Political Anxiety

Today on Fellowship in the Word, Pastor Bill Gebhardt challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ. Do you get the fact that distraction is natural for us? It just happens to us. It's every day. It never stops. I don't know how some of you can maintain a spiritual life if you would watch a news channel for 24 hours a day or 16 hours a day. Every waking moment you watch the same thing over and over again.

I can watch it for 15 minutes and it gets you all riled up. It's the idea. It's like, wow, this is the most important thing in the whole world.

But it's not. Thank you for joining us today on this edition of Fellowship in the Word with Pastor Bill Gebhardt. Fellowship in the Word is the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible Church located in Metairie, Louisiana. Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhardt now as once again he shows us how God's Word meets our world. Over the past 20 years or so, something has happened in our country and we are clearly now the most politically polarized of all generations that ever preceded us. It's been interesting for me as a pastor to watch Christians over the last five or six general elections. The amount of fear and anxiety and worry before an election has become disconcerting.

If the election went the way that Christians had hoped it would go, then there is an excitement and an optimism and a hope. It seems to me that elections, especially general elections, reveal our true character. It reveals where our hope is really placed. It reveals where our security really comes from. It can reveal where we really put our trust.

I understand it. We are so engaged in this country in the process. If you think of 20, 25 years ago in the advent of talk radio and all that has transpired since that. 24 hour a day news networks that do nothing but grind to political acts every single day for all of us. The barrage of information that comes through our smart devices is overwhelming, to say the least. But in Romans Chapter 12, the apostle Paul said, We are warned not to allow the world to squeeze us into its mold.

And I'm afraid that that's exactly what's happening to some of us. This morning, I would simply like to talk about where does our trust, where does our hope really lie? Would you open your Bibles to Psalm 47? It starts out by saying, Oh, clap your hands, all peoples. Then say Israel. He say all peoples that were peoples is the Hebrew word arm. It means all of us.

It means everybody. There's something that should make all people clap their hands. Now, when you look at that, you're thinking, well, that's just the natural mode of worship. That's what you end up finding in scripture. He said to all the peoples, clap your hands. And you see that everywhere in the Bible, right?

Wrong. You don't see it anywhere else in the Bible. In fact, clapping your hands is only referred to eight times in the word of God. One time it says the trees clap their hands. So we know that doesn't mean us. Another time it says the rivers clap their hands.

So that's two of the occasions. On one time, Job said when an evil man dies, people clap their hands. And the other five times say this. When God judges Israel, and you see this in Lamentations, you see it in Nahum, and you see it in Ezekiel. When God judges Israel, the enemies of Israel clap their hands.

This is the only reference about clapping your hands in the entire word of God concerning worship. And here is what he says. He says, clap your hands, all peoples.

Why is that so important? He said this is really, really important. Everybody on this planet should be clapping their hands because of what he's going to say. It's an amazing passage.

He says, for the Lord Most High is to be feared, a great king over all the earth. He said that's why you should clap your hands. I don't care where you are. I don't care if you're in Asia, in Africa.

I don't care where you are. Clap your hands. The Lord Most High, really an unusual phrase. Hava Elon, a wonderful combination of terms for God. He said he is the Lord Most High.

There's nothing like him. He is the great king over all the earth. You see, the idea behind it is simple. That should affect your world view. That should affect how you think about life.

It should affect everything about you. The God that we worship is Lord Most High. He is the great king over all the earth. Jesus Christ is called the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. You see, the whole idea of it is that's who God is. That's where our trust comes from.

I love what Os Guinness writes in his new and wonderful book called Impossible People. He says, for Christians, Jesus is Lord is the central conviction and confession of the Christian faith. In the words of the previously skeptical but the then believing Thomas, we are followers of Jesus because we have reached a warranted conviction, my Lord and my God. He says, Christians believe that Jesus Christ is fully God become fully human, the unique shore and sufficient revelation of the very being, character and purposes of the transcendent God, beside whom there is no other God and beside whom there is no other name by which we must be saved.

The follower of Jesus is therefore a person under authority, living before the transcendent majesty of God and unashamed to be so. What God tells us, we trust. What God tells us to do, we obey. We therefore gladly acknowledge that we are not self-created. We are not self-sufficient. We are not autonomous. We are followers of the Most High God.

