start vetting people more and you you man you've heard us talk about that in here for four and a half years not not be so caught up in assuring someone they're saved but but but maybe be more concentrating on making sure that that person is saved by asking tough questions embedding them out from what scripture says salvation should look like so I totally agree with that also like the one point that was made that was a little bit unique and that is we don't need to you know stand up and get in point people to heaven all the time we need to be pointing them to Christ you know if you ask anybody a question do you want to go to heaven when you die yes some of that some old-school evangelism well who's going to tell you know you'll go to heaven when you die so that really can't be it because now we might be coming along different versions of heaven or you know go into a better place or the happy hunting ground or or whatever that is no what we should be doing as the church is pointing people to Christ period because that where salvation is found that is the gospel and and so that's covered really in chapter 9 and I and I agree with that and then the third point of chapter 9 and I'm giving you a summary on chapter 9 because I found it to be a little repetitive on things we've already covered in this format and that is we need that we can't get away from making disciples that's what we're told to do Jesus said make disciples well disciples means you you invest in people and you grow them from spiritual infancy to spiritual maturity and the church a lot of times does a poor job at this and that's something that we need to concentrate on if you go to the man church calm the whole strategy that we've set up you know for men's ministry is to disciple men from spiritual emphases of spiritual maturity does that mean we're not trying to reach lost men of course not that's a given that we know that's in play but but if you leave men you know as spiritual infants remember we talked about the parable of Jesus with the seeds and where they all fall and some never take root and some are burned and some are taking away well that's the reason why discipleship that's that process out and so that's kind of the summary of chapter chapter 9 and I remember in closing on the discipleship part we started doing the the minute the man church discipleship strategy when somebody said a 40 week curriculum well nobody's ever done that exactly and that's probably what was wrong with it you know you if you give them in six weeks a six weeks Bible study guess what they're doing week seven they don't mean anymore you know why this Bible study never ends because if it ever did a lot of men will walk away discipleship doesn't ever stop I mean we're doing that all the way so maybe taking men's ministry and devoting time to it like you would you know the the youth department of your church or the children's department of your church or the women's ministry of your church or the adult classes of your church do you with those different parts of the church do you just say a six-week Bible study every year of course you don't and you shouldn't well don't do that to the men either then end of it the men need to be given a curriculum for them that they are studying and growing all year round so that's kind of the summary of chapter 9 now let's move into the one that's going to count them fire a lot of people up and probably gonna stay with me now to what we're saying but also listen to what we're not saying okay and this is chapter 10 called God shed His grace on thee partisan partisans politics and prosperity you you know Russell Moore and I have not agreed on everything we agree on most things but there's some things he and I have you know had a little bit of a back-and-forth and some of that was publicly but I went to him time that we did a conference together and I asked for him to forgive me if I'd done anything to offend him and I said look I have no issue with you we're not always going to agree on everything I was simply trying to point something out as your brother that looked a little inconsistent when it talked about some of the things that were being said politically but he and I are great I have great respect for Russell Moore and I love what he says in this quote that Dean and Sarah uses to start this chapter it may be that America is not post Christian at all it may be that America is instead pre-christian a land that though often Christ haunted has never known the power of the gospel yet as a good statement and it's provocative and I agree with Russell Moore with his assessment you know we we a lot were post Christian I think one question we may ask have have we ever really been Christian at all when you look at it and what the gospel really calls us to so one of the things that that that we take on and in chapter 10 is that we have to be careful it's a it's a real juggling act act when you start trying to take politics and patriotism and nationalism and then kind of mesh it in with Christianity it's they don't really go they don't really fit you know you know you go to the pieces of the puzzle you know a puzzle piece should fit perfectly nationalism patriotism and and politics and and here's the gospel and here's the call of the followers of Jesus you may get some of it to do kind of like this or maybe kind of like that but you're never gonna have it do this because even if you look and right now to if you look at Romans 13 right now the times we're living in there's some very unpopular things that are said there by the Apostle Paul but one of the things that he says is that government and I have brothers who disagree with me on this but that's fine as long as we can the disagreement comes from Scripture you know you you see where because I heard this comparison with time and I disagree with it just so you know someone tried to compare government responsibilities to to God's view of marriage you know God ordained marriage and he ordained the government now he never declared the government holy that's where I disagree it says he instituted government in Romans 13 basically to keep order in a fallen world and if you don't want to be on the wrong side of the government then behave is really what Romans 