Sunday Morning Worship | Kingdom Voting | The Concept of Kingdom Voting | 09.06.20

[Music] hi i'm rakita starks and i am ocbl hi my name is christian randolph and i am ocbf [Music] my name is jacque raheel and i am ocdf hi my name is isaac and i am ocbf hi i'm anthony stark and i am ocd hi my name is miles and lavon and we are [Music] ocbf what god is after what god is interested in is transforming us by his presence a sermon can't change you sunday morning can't change you it can encourage you it can inform you it can inspire you but once you walk out of that door all hell is waiting for you unless you are operating in his presence there is no change the way you know you know god is he's rubbing off on you watch this and moses glowed god was all over him because he dared to take extended time in god's presence with god's word in communication and god had the freedom to rub off on you the question is does god have the freedom to rub off on you when you go to god exposed raw he is able to tell you who you are based on what he sees not based on what you see your friends see what everybody else sees what no no based on what he sees once you receive that you are being transformed into the same image or you are being made like him from glory to glory if you are saved the holy spirit is living within you so guess what you carry the glory with you you see whatever you get in church is that's just a launch you're supposed to carry the glory with you in fact if you're saved you have the glory inside of you [Music] the kingdom agenda good morning everyone and welcome to our worship service at oak cliff bible fellowship we're excited to be together with the entire body of christ no matter where you're coming from because we're going to worship in one accord we're going to hear his word so that we can execute it so that we can learn grow and achieve and what god has for our lives so i'm excited but i want to make sure that you're also ready we're going to commune with him together and we're going to have communion so make sure you get your juice and your water your crackers or your bread come together as a family and make sure you're ready for that moment at the end of our service so that we can have an intimate time with our lord and savior jesus christ remembering what he has done let's worship right now let's go [Applause] he won't things out he's working all things [Music] oh oh he won't fail me [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Music] is [Music] i choose to pray to glorify [Music] is yes we give you honor we give you glory today lord with all that we are we say yes that we will yes we will we will worship you in spite of what we are facing in spite of what we're going through we will worship you we will give you praise even when it's hard to and it has been hard to in my life in our lives god and we admit that but we also admit that we trust you in spite of how we feel we trust you if you trust him today i want you to sing this out with us come on say walking around these walls i thought by now they'd fall but you have never failed me again i'm waiting for change to come knowing the battles won but you have never felt [Music] is [Music] i know the night won't last and your word will come to pass my heart [Music] keep me within your love my heart will see your crazy [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] you've never failed me [Music] [Music] the mountains see fade away [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] this is me [Music] well friends we are so so happy to have you worshiping with us today it's going to be an exciting time together as we begin our new series kingdom voting yep we're going to jump right into this chaos and try to give you god's perspective on on your vote and uh how it should go in terms of your thinking as you approach this subject so you pray for me every week over uh a number of weeks we're going to be dealing with this subject but in the meantime i want to just keep you abreast that i want our members to know that you can send in your questions by sunday night because on wednesday night i'm going to start answering questions and let you let you folks talk our members talk on zoom about uh some of the issues because i know everybody has some thoughts based on the sermon you had on sunday so so uh look at your information so you know how to how to send in your questions for this upcoming wednesday night but i want all of our folks to know about kingdom collegiate academies this is the school like you can't believe it's biblically centered it's kingdom oriented yet it's 21st century if you're in the metroplex of dallas metroplex you can do on-site or if you are in the metroplex or outside of the metroplex you're concerned about health and all the things that are happening you can go remote or self-paced so go online casey academy's forward slash apply get the information on kingdom collegiate academies i think you're going to find that this no matter where you live will give your child an exceptional education with a solid kingdom-based uh perspective we have a summit coming up for singles all singles everywhere it's going to be september the 18th and 19th it's going to be unleashed it's the pursuit of single summit and you're going to find out that you can be victorious and free in your single life and so you go online right now and you read ocbfchurch.org forward slash single summit and uh you'll be able to get the information you'll be able to register get online we've got great speakers i'm gonna be challenging you we've got comedian it's gonna be a fun time a challenging time and a life transforming time at our single summit so you go online for that because we have so much for you it is a joy coming to you each week i thank you that you allow us to do that and my prayer is that god will take this ministry and drive the word of god not only into your ears but into