That's who we are. He tells me that he is in control. My faith tells me I believe him. He tells me what is true and false. He tells me what to do. Remember, Jesus once was perplexed and he said, I don't get this. Why do you call me Lord and then not do as I ask? The whole idea being that I am the Lord. And when you think of all of the powers and all the political powers that ever came to be and all the things that they have done, he says they're subsequent to mine. I am in power.

You see, it doesn't really matter at all. He's told me how to treat my very enemies. That's one of the saddest things, I think, about the political polarizing in America. We are now viewing people in America on the other side of the aisle as our enemies instead of our friends or our mission field. We're viewing it differently.

We're allowing the culture to squeeze us into its mold and change us. You see, these truths that he writes here, when he says that the Lord Most High is to be feared, he's the great king over all the earth, that's true in whatever country you're in. It doesn't matter if I'm in America or in the Congo, it makes no difference at all.

It doesn't matter what the time is. It always has been true. It always will be true.

It doesn't matter if it's in the White House or in my house, it's true. He then begins to thank God. He said because this is true, he said he subdues peoples under us and nations under our feet.

He chooses our inheritance for us. He said the glory of Jacob, whom he loves, now he moves to Israel. And he says, you know what makes Israel great?

God. That's why Israel is great. Israel is not great because of Israel.

Israel is only great because of God. That's what God has done. He said, look what God has done for us.

Look at all the things that he has done. His response to this is gratitude which turns up in worship. He said, that's what I do. He said, when you look at who we are, God's people, and all the unique features that we have and the covenants that we received, we are the people of God. Let's worship him. The same is true for us.

Exactly the same way. You see, Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. He's loved us. He loved me. He came to earth to live for me. And then he died for me. And then he was raised for me. And he ascended for me.

He came back for me. You see, and I'll be with him forever for me. His response, that should be an amazing gratitude of what he has done.

Not only on the large scale like that, but the idea of what he has done for me personally. Think of the things that you have to be thankful for. Thankful for the church. Thankful for the people. Thankful for my wife. Thankful for my children. Thankful for my grandchildren. Thankful for my health.

Thankful for my job. There are so many things because he is the Lord Most High. This is what God has done.

That's what I should be preoccupied with. This is so important because, notice, after verse 4 he said, He chooses our inheritance for us, the glory of Jacob whom he loves. And then he says, Silah. Now, why do you say that? Pause. That's what Silah means.

Don't just go rushing by reading your verses. Pause. Think about what this means. You see, think about what this means. He is the Lord Most High. He is king of all the earth. Always was, is, and always will be. You see, he is a God who has given us tremendous benefits.

Just pause. He said, and think about that, and what that means to each and every one of us. It's an amazing thing. If you look just across the page, look at verse 1 through 3 in chapter 46. He says, God is our refuge and strength.

He's a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth should change, and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea, and though its waters roar with foam. He says, though the mountains quake in its swelling pride. He said, I don't care what's happening. I don't care. He said, I don't care what's happening in our country.

This doesn't change this truth at all. He said, even if the mountains slide into the sea, it won't change this truth. He says, notice, he said, therefore we will not fear. I'm afraid so many of us have political fear. We get afraid.

There's nothing to fear. He is the Lord Most High. Maybe what we need to do is verse 10 of chapter 46. Cease striving and know that I am God. Or in a King James the way I like it, be still.

Selah, be still. You need to know that I am God. I've always been God. I'm God today. I'll be God tomorrow. That's the way this whole thing works out.

That's what he does. You see, how does this truth that God is king over our earth impact and shape your life right now? Well, the way it should more than any other way, it should give you peace. I mean real peace.

This is who he is, who's always been this. You see, elections test where we put our hope. It reveals where we get our security. It tells us what makes us feel really safe. But remember this. Whenever you lose a spouse or you lose your health or you lose your job, you don't go to our government for comfort, do you?

It can't offer you what you really need at all. That's who God is. You see, what a dichotomy here. You remember Pontius Pilate? Pilate was the representative of Rome, still arguably the greatest empire the world ever had, the greatest political authority of all time. Pilate was telling Jesus what he could do with him, and Jesus interrupted him and said, you don't have any authority over me unless it's been granted you from heaven. No, Pilate didn't believe that, and Pilate didn't like that. But it was true. You see, it was the absolute truth.