13 says in a nutshell now you say well you're Rick your commentary on Romans 13 is really short well it is but you can read it for yourself that's really what he's saying if you don't want to be on the wrong side of the government then behave and be good citizens and then when you oppose the government you only oppose the government when they try to oppose god but other than that follow the laws of the land and and and it was in and it was instituted to keep to keep order in a fallen creation and all governments are set up by God for various reasons mainly though to punish and to to keep order that's Romans 13 that's not repurchase that's that's God inspired writings of the Apostle Paul but so where I disagreed with with some of my brothers on this is because I found nowhere in scripture nowhere where I see what God saying the thing about the government that he said about marriage you can you're the writer of Hebrews and God says about marriage that he deemed holy so that's different he deemed holy and he deemed it so holy that the writer of Hebrews says may marriage be held in a place of honor by all and may the marriage bed never be defiled you never see him say that that the government be held in a place of honor by all and may government never be defiled he never says that so they certainly have been created and instituted by God but one is deemed holy the other is just deemed necessary so so you got to be real careful trying to take these things in Miriam and and and right now we're heading into one of the things that this chapter calls our patriotic holidays what's your great look here's what we're not saying there's nothing wrong with being patriotic to your country there's nothing wrong with you know being thankful that you're in a country that you know is designed for maximum Liberty we're kind of playing with that right now and there's nothing wrong being thankful about that nothing wrong with standing up and being proud to be an American there's nothing wrong with that there's nothing wrong with remembering those who have you know given their life for the freedoms that we've enjoyed that shouldn't we should do that that's appropriate so when we get to these these high holy days from a patriotic standpoint that would be Memorial Day fourth of July coming up this weekend and Veterans Day these are all good things to celebrate so I want to say it back to me Rick nor is daemon Sara saying that these are bad things right I got that take your hand off the hongki's don't send an email saying that I'm saying something or that this book is saying that these are bad things not saying that it's saying but they better be put in their proper place now that's what we are saying okay and and so remember that things always get blurry and they always get dangerous when we mingle American patriotism with theistic language like we say things like God and country well what what what does what does that even mean God in country so let's let's let's look at that a little bit if yeah he goes into a lot about this on page 120 in the book it says we sing AMERICA AMERICA God shed His grace on thee and goosebumps cover arms and listen to Lee Greenwood sing there ain't no doubt I love this land god bless the USA good stuff about it's great to ask God to bless our nation these sentiments make it easy though for cultural Christian to celebrate a generic faith and a no-name in a no-name God alongside their love of America remember this Hartman said in the book once and and I think it needs to be said again see the problem when you blur these things the cultural Christian starts thinking they're interchangeable I don't really know who this God is it's just an obscure name but this God could also maybe be America but he's not and and the other thing is the great I am is not America's mascot now if you want to sit there and cower and and and and be wretched and lay at the feet of God Almighty and say will you please deliver our nation please bless our nation certainly nothing wrong with that we should do that however when you start taking it to the place that you blur that somehow been an American makes you more Christian now you got problems okay that the these things should be over here where they belong we'll celebrate our independence from a tyrannical British government this weekend and in producing a country that when it's done the way the the constitutional republic says it should be done provides maximum Liberty for someone to to to achieve their maximum potential by them being given maximum maximum Liberty and I am for us going out and making sure that no one of any ethnicity is denied access to that Liberty but I tell you what I'm not for is for us to get rid of that Liberty but you know what that still isn't Christianity it isn't for one thing Christianity is not a constitutional republic it's not a democracy it it's a dictatorship but we serve a benevolent dictator but it's not a constitutional republic and it's not a democracy America and Christianity they're not the same thing and we'll get into more details on that but that's important for us tinta to don't don't take these national holidays and get to spiritual with them because sometimes you're gonna make some mistakes and it also gets cultural Christian in trouble lock because they think they're Christians because they're an American and they sing god Bless America or you know I'm a no doubt I love this land god bless the USA and somehow that's a him it's not a him so so then it says with with gratefulness for God's blessing certainly a Christian that's a Christian posture patriotism but can serve as a stumbling block to the understanding that the the gospel if you take them and marry them both they should not be married together many cultural Christians see Christianity is more of a demographic than a religious conviction or identification with Jesus Christ as though it falls under the umbrella of being American and keep in mind he says this I'm not saying this to chastise cultural Christians and I'm not doing this Bible study to chastise a cultural Christian I wish I had seen this Bible study and I had been confronted with my culture of Christianity long before it actually happened it would have saved me a lot of regret