your mind and most deeply into your heart and you are allowing us to do this members through your faithful support of the tithe and thanksgiving offering you're allowing us to do all kinds of ministry everywhere throughout our metroplex and then those of you who are beyond us but who are still ministered to by us your offerings because we still want you to minister to your local church but your offerings help us to keep coming to you this way so the ways to give you know it ocbfchurch.org forward slash give the ocbf text you can text ocbf to 797979 the ocbf mobile app church app and then of course you can mail it in so uh all of those are options for you but uh uh we're gonna we're gonna have a good time i think you're gonna be challenged by the ministry of the word we give you today we love you we care about you and we're going to keep ministering to you as we continue worshiping our great god [Applause] [Music] romans 8 1 is his promise to us if you believe that promise let's sing it there is no condemnation for those in christ jesus by his blood i have been made free there is no condemnation for those there is [Music] [Music] jesus [Music] is [Music] i don't have to live with shame anymore because there is redemption no more condemnation there's no more come on say [Music] because [Music] [Music] i don't have to live anymore [Music] there's no more the life made away for me [Music] there's no death there's no height that can separate me [Music] yes he did there's no depth there's no height that can separate me [Music] one more foreign [Music] for me [Music] nothing is separate us [Music] is every day [Music] well today i enter into the shark infested waters of politics there land mines everywhere when you come to this subject because it's such a a volatile issue when it comes to the question of voting it has become clear that it is easy to become a toxic conversation people have taken their sides and they are dedicated to their positions i'm calling this series kingdom voting i'd like to suggest there is a perspective a mindset and then orientation that has eluded us leading to not only the divisiveness in the culture but unfortunately the divisiveness in the church that has facilitated disharmony disunity and conflict in the broader society because there is not the proper kingdom perspective when it comes to god's activity in society the church has become as bad as or worse than the world allowing ourselves to be a poor example of who god is and how god functions with regard to government the question is how should a christian vote i know the mere hearing of the subject matter could be bringing consternation to your mind i'm sure some are saying well what is he going to say and who is he going to endorse and which party is he going to lean to how is he going to approach this and so over these weeks i would like to set forth biblical case now if you take issue with me that is fine as long as you do it bibliocentrically because once you leave the authority of scripture we are now left to our own personal perspectives and since we come at life at circumstances at culture history race from different points of view and realities then our personal opinions are going to differ but i'd like to suggest to you that there is a kingdom world view to approaching this subject and your vote and if you will adopt a kingdom world view then we can approach this issue and come out as the church of jesus christ not in conflict even if we didn't vote the same way you see until the church gets it right the culture can't get it right because as you've heard me say i'm sure many times god doesn't skip the church house to fix the white house now at the whole concept of kingdom voting is kingdom and if you're familiar with the world view that we promote it is the kingdom agenda which is the visible demonstration and manifestation of the comprehensive rule of god over every area of life god's perspective is tied to one subject and that is glory his glory through the expansion of his kingdom you've heard me illustrated before but let me do it again with again my favorite subject of football teams in conflict on a sunday afternoon they have different goals different personnel and they're headed in two different directions but introduced to these two teams in conflict is the third team the team of officials these officials are on the field but they're not of the field they're in the midst of the conflict but they're not allowed to become part of the conflict because they are obligated to another kingdom at 345 park avenue in new york where the nfl offices are you see the commission of the nfl has sent representatives on the field of play to represent up there in new york on every football field in the nfl their job is to bring order to what otherwise would be a chaotic conflict when these officials step on the field their personal opinions must be now adjusted their desires must be reoriented to a higher authority they are clearly distinguishable by their black and white jerseys they do not belong to either of the competing teams because they represent a higher kingdom each one of the officials is given a book this book the rules that govern the game are provided by the nfl offices all decisions on the field of play are to be made by and in accordance with that book their personal opinions have to be subject to that book their background their history their experiences must be subject to that book they must make their rules by the book knowing that sometimes they're going to be booed sometimes they're going to be cheered but since popularity is not why they're there they're there to bring order to a chaotic environment because we've got conflicting realities that are clashing moment by moment and play by play if you were to come to me and say evans my life is falling apart what should i do i would take the bible i would give you what god says about your circumstances