Pilate's Pilate because God's in heaven. You see, the absolute authority. That's why Jesus said to him, he said, look, my kingdom's not of this world, but if it were, you'd be in big trouble.

You see, that's just the way this works. I usurp all earthly responsibility. Now he goes on in verse 5 of chapter 47. He said, God has ascended with a shout, the sound. He said, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. He said, sing praises to our king, sing praises.

For God is king of all the earth, sing praises with a skillful psalm. What is he doing here? It's real simple. Take your eyes off the horizontal.

Stop it. The Lord's ascended with a trumpet. You see, the idea is he's on the throne. He is the Lord most high.

He is king of all. He has ascended. Lift your eyes off the earth and put them to the, you see how this works? And I think what happens to us, we are so inundated in the political process constantly that we don't look to heaven anymore.

We look to Washington. You see, we seem to think there's where the answers are. That's where it's going to happen. That's where it really is important here.

But it's different. Hold your place here and go with me to Colossians chapter 3. Just these first two verses. Notice what he says. He says, therefore, if you have been raised up with Christ, and we have.

It's a first class condition of assumption. Since you have been raised with Christ, you're a Christian. You're born again.

You're a believer. Since you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. Don't get caught up.

Look, get involved in the process as much as you like. But when that process is producing in you fear and anxiety, something is wrong with your spiritual life. He said, you need to look up. Set your mind on heavenly things. He said, look, let me just remind you, verse 12. So as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on the heart of compassion and kindness, humility and gentleness and patience, bearing with one another, forgiving one another.

Whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as the Lord forgave you, you should also. He said, beyond these things, put on love, which is perfect bond of unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called one body and be thankful. Let the word of Christ indwell you richly, with all wisdom and teaching and admonishing one another, with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word indeed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus. Give them thanks to him, through God the Father. See, that's what happens when you set your mind above.

You act and live differently. And by the way, we should just turn back to Philippians chapter three for a moment. In verse 20, Paul gives us a reminder there. He says, for our citizenship is in heaven.

Isn't that great? Well, by the way, you'd say, well, yeah, yeah, but I'm an American. Paul said, yeah, I get that. Paul said, don't you understand I'm a Roman. Paul said, if I need to tell someone I'm a Roman citizen, I will. I am a citizen of Rome.

But that's not paramount to me, and that's not that important to me. There was a time when he used it in the book of Acts, but not in everyday life. He says, our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of his glory. By the exertion of, he said, the power which he has even to subject all things to himself. How can he subject all things to himself? He's the Lord Most High.

He's the King of all the earth. You see, that's something that has to be embedded in our thought process and how we see things and the way God does. Now back to the psalm. You see, I get the fact that distraction's natural for us. It just happens to us. It's every day. It never stops. I don't know how some of you can maintain a spiritual life if you would watch a news channel for 24 hours a day or 16 hours a day. Every waking moment you watch the same thing over and over again.

I can watch it for 15 minutes and it gets you all riled up. It's the idea. It's like, wow, this is the most important thing in the whole world.

But it's not. He goes on and he says this. He says, for God is King of all the earth, in verse 7. Sing praises with a skillful psalm. God reigns over the nations. God sits on his holy throne. The princes of the people have assembled themselves as the people of God of Abraham. For the shields of the earth belong to God.

By the way, the shield is the authority of government. He said it all belongs to God. He's sovereign over all of it. He said he is highly exalted.

You see, that's what he keeps saying. And it never changes. Psalm 90 says he's from everlasting to everlasting. Isaiah 48 tells us that God is the first and the last.

And Revelation 4 says that the Lord God Almighty was and is and is to come. It's all there's ever been. The position of King has never and will never be vacant.

The position of King is not up for vote. It's who he is. This is forever. Now I want to illustrate this in one other way. I want to go to Psalm 2. You might not realize, but this is the most quoted Psalm in the Psalter in the New Testament. This Psalm is quoted more than any other in the New Testament. Psalm 1 starts with how happy or how blessed. Psalm 2 ends how happy and how blessed. Psalm 1 ends with a threat. Psalm 2 begins with a threat.