and a lot of pain and a lot of problems if I'd have got it quicker so this we're not trying to chastise chastise anybody with this book or with this Bible study man we're trying to help okay we're trying to help and and I'm glad he made that point but you need to listen and pastors you need to listen if you're watching this this is to give warning to pastors and churches across the country the American churches celebration of patriotism can fan the flame of the all-encompassing generic god of cultural Christianity by not only leaving it unchallenged but by giving it a platform when churches bring out the all stops observance of the cultural High Holy Days it can perpetuate the notion that God in America are attached at the hip and they just aren't they just aren't you know it Americans should celebrate these things but the church be sure the church we don't blur that somehow American is more America is more Christian than then the persecuted Church is all over the world the Western Church is no more important than the persecuted churches around the world as a matter of fact I think we're gonna be held to a higher accountability because we haven't faced as much persecution as the church at the universal Church all over the world and frankly we seem to sit around and seem pretty comfortable and have we have we really done everything that God has given us the freedom and the finances and the blessings to do we certainly have done a lot I mean America does a great job at funding the advancement of the kingdom all over the world in and that is probably you know our most important role but you won't find the government buying into that I give George W Bush credit he's the only president in my lifetime that I know that actually started funding living hope in South Africa he started funding Living Hope South Africa he even made the joke one time that the the John Thomases Church in South Africa was the first baptist church in the history of the world to be funded by the United States government and what he did is he said I booked the George W Bush he never gets credit for this and certainly he had a lot of flaws that I disagree with but I'll tell you this he went in and said if you want to fight AIDS in Africa and you fight it through the gospel and and and the lives that were saved by living hope South Africa and the money that that was given to him by the United States of America that was great but but but that doesn't mean that the United States of America is the only country that's advancing the gospel around the world that's just not true and and being American does not make you a Christian and we got to be real careful that we don't cloud those too because we give people a false assurance that they've been redeemed because they're Americans and and that's the danger of blurring the - so when you when you look at the term god Bless America what what exactly does that does that mean I mean really if you think about it first of all you got to think about this and and this may be what bothers some of you but that's okay and if you want to reach out to me you can we're not gods favorite okay I know that somehow I remember being a little boy thinking we're God's favorite we must be the country that God loves the most but that's not true as a matter of fact you'll struggle I'm certainly not going to say that I'm some expert on times prophecy now I can read I can't find us I don't know where we go or what happens to us but you'll have a hard time finding us went toward the end of all this and when you're looking at the state we're in now I don't know how much longer we will be what we were intended to be we may we may turn into something completely different and it may be that the whole reason we were here was to legitimize Israel in 1948 I think right guys 1948 and then of course to advance the gospel around the world with the blessings that we were given and and and maybe that maybe we've done everything we're supposed to do I don't know I certainly don't know that but you need to understand the United States of America isn't God's favorite you need to get that out of your mind it's all it's really blasphemy to think that especially we look at the state of our country right now I think instead of us always thinking right now that the state we're in and pastor Dean and Sarah speaks on this and I'll go I'll even come alongside it I think it would be better for us right now to mourn to mourn the state we're in and to lay at the feet of the one and only Living God and beg for his forgiveness and mercy for how wicked and evil we really are we're certainly not his favorite and and and and that that's where we need to be we need to be mourning the state of our country and and and and so he said you know judeo-christian values even when separated from a saving faith in Christ can largely contribute to human flourishing a judeo-christian principles they really work whether you believe in Jesus or not I mean they do that's why the country even with a bunch of deist and even some who didn't believe it all but you know our founding fathers they were certainly strong Christians there but they're also Dias they're Thomas Jefferson did not believe in the miracles of Jesus Christ wrote his own version of the Bible okay I don't know that I almost spent eternity with Thomas Jefferson unless something changed however he certainly believed that judeo-christian principles are probably good things to build a country off of but doesn't mean that he believed in the gospel that doesn't believe he believed in saving faith in Jesus Christ so really it can't just be about judeo-christian principles because you don't have to believe in God for those to be good things and so the the function as an official code of conduct practice for the common good and they undeniably find their origin in the Bible certainly we know that but judeo-christian values in today's climate can be summed up in the ethical portion of the Ten Commandments be a good person as divined by Western society or don't lie cheat steal or kill now adhering to those rules certainly makes a better place to live nobody's denying that but while these values help keep civic order see Romans 13 again and promote the common good here's the problem