i would then ask you to agree to an obedient set of actions to apply what you learned then i would ask the holy spirit to empower your obedience based on the book to bring healing to your devastated life if you brought to me your family said my marriage and our home is unraveling i would take the same book that i use with you as an individual i would show you the biblical principles related to the circumstances that are underlining your difficulties in your home i would give you practical steps to obediently apply the principles from scripture and then i would pray for the holy spirit's empowerment for that application for the transformation of your family if you came to me with your church in disarray members fighting leaders fighting i take the same book that i use with you as an individual or as a family and i would show you god's prescription for how the church has been created and designed to function then i would call for acts of obedience that would demonstrate faith in what was written and then invoke the holy spirit to empower the obedience to bring about the harmony in the church but what do you do when your nation is unraveling what do you do when the two teams are democrats and republicans what do you do when the conflict is between police and the community and issues of justice what do you do when the issues in a society are chaotic conflicting with different perspectives and worldviews and goal lines what do you do unfortunately far too many who name the name of jesus christ change books they go to their political posturing they go to their individual perspectives they go to their histories and they make their arguments there and then they wonder why we wonder why we're not able to bring harmony to a chaotic nation i'd like to suggest today and throughout this series of kingdom voting that god does not change books he doesn't all of a sudden say when we get to civil government let's find another course of action another prescript another direction that we ought to take in the same way that there is an officiating crew who only ruled by the book if they're going to rule rightly so it is that god's officiating crew his church if we're going to bring harmony to us in the church as a model to harmony in the nation we got to stop changing books or we must stop using the part of the book that we like while ignoring the whole counsel of god when it comes to this area what would you think about a referee who took off his jersey and put on the jersey of one of the other two teams he'd be a benedict arnold to his designated responsibility it is unfortunate today that we've had christians who put on republican jerseys other christians who put on democratic jerseys and wonder why they're still chaotic on the field because they have walked away from a kingdom jersey and as a result the failed church has given a great model to how to have a failing culture about our unwillingness refusal or compromise in dealing with the divine prescription what do we mean what do i mean by kingdom voting when i use that term what am i referring to let me give you a working definition for this series related to kingdom voting kingdom voting is the opportunity and responsibility of committed christians to partner with god by expanding his rule in society through civil government let me repeat that again kingdom voting is both the opportunity and responsibility to partner with god for the expansion of his rule in society through civil government i'm going to make the case it is only to the degree that you include god's person and god's policies did you hear me god's person and god's policies in society through civil government as he defines it not as you preferred or i prefer it that we can begin to see healing in the church so it can be modeled in the culture we call it an opportunity because every culture doesn't have the opportunity to vote on its leadership we call it a responsibility of partnering why because all through the bible god calls people to partner with him scripture makes it clear that we are workers together with god so while we must pray for god to heal our land we must partner with god for the healing of our land when our part of the partnership wanes when we don't fulfill our responsibility we don't change who god is but we may alter how he may work because the partners aren't dealing with the partnership the way the partnership was established to work to run and to operate god has lost his democratic partners he's lost his republican uh partners his libertarian partners because they've left being a kingdom partner and a kingdom voter and if we're going to see him intervene inject himself in the affairs of a collapsing society of a devastated nation then we're going to have to return to him not in concept nor by simply throwing his name around everybody says pray everybody says they have faith in god it's hard to make it too far in our culture without a belief in god that is not enough god has policies and it is only as we embrace his person and his policies that we will experience his presence in healing our lives our churches and our nation let me say it another way the further god is removed from the life of an individual from the life and definition of a family from the life and definition of the church and in this case from the life and definition of a citizenry of a society the more chaotic those entities become the closer the god of the bible is to the individual the family the church and the society the more ordered and less chaotic it will become god is not simply a cute addendum you throw out there no he wants to be intricately involved the theme of the bible is the glory of god through the expansion of his kingdom god is concerned about one thing that he's glorified and that his kingdom is expanded once you leave that you've left the bible and once you leave the bible you've left him the bible is clear for example psalm 22 