It's a real interesting way in which they're put together. There's four acts in this little Psalm. One to three, the chaos of the world. Four to six, God calmly sits on his throne. Seven to nine, God's anointed will prevail.

And 10 through 12, God appeals to human government and mankind. Now look at the beginning of this, the rebellion. Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand. The wars take counsel together. Against the Lord and against his anointed saying, let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us.

What is he saying? Why are the nations in an uproar? The nations want nothing to do with God.

You see, they want to cast the fetters away. We're done with God. We want nothing to do with God. He is not going to be sovereign over us.

God must be so angry. Well, let's see what he is. Verse four, he who sits in the heavens, what? He laughs.

Wait a minute. Yeah, he laughs. He who sits in the heavens, he says, he laughs.

Wow. He says the Lord scoffs at them and then he will speak to them in his anger and terrify them. He said in his fury saying, but as for me, I have installed my king upon Zion, my holy mountain. See, men will rise and they become great and powerful. And God's response to great and powerful men are, look, you've got to be kidding.

You think you're great and you think you're powerful, but you're not. I mean, you remember the book of Daniel? Do you remember the whole idea what God says in Daniel 2? He said, I remove kings and I establish kings. But he said, yeah, but he's the greatest king of all.

In fact, he was known as the king of kings and Lord of lords. His name was Nebuchadnezzar. He built a 90-foot statue of himself and said, come, you must worship me. And God said, look, you're not really that much. So God just touched him. And what was Nebuchadnezzar doing then? Oh, he was eating grass.

He became a cow. You see what God's point of view was? And God said this in Daniel. God said then after that, the most high is the ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows on it whomever he wishes. I am sovereign. You see, if it's Nebuchadnezzar, I am sovereign. If it's Caesar, I am sovereign.

Whoever's in our White House, I am sovereign. I am God. Napoleon Bonaparte, at the height of his career, intoxicated by his own greatness, said, I make the circumstances of all life. And God said, oh, really? And Napoleon came to nothing.

Men come and men go. You see, God is not worried about the rebellion of people. He knows the principles. He said, I am sovereign over this world in such a great way. He says in verse 7, I will surely tell the decree of the Lord.

He has said to me, you are my son. Today I have begotten you. Ask of me, I will surely give you the nations and inheritance and the very ends of the earth as your possession. And you shall break them with a rod of iron and you shall shatter them with like earthenware.

What is God saying? I have a plan. You see, my anointed is my plan. This is my son.

Today I have begotten him. He's my plan. Yeah, but what's your plan for government? He's my plan. What's your plan for people?

He's my plan. Well, how would this work out? Exactly the way I decree it to. So as followers of that anointed, how should we be? Peaceful, loving, kind, engaged.

Nothing wrong with the engagement, but not full of anxiety and fear. There shouldn't be any of that on our part. Notice the invitation starting in verse 10. Now therefore, O kings, show discernment.

Take warning, O kings of the earth. Worship the Lord with reverence. Rejoice with trembling.

That's what we should be about. Do homage to the son, that he not become angry. Perish in the way, for his wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are those who take refuge in him.

That's us. How happy are those who take refuge in him. And if you're not happy, and you're full of fear, and you're full of anxiety, your problem is not horizontal. Your problem is spiritual. Because you don't get peace from the Lord Most High, the king of all the earth. It's a simple message.

And remember seeing a cartoon of a couple laying in bed, and they were watching a TV, and apparently the news had been on for a long time. And the last thing that the newscaster said was, good night and pleasant dreams. And the only way you can watch the news of the troubled world in which we live and have pleasant dreams is to do exactly what the psalmist said. Take refuge in our sovereign God. Who even though, even among the proud rebellion of wicked men, has told us over and over, I'm completely in control. The king is not abdicated his firm.

Not at all. He is the Lord Most High. The great king over all the earth. You've been listening to Pastor Bill Gebhardt on the Radio Ministry of Fellowship in the Word. If you ever miss one of our broadcasts, or maybe you would just like to listen to the message one more time, remember that you can go to a great website called OnePlace.com. That's OnePlace.com, and you can listen to Fellowship in the Word online.

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