they can serve as a false gospel and a hindrance to receiving the good news of Jesus Christ being a good American citizen friend and family man or woman cannot substitute for being repentant and following Christ be repentant and follow Christ that's the gospel not try to have a good code of conduct and try to be a good friend and a good and and and and do these things that are in some moral code that's not it at all and I think sometimes we confuse that when we when we build up you know you hear this all the time Family Values it's the a Family Values then we get you to have Jesus gonna get you to heaven now Jesus might produce Family Values in you whatever that word means and it seems like Family Values you got to be careful it may just see the problem with things like Family Values not devoted repentant follower of Jesus is family values have changed tremendously in this country there's a lot of people that define Family Values in a way that are is not biblical see these these codes are in our mind but that we they don't ask anything of us I'm for Family Values what does that mean have you ever noticed that you ever seen these political commercials what does somebody think because they walk around on the farm then I'm gonna vote for you know what I didn't thank you really good but now that I see you walking on the farm you know I guess I should vote for you what does that even mean that didn't mean you can do your job very good I believe in family values are you repented follower of Jesus and will every vote you cast be under his authority that's what I'd like to hear because everything else is flawed look I've tried it guys I've tried it I've made my mistakes of trying to as a follower of Christ get overly involved in politics and we certainly should get involved but man I'm telling you when you look around and you see these pastors wrapping their arms around some politician you know what I'm thinking somebody's gonna live to regret that I've regretted it I've done it Billy Graham regretted it he tried it he got burned because politics isn't the church it isn't the church okay and so what happens in politics is compromised so said that you've got your arm around some politician in a picture and you think you understand everything that he's some devout follower of Jesus all of a sudden he votes on some legislation and attached to that legislation is something he doesn't believe him but he voted for it to get what he wanted out of it and somebody comes up to you saying how you got your arm in a pitcher around some guy that let that go and by the time you've explained how that happened you go I wish I just never done it get involved look it's a necessary evil certainly get involved do the best you can but no political party either side or it is it's the same thing as Christianity it's not and that's in both of them I tell you they are by the way both not one both and we'll get into that more in a minute but anyway America's prominence is a blessing to much of the world through financial aid relief military protection should be commended and we do we I'm so glad these things happen but it can form a nationalism that goes beyond simply being grateful it turns into an idol see American patriotism can take a noble thing and turn it into an idol so there's somehow you guys I'm gonna tell you something I'm gonna a lot of trouble today I should have done this in before I went on vacation but listen the way some of y'all act about the country and your football teams there are Adil's to you I love the I'm glad I'm here okay I'd go out you know I I would take this country on its worst day compared to some of the places I've traveled all over this world but that doesn't make it more Christian and and and some of these things were like you wouldn't believe that emails we get about where the flag is located in the studio I mean you know it's not supposed to be there it's supposed to be here over to this way standing up here put a lot on it don't put a lot on touch it don't touch it fold it this way I mean some of this just gets ridiculous it's a flag okay and certainly you know it's something that it can be symbolism but it's not an idol it's not to be worshipped it's not to be worshipped this country is not to be worshipped patriotism is not Christianity and it's okay to put it in its proper place just like anything but it doesn't replace God and that's the thing we have to be careful of for many Christianity is not only tied to an identity as an American but more specifically to their identity as a political conservative or a southerner or a Democrat which in many times people think is synonymous and it's just not it's just not you know understand that you you have to be sure that the presentation of are things that are patriotic about this country that they're not presented as as some sort of holy Creed that our flag is not presented as a holy relic and that the national anthem is not treated as if it's a song they're not they're not Scripture they're not idols they're not Psalms or not hymns they're important but they're not the ultimate you what you America can't do anything to save you from your sin Jesus can and Jesus here to save the world not just save America and we've got to understand that you have to be careful of presenting God in country in a way that exalts America as exceptional in God's eyes and that he is our mask you've got to be very very careful with that all right so other things that we want to discuss is is that it's critical that pastors and churches remain faithfully committed to scriptures and they do not adopt the us in them mentality that is so prevalent in the political arena a lot of churches out there that are more involved in politics than they should be they just are you know it's divisive it gets people against each other when really when we get in well when you understand we come to church it's today we're gonna talk about the fact that we're all equal and equal need of redemption I honestly don't want to go to a church service or watch one that starts talking more about politics and they talk about Jesus I just I just don't want to hear that I really don't care what my pastor thinks about the political climate I'd like to know what scripture