verse 28 puts it this way the kingdom is the lord's and he rules the nations did you hear that the kingdom is the lord's psalm 22 28 says and he rules the nations psalm 33 verse 12 says blessed is the nation whose god is the lord psalm 103 verse 19 says the lord establishes his throne in heaven and his sovereignty rules over all okay so let's get this straight he's king running a kingdom and that involves the nations so that involves this nation it involves the nation of your life and it involves the influence of your vote now i know that that creates consternation because we're voting on with the bible we call kings and in our case we vote on presidents and we vote on senators and house representatives and mayors and governors and all down the line of those who represent civil government and we want our person to win as we ought to that's why we vote for them just so you know that god is partnering in this situation daniel chapter 2 verse 21 says that god removes kings and he establishes kings he's running this show you can exclude him if you want to but it is to your detriment and my detriment so guess what if you are a christian and you name the name of jesus christ you don't get to leave god out of your vote you don't just get the vote because you like it or want to you only get to vote for his glory and the expansion of his kingdom we'll go into that a little deeper next week but that's what you're voting for i know there's a lot of subtext under that and i know there's a lot of variances in terms of specific applications to specific policies but unless you voting for that then you have not put god in his proper sovereign place over the nations which involves your vote because you're voting for the nation so this raises the question because if you are a committed christian then i want to vote with god right i want to vote with god i want god to be voting over here and i'm voting over there not if i'm a committed christian now if you're a casual christian or cultural christian or you're you're a political pundit then of course you're gonna vote like you feel it so i want to try to answer the question now since i've defined kingdom voting how god votes because i want you to vote with god and i want me to vote with god so let's find out how god is voting so if you're a committed christian you and i can vote with god in joshua chapter 5 joshua is fitting the battle of jericho god has promised him victory but joshua has to partner with him he's going to give him victory but he's only going to give him victory on god's terms so joshua has to partner in other words the wall of jericho just not going to fall down joshua's got to do some things for the walls to fall down and for god to give this nation victory so we're going to find out how god votes because i want you to vote like god votes because i want to vote like god votes because who wants to vote against god right it says in verse 13 it came about when joshua was by jericho so he's he's surveying the walls around jericho that he lifted up his eyes and looked drink he's he's peering out he's looking and behold a man was standing opposite him with a sword drawn in his hand here we got here we got a guy ready to fight he ready to get it on ready to go to battle and joshua went to him and said are you for us or for our adversaries oh isn't that and that the question of voting are you democrat or republican you know what are you which way you going you know folk ask me that question then i'm gonna tell you what i am before the sermon's over uh and i asked folk that question and forgetting debates who you vote for so he sees this guy ready to go to war so i saw a droid and asked the question whose side are you on are you for us now that would be like the conservative side because us is israel so these are god's us people we got the law of moses you know we got the ten commandments we're your people you've got to be for us we're the conservatives or are you for our adversaries they're the liberals because you know that's jericho they don't they don't hold to the same stuff we hold to religiously spiritually you know but we we got you know we're different so i want to know who side you on now that's a that's a very important question because uh joshua's mama didn't raise a dummy this guy is out here with a sword he's ready to fight he's captain of an army so he got a whole bunch of folk so if this guy is for us hey hey we got it we got it made cause we gonna fight and now we got this whole other army and they gonna fight conservatives gonna win but now if he for them if that other side loses or if the other side gets it then we got a little problem because now we're going to fight jericho but jericho got this other army out here and we're going to be outnumbered so so my mom ain't raised the dummy i need to know who side you on so i can figure out my strategy here i need to know which way you're going to go now remember this is captain of the lord's army this is like a theophany this is like god showing up in history and when he did that in the old testament it was jesus christ pre-incarnate but so god shows up in visible corporal form and leading an army ready to fight because the sword is drawn let's get it on it's time to decide who you're voting for let's look at the captain's our answer the captain of rather verse 14 he said no let me know i'd say who's that their side outside how are you going to vote no rather i indeed come now as captain of the host of the lord no rather i come indeed as captain of the lord no translation i'm not on either of your sides you conservatives no jericho no no because i'm operating on a whole nother program israel you want me on your program and you're my peeps human people cause you the chosen nation and i'm still not on your side just because you're my chosen people and i'm not on jericho's side and they hardly know my name but no i'm not voting for either of you so let me tell you god's political position he is a kingdom independent let me say that again the god of the bible is a kingdom independent and just because you're a christian just because you belong to israel doesn't mean he's on your side when it comes to the battles now you can quote that all day but he's telling joshua the head of israel god's people know because a lot of christians think just because we're christian god is on our side that sounds right but but uh the the pre-incarnate christ god's manifestation the old testament said no and i'm not on that side either because i am the consummate independent so if you want to know who tony evans is i'm a kingdom independent let me go one step further every christian should only be a kingdom independent only a kingdom independent now you may vote democratic you may vote republican you may vote libertarian you may even write in but the only thing you are obliged to be if you want god on your side is a kingdom independent which means you can only be democrat light or republican light remember those soft drinks light you know not too much sugar not too much calories i'm i'm voting over here we'll go into some of the the nuances well i'm voting over here but i'm not obligated to either because i belong to another order i belong to another king and the kingdom the what what the captain says is i did not come to take sides joshua i came to take over god's not god's not here to to take your side he's here to take over why because he rules the nation you know what means the rule that means to call the shots that means to have the last word that means to determine how things are going to work out the god of the bible does not ride the backs of donkeys or elephants the god of the bible is not first the democrat or a republican the god of the bible is his own independent he only votes for himself the problem occurs is that no political party only votes god's way the problem is that among men they pick and choose some pick righteousness others pick judgment justice some pick life emphasis in the womb some pick life justice to the tomb we pick and choose as though god is divided in a way he is not divisive no joshua learned a great lesson for us today in the 21st century when it comes to civil government don't think i'm on your side just because you're my people that's why we see so much brokenness in our lives and in our churches that's why we have a white church and a black church the only reason why we have a white church and a black church is because one group of the church decided that another set of christians didn't belong and as a result a schism that god didn't vote for how do you know god didn't vote for he drew his sword how do you know he drew his sword it's called the civil war the war designed to end slavery was the captain drawing a sword since y'all are not going to get this thing together you didn't do it in the church the nation is about to split apart i'mma draw a sword you see unless we allow god on every issue to make the final decision regardless of how you were raised regardless of color your skin regardless of your political background or allegiance is now i'm not suggesting that you not be a democrat or you'll not be a republican as long as you light as long as you're not fully committed because god wants to have the final say he rules and you and i get to partner with him the issue is god only votes for himself that that's the bottom line joshua i vote for me so even though you my people the issue is are you with me because just because you the church don't mean i'm going to function with you because you're not functioning with me we would not have a racial divide in america if it weren't for the church the church is the cause the good news is it's also the cure for the racial divide creating havoc in our society what is god is a kingdom independent what am i i'm a kingdom independent what are you you ought to be a kingdom independent because no party will hold your total allegiance because once it veers from god you're no longer committed to it because god is only committed to himself this leads us to a final thought it says when joshua heard no he fell down on the earth and bowed down okay let me help you out here he took a knee yeah he did that's what he says he took a knee now i know right now you know taking the knee is important because taking a knee symbolizes your allegiance to a cause he took a knee says he bowed down we have christians who will take a knee for a social cause who won't take a knee for the kingdom of god it's time for god's people black and white and every shade in between to take a knee for a cause a kingdom cause because when he when he found out god just wasn't on his side because he was israel and the leader of israel that he needed to take a knee that's called submission that's called that's called discipleship that's called yielding to a relationship so that you can submit to a rule he took a knee are you willing to take a knee in spite of your political persuasion are you willing to take a knee to the king in his kingdom because that's how god votes that's kingdom voting and if you're unwilling to take a knee and say let god be true and every man a liar even my party whatever that party might be yes you're going to vote this with that i got that as long as you do it light as long as you're not owned you bowed down he took a knee and guess what happened chapter six says when he took a knee he got an answer oh because chapter six tells about walking around the wall and you know once a day six days every day walk around seven times he gave him a odd strategy for a supernatural victory so what's a kingdom voter it's one who understands they've been given the opportunity and responsibility to partner with god for the expansion of his rule in society through civil government because next time you'll discover god wants to run the government i