says about what really is going to happen because I assure you when Jesus comes and touches his foot on the Mount of Olives it's really not gonna matter who the president United States is or the ruler or president or whatever parliamentarian of any country because I Got News for you everybody is going to kneel and everybody is going to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and whatever position you held prior to that is isn't going to mean anything or in Calhoun County we'd say ain't gonna mean nothing okay so I that is what when I go to church I want to get away from all this I want to leave the world and I want to come into the presence of God and and so you got to be real careful about all this I see I see many times if you are a pastor out there trying to become a politician and you all you do you can't wait to get on Fox News or CNN and talk about politics and talk about presidential elections whoever this politician is that you're so in love with is gonna do something to burn you I promise you I mean we had pastors going up to see our current president I don't know the kind of man that he is now but but up there his office you look up here and here's the pastor of some huge Church in America with his arm around a man and behind him is a picture of the man on the cover of Playboy magazine do you not even have enough system away from that picture and get your picture made somewhere else and that doesn't mean that's the man he is now but be be smart enough not to go into an office and get your picture made in front of a framed copy of Playboy magazine that's not your role what are you doing now if you want to go up there and have a chance to go to Washington and try to go to Washington and make some change and get in front of any president and try to say that our country needs turn to God and what that's fine but you know what happens and I've talked to the pastor's whether it has happened you go into the White House and they can you get so engrossed with being there they pull out some some box you know like a ring comes in you open it up and they give you some sort of presidential seal and suddenly you're so caught up and being in the power of the government and being up at the White House and you know what that politic political party is saying the whole time we got you we got you that's not your role that's not your role and there's too much of that that goes on so if you celebrate judeo-christian values and it's certainly appropriate to do so but if one is talking about the American ideals of life liberty in the pursuit of happiness remember that's still a lousy substitute for the gospel it ain't gonna save us and it and and you think about this when you think about like things like pornography do we really think that there's and he says it's in the book less problem with pornography and drugs and whatever in red states versus blue states no sin seem to care about what color your state is sin don't care about about your political leanings our extramarital affairs financial fraud drunk driving spousal abuse are just only reserved for the coastal elites no it's everywhere it doesn't have a political affiliation and so sin is not a respecter a geographical or cultural boundaries and then Dean and Sarah says I absolutely believe Christians should promote the common good and general welfare of all people and our convictions should certainly Drive our political affiliations but voting your values cannot get you into heaven it doesn't forgive you of sin and it will not reconcile you to God there are people in Hell right now who exist did you do Christian values voted pro-life loved their country got choked up watching Whitney Houston's 1991 performance of the national anthem at the Super Bowl he said interesting I don't interesting Lee I don't know a Christian who would who would disagree with the statement that I'm making so the church must stop acting like judeo-christian values of the gospel they're not there's there's people in hell right now that love to all these things he got choked up in emotion about it but it didn't it didn't redeem him because the rest of their life was devoted to sin and they were unredeemed I love what doctor agent Roger says and y'all heard me talk enough you know how much I love Adrian Rogers and he makes a great statement he said I wouldn't trust the best 15 minutes I ever lived to get me into heaven that's a powerful man of God saying that that's how follow him we really are Adrian Rogers said he wouldn't trust the best 15 minutes he ever lived to get him into heaven Wow and he was also a guy who said that Christians should be involved in the peer living in the country a constitutional republic that gives you a voice to vote for the the best shot at government you can get absolutely be involved we should but it doesn't replace the gospel and it certainly won't save us and America's not God's favorite and he's not our mascot so the partisan politics of it all the old Christian and republic Republicans and Christian and Democrats here's what's funny that I've always noticed about this and I certainly have political leanings as anyone does that that get close to supporting what I think about taxes and what I think about you know we're you know God's standard of marriage and where life begins a lot of things by the way that I didn't believe at one time but when I was redeemed I did and I'm gonna try to draft politically with those political you know candidates that best represent that but they're all flawed and none of them are who I wish they were none but one might be closer to that than another but I don't I used to make a bigger deal about it than that I really don't anymore because I've realized how disappointing it can be I can tell you this I was involved in politics a lot more than I am now and I still discuss it on the show some and I'll give opinions but at one time I was like going all in like I was going to get with candidates and I endorsed candidates and I did all this and this has been in the last you know five six years and I was at a political gathering one night and all these business cards kept being shoved in my hands and hey we need you on this you need to talk about this on the show about this and this and this and this and my wife she saw it my body physically got crouched over like this if you're not watching it on the YouTube I'm crouching over and I looked at her and I was at the table and I said I got to get out of here I said I feel so much spiritual oppression in this room I'm not supposed to be here we got to go and after that I have not endorsed another political candidate nor will I ever again because it's not worth it my integrity as a man of God and as a follower of Jesus in the platform days afforded me it means more to me than any political agenda and I've got some friends of mine that I love and have great respect for that are devout followers of Christ and they're in elected positions and they're fighting and they're working but they come back and tell me so many times it's a godless place and man you hear caught up in it and it's a dark dark place and they're trying and I commend them I do and there's some that they don't really care about anything other than trying to advance the the things that are of the kingdom of God trying to protect where life begins trying to protect things that God is deem holy and I appreciate them doing that but ultimately politics cannot replace the gospel and here's the thing that's kind of funny did you know that we'll have people tell tell people tell you I'm a Democrat because I'm a Christian and then people say well I'm a Republican because I'm a Christian can I tell you this neither one of them represent Christianity one might line up with you more than another on certain topics neither one there's no there isn't that the political parties are not synonymous with Christianity they're just not and and the quicker you understand that I think the better off you'll be you know nothing if you're a person that gets more bent out of shape if your pastor or whatever you call the person who is the spiritual leader of your church if you get more bent out of shape by a political statement than if they were preaching heresy you got a problem heresy doesn't bother you but a political statement does then that's a problem and I mean I know that you know this happens in churches I mean I I know that I've talked to pastors that have people leave their church because they made a joke about football teams and they they didn't pull for the football team that they pulled for now the preacher could have preached heresy and they'd have been understanding but he said something bout their football team so they had to leave maybe you're holding on that football team a little tight I'd say the same thing about your political party if you're more concerned about the political statement that your pastor made then whether he's preaching heresy or not I think I would probably readjust my priorities so also don't forget - what about when you watch social media posts from professing Christians about politics or their sports teams and and and if you look at it you'll see more passionate responses about the politics that are that they put out on Twitter or the sports stuff I for I've watched pastors on social media some of y'all this need to get all social media because I found myself kind of hey some of you are way too into sports you're way too into your sports team on social media and it really makes me seem in a different way some of you are far more political on your social media that media than you are spiritual and maybe you should use the platform that God's given you and I've had to learn this myself to talk about him as opposed to you know your political agenda are your sports teams it yeah because you know what these things are divisive you know if you want to be divisive Jesus is divisive enough that's worth being divisive over and and so just kind of keep that in mind here's some things he said to look for if you go to when these guys in country if you're a god in country Christian I thought this was good you believe that your political party is the Christian party it says you would be more offended to the pastor endorsed a Democratic candidate or if you're a Democrat a Republican candidate from the stage than if he tolde a theological problematic point another one your social media profile would make one think that God's chief concerns is the flourishing of America you believe certain cultural rights such as gun ownership are Christian rights they're certainly political rights but they're not necessarily Christian rights again you're clouding the - you believe that taking back America is the mission of the church no the mission of the church is to for sinners to repent and confess Jesus Christ is Lord and then advance his kingdom and make disciples it says also you process news stories first as an American not as a Christian and you might go to a God and country Church if the American flag is on display more prominent than anything that relates to Jesus your pastor implies that the failure to vote is a sin and that when in an election is saving America your pastor interprets Bible verses about Israel as if they're about America your pastor implies that Jesus is shining city on the hill is America your congregation remembers the 1950s as a golden era the congregation applauds more for soldiers than they do for missionaries and you think Happy Holidays is a war on Christianity it says if that if that is kind of the environment that that you're in then probably you may be attending a church that maybe doesn't have this or your life doesn't really have this in the proper balance and and and I've seen this this this whole ordeal he talks about dealing with a young man that said that he wasn't sure he could be a Christian because he didn't want to be a Republican and and he said that's that's how synonymous this has become but at the same time we see on the other end of the spectrum we see the liberal social justice Christian now that this person is very similar to the conservative social Christian but you know the and country Christian but these are the the people that are on the left side of politics and they think the left side is more Christian than anything and then see if this rings them brings a bell so there's a rapidly growing group of people who feel strongly about the social justice issues and there's nothing wrong with that it's