know don't get nervous because everybody gonna be worried about you talking about making a country of theocracy i know i know we're gonna get there hold on but in the meantime become a kingdom independent because when you do that now we can begin to see god intervene because everybody took a knee bill clem was a coach in the i was an umpire in the old negro league the old negro league in one of the games he was umpiring it was the bottom of the ninth the winning run was on third base the batter hit a ground ball to the infield as the runner on third base made his way home to seek to win the game it was a dusty day [Music] and as the fielder threw the ball to the catcher he went down to tag the runner and all kind of dust flew up at home plate making it hard to decide whether he was safe or out and the whole game depended on it [Music] both dugouts emptied one group was saying to win the game safe safe safe the other group not wanting to lose the game said he's out he's out he's out in a great conflict erupted on the field on the baseball diamond in the midst of the dust and the chaos bill klim took off his face mask [Music] threw it down and he said everybody shut up cause it ain't nothing till i call it the dust is flying everywhere folks the dems over here the republicans over here vice versa dustin's flying everybody and one group is saying this and another group is saying that and god in heaven is looking down and saying shut up shut up ain't nothing till i call what an awesome word and a reminder that god owns it all that god is over it all that god is governor of all governors president of all president and you know king of all kings and it's important to remember that we are his people during this time even when we have to make our decisions and who we're going to vote for in this season that it's all about knowing that god is the one who raises up kings and tears them down that god is the one who is over it all who understands it all and knows the direction that he's going for his kingdom purpose so we can be one even if we're different in how we vote because we know that we are serving the one who is over it all and that's something that we need to remember so we had a great reminder of that today but even greater than that is the reminder in remembering what christ has done what christ has done to make us one in him to bring us into the adoption in his family because of the work that he has done on the cross you've got to remember that he lived a perfect life that he didn't abolish the law but he fulfilled the law so that in him we can satisfy god first john says that he is the propitiation of our sins that he satisfied god that all of those who place faith in him will therefore satisfy god but not because of who you are it's because of who he is so he gives that to you if you come to him but he also died the bible says that he died for us so that we can live to him that first corinthians 5 21 says that he who knew no sin became sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of god in him and so he did that for us he took death from us and gave perfection to us now that's a good work that is a great work and something that we must remember and then he rose from the dead you know john 11 25 says that i am the resurrection and if you come to me you have life and eternal life in me because of my resurrection the resurrection is the receipt to let us know that death will not be our experience the resurrection is the receipt to let us know that the price has already been paid and we want to remember that we want to remember his life we want to remember the death we want to remember his resurrection because in that good work it is going to be perfected and it's something that we must remember because we're going to have the experience because of what he's done and so that's why we take out the bread and we take out the cup and i want you to do that right now in your home with your families is take out your bread take out your cracker and your cup and your water to remember his life to remember his death to remember his resurrection he's sitting with his disciples at the last supper in luke 22 verse 19 and he takes out the bread and he says i want you to eat this in remembrance of me that my body was broken for you so let's eat together in remembrance of his brokenness so that we can be whole [Music] as we pray through this time and have intimate time with god eating and remembering the sacrifice that he has made for us and hit that his body was broken and that he was wounded for our transgressions that he was uh broken uh and bruised for our iniquities as isaiah says we also want to remember the blood because our justification is in his blood romans 5 9 lets us know that we are justified by the blood of jesus christ we are rendered not guilty in the courtroom by the judge god himself because of the blood that was shed and we must remember that forever always but let's do it together today drink this cup in remembrance of the blood that was shed for you and me it's awesome to have the opportunity together to remember the great sacrifice that christ has made on our behalf so that we can live and walk in the newness of life because of the great life that he lived the death that he died and the resurrection that he accomplished as god the father rose him up i can't wait to see you again next week thank you for joining us this week and remember to be steadfast unmovable always abound in the work of the lord know that it will not go in vain remember sunday morning 10 a.m ocbfchurch.org ocbf youtube ocbf facebook we can't wait to see you again next week [Music] blessings [Music] you

Channel: Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship

Views: 46,649

Rating: 4.9092784 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: itt8gj5cAco

Length: 66min 10sec (3970 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 06 2020