just not necessarily Christian tied together who almost positioned themselves against the church from within the church their mission is to apologize for the Bible the church and Christians and to meet the culture in its fight for choice marriage equality etc the Bible sexual ethic embarrasses them they champion a Jesus that would never impose his beliefs on anyone else that would never tell someone who they can and cannot love after all he is loved and loved wins these people often have a skewed yes passionate view of the mission of the church similar to their Republican counterparts they believe that politicians and legislation will fix the world they also have a different view of us that draws lines at politics not theology they give more grace to a progressive unbeliever than they do to a believer who voted Republican in the last election they've become consumed with anti Republican passions believing they are representing Jesus so that's the left version of someone who their politics seems to be intertwined with their Christianity the bottom line is that neither party is totally Christian and that's the one thing that we have to get right so each of us bears our own responsibility for our convictions but ultimately our convictions should be held by what the Bible says not our feelings not not a you know social work not all these things but what does the Bible say about this period in the world but not of the world is what Jesus says Jesus called his followers to be in the world but not of the world you'll find that write this down John 17 15 and 16 and caring about the welfare of our nation is certainly part of living faithfully in the world at the same time Christians are called not to be conformed to the pattern of this world you'll find that in Romans 12 verse to write that down so we need to care about people more than politics it hurts our witness to the world by confusing people on exactly what our message and is our mission Jesus didn't say go into the world and make Republicans of all nations are going to the world and make Democrats of all nations Jesus as a matter of fact if you really pay attention Jesus don't really get involved much in the political landscape he's in at all I mean the most political statement he made was about paying taxes and he says give to Caesar what is Caesar's but you give to God what is God's I think that's probably the strongest political statement that Jesus said and guess what it basically was the government's got their thing go and do whatever they say unless they tell you to blaspheme me you better be focused on giving to God when is God's given to the government what's the government's but you give to God what is God's you know what that is your life your life give your taxes to the government you give your life to God you give you a praise to God you give you worship to God you give your devotion to God not to the government so then you have the global scope of Christianity and that's important to globally the unhealthy blending of God and country has detrimental effects as many churches and professing Christians believe an American Americanized version of the gospel the prosperity gospel of televangelists has been replaced with glorified versions of the American Dream in which God is like a genie that helps each of us find our true potential and fulfill our destiny tried dishing that out to brothers and sisters around the globe who risk their lives to read the Word of God see perfect sample a friend of mine goes over into Egypt to help the persecuted Church in Egypt so he's underground in a cave where church is going on secretly with to Christians well of course you know how we are as Americans and he admitted this he said all of a sudden the American pastors begin to tell this secret church this having praise and worship in a cave how they would any what can we do to help you and you know what the Coptic Christian says we don't need you you need us you don't understand what it's like for the gospel to cost you anything why would you think that our secret church in a cave where we can be killed tomorrow would need anything from you what can you teach us you can teach us anything why don't we teach you something about what it's like to actually have to sacrifice to be a follower of Jesus and he said minute Bleu is mine where do we get off thinking that we should go around the world and Americanized the world from a spiritual temple if you want to try to bring democracy to tyrannical places man we've we've had a lot of people die to try to get that done and people in South Korea are thankful people in South Vietnam are thankful but but you know because it's not as bad as it would have been and some people did benefit and we try to bring freedom we didn't go there to try to colonize Vietnam or colonized Korea we went there to try to keep people from being under a tyrannical government you know what South Korea's thankful South Vietnam is thankful but as far as going around and trying to take Church and say that the American version of church should be embraced by the rest of the world that's crazy that's not true we can probably learn more from the persecuted Church than the persecuted Church is going to learn from us and and and so when you go around with an attitude that if you would become more like the American church then you'll finally get it do you realize what a turn-off that is that our version of church is is the preferred version of God that that's quite a turn-off when you're trying to go around to the brothers and sisters of the universal Church around the world when God and country are excessively intertwined it's easy to see Christians and other nations as the rather than us now there are brothers and sisters in Christ you know what we think about what it'd be like for you to be in China and every so often the government shows up and knocks everything down crushes the building bulldozes it says try it again we're not worried about that now see the great thing about the state of our country right now we may need to learn from them because the universal Church the persecuted Church see we don't know what that's like and you watch right now look look at the state of the American church right now with all the opposition that's coming they look terrified I'm not saying every one of them but most churches I'm around right now they just don't want trouble hey if you're gonna be a devout follower of Jesus according to Jesus trouble is coming what about when Paul's writing to Timothy all who choose to live a godly life will be persecuted have you ever asked if you're not being persecuted why it could be because you don't live a godly life the world doesn't see us as any real threat you think this fallen nation is afraid of the church but the church has been put over in a corner and it says y'all just go do your own thing you know you don't even engage the culture we don't we don't even remotely think about the Western Church in this country right now do you think there's any concern about it no now we hold the answers but we certainly are not being even paid attention to right now in our country and there's a reason for that before we realize that God becomes a means to an American in one concerned with the individual prosperity and ambition the outcome is a faith in God that looks thinks and acts like an American the mascot God is attached to causes or initiatives football teams businesses this God wants us to win and as happy as long as we're good people we must preach a better gospel in our churches conversations and on social media one can be grateful for the privilege of living in America while still thinking and thank God for those who defended our freedom while not missing the fact that our country morally resembles Babylon more than any city on the hill so we're gonna ask God to bless this we're killing about an average of 2,000 babies a day we're one of the few countries and we're the only free country that does partial birth abortions and lets a baby lay over there and die if it's accidentally birth during an attempted late term abortion we're in a very small group of countries that allow that to go on we take an entire month and and and celebrate the opposite a standard that is not God's standard for intimacy gender and marriage we spend an entire month on it we spent one day thanking people for dying for our country we spent a month on that so you're gonna tell me that God is pleased with America and sees this as a shining city on a hill no we look a lot more like Babylon which means we shouldn't expect God to bless it like I was saying with the thing going on a Mississippi somebody said well the good news is they're gonna take the rebel flag off the Mississippi flag good I'm glad I'm glad of that and they said but one thing they put in there the next flag has to say in god we trust' do you think god wants to be on our flag Oh that'll do it it's just putting God We Trust on something then hey you know what right now what God says to our country you may write in God you trust but you don't have like your trust it's just a phrase it's just a slogan if you look at the way we live think about it you realize we just had a some come before the Supreme Court again that could limit the people that are killed on a daily basis kicked it out but you you realize this this country there was an attempt to go before our Supreme Court and say that we as a country will declare that marriage is one man and one woman which would be in sync with God's standard of marriage that he created and the Supreme Court ruled that you cannot mandate that federally across the entire country then we went before the Supreme Court again and said that we wanted same-gender marriage to be forced on every state in the Union and that was passed didn't defend God's standard for marriage but did defend the opposite the would enforce God's standard of marriage on the States but will force anti God's standard for marriage on the States and we think he sees us as his favorite you we think he sees us as the shining city on a hill we're delusional if that's what you think so the the proper position for us as America is to beg for God to have mercy and to repent of our sins and to repent and ask for him to forgive us if we're the shining city on the hill then the light needs to be replaced I would say God is not impressed with America if anything people who call America their home will be held more accountable because of the unprecedented access we've had to the gospel of jesus christ throughout scriptures Matthew 11 Jesus makes us very clear when he says to Capernaum Bethsaida and corazon those three places where Jesus did the majority of his miracles the overwhelming majority all the big ones and they remained unrepentant you know what Jesus said to those cities like he says to America how much worse will it be on the day of judgment for you three then for tyre sidon and Sodom and Gomorrah if those places that were wiped out by God would have heard what you heard they would have repented and ashes and dust but you remain unchanged so I would say that God is going to hold every American to a higher standard and also a greater punishment let's pray lord thank you for the access to the gospel that we've been blessed to have here in this country forgive us Lord that we become grace abusers forgive us Lord that we become flippant about our access to you and forgive us for our arrogance forgive us for our pride forgive us for our delusions that somehow we are more important to you than the rest of the world lord I pray for this country I know that you said these things must happen in the end times and I see these things just as you said they would be but Lord we also know that you've asked us to bring our needs before you and you will hear our prayers and I pray Lord that you'll continue to pull a remnant like you always have and may your church realize this is a incredible time for us to point people to you not to ourselves not to our politics not to our patriotism but to you and may you have mercy Lord on us forgive us for what we become and your name we pray amen if I can help you in any way Rick at Ricky Bubba calm thanks for being with us today

Channel: Rick & Bubba

Views: 6,627

Rating: 4.9310346 out of 5

Keywords: men's bible study, bible study, burgess, bussey, bible study for men, how to study the bible

Id: ocBYznInxUs

Length: 64min 12sec (3852 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 01 2020