and get our fourth point from the message this morning. We're thinking about four things to remember on election day. Number one, the earth and everything in it belongs to God. Number two, God is sovereign. Number three, God sovereignly ordains, raises up, sustains, removes and replaces human authorities for His purposes. Looked at those things this morning. This is just a standing offer, but just in case somebody misses it or doesn't, feels like you need it. Anytime you want my notes, I will send them to you. We gave a lot of scriptures out this morning. And so if you want those and it helps you remember them, then text me, email me. It'd be better if you emailed me so I can just reply and attach those to it. Okay, and then number four. Number four, we said we're going to be thinking about ourselves now. In God's sovereignty, this is something to remember on election day. In God's sovereignty, you live when and where you do under the particular authorities and power for a purpose. Let me say that again. In God's sovereignty, you live when and where you do. So it's in God's sovereignty right now that we're not in the 1920s. You're here in 2024. Where you live and under the particular authorities and power, and God has orchestrated that for a purpose. Look at Acts 17. Acts 17. In verse 24, Acts 17.24, Paul says, God that made the world and all things therein seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands, neither is worshiped with men's hands as though He needed anything, seeing He giveth to all life and breath and all things, and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitation. that they should seek the Lord, if happily they may feel after Him and find Him, though He be not far from every one of us. For in Him we live and move and have our being." And then he goes on, but we'll stop there. So in verse 26, We see that Paul says that God has sovereignly ordained historically where and or when historically and where geographically each one of us will live our lives. Um, he has determined the times before appointed and the bounds of there, we could say our habitation. So you didn't end up here by accident. The fact that you're in Ripley, Mississippi is not by accident. The fact that you live in the United States is not an accident. The fact that you live in the United States in 2024 and Joe Biden is your president is not an accident. The fact that we're in the election that we're in is no accident. God has a purpose for all that, and He goes on to talk about that. And if you're not careful, you'll be disappointed at what the purpose is. He has appointed the bounds of their habitation and the times. For what reason? Verse 27, that they should seek the Lord if happily they might feel after Him and find Him, though He be not far from each one of us." Now, this really kind of goes back to, we just think about a theology of trials and a theology of suffering. Why is it that God allows suffering into our lives? We don't always know every little detail of it, but we know this. Every single trial that you and I will experience is always, 100% of the time, an opportunity to draw closer to God than you were before. There's no negotiation about that. That's just a biblical reality. One of God's purposes, and there could be many, but one of God's purposes, not only in trials in general, but one of God's purposes in placing us where we are, when we are, is to use whatever it is that we're surrounded by, pressures or whatever, to push us, draw us closer and closer to Him, independence on Him. So one of the questions we ought to ask ourselves just from a maybe we could start with the baseline is, you know, on a scale of one to ten, how dependent do you typically live on God as if you need him, not as if he would be a nice add on to what you already have planned for the day. You need him. I know I cannot make it to the end of the day without God. Well, you don't have to quantify that in a lot of ways. I don't like that kind of thing because it's, you know, what number are you going to pick? But here's the point. None of us would say I'm hitting 10 out of 10. None of us would say if you're looking for the portrait of a Christian whose childlike dependence on God is hitting on all cylinders, take a look at me. We know that's not true. And so what the Lord does is He gives us these circumstances, kind of like what I mentioned this morning, Brother Reggie prayed it on Wednesday night, where our souls just get captured with these things, like the thing with Spencer, where we feel like we're helpless. We know we can't do anything to help him. We've got to pray and depend on God for His mercy, for His provisions in that. And so, as we're thinking about our own selves, again, I don't say this because I'm planning for gloom and doom, but you know this, don't you? You know if Tuesday goes exactly like you're hoping it'll go, that's not the last day of political stress you've ever lived. Is that fair? Four years? Well, two years. I mean, the media's gonna start immediately, right? I mean, it's starting all over again. And it just seems like not that long ago that the most important election cycle of our life was taking place. And depending on what you were watching and, you know, if you believe some version of this, and I certainly don't have a problem with it, one of the most scandalous election cycles took place. Here we are. The apocalypse didn't happen. We're here. We haven't been pushed off from meeting. The economy has gotten tighter, but as far as I can tell, nobody's missed a meal. We've got jobs. We live very comfortably. I'm not saying that's always going to be the case, but I am saying if we're not careful, we'll get so wrapped up in the hype that we'll think we're two days away from decimation because things didn't go the way we were hoping. Well, the purpose for these things is that it would make us more and more dependent on God, but then also to help hopefully bring our focus, or maybe we should say bring our purpose into focus. Now, not only is our purpose to be dependent on God as far as childlike dependence, but then in that dependence, we we adopt hopefully His purpose for us. And that's very clear in Scripture. In Romans 8 28. Romans 8 chapter 28. and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose." Okay, that's us. We're called and we're called according to His purpose, which is what? For whom He did foreknow, He did predestinate. He did also predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. What's God's purpose for my life and for your life? that we become more and more like Jesus Christ. That's big picture what God's goal is for you. Now. When we look at the life of Christ and we're going to get into this and we get back into John, you'll see more of this. But when we look at the life of Christ, what do we see? Do we see Jesus avoiding the pressures of life in order to grow in holiness? The answer is no. We see Jesus going through the pressures of life, fully dependent on the Father, resigned to doing His will and fulfilling His purpose, which was to go to the cross and to redeem God's people. So what do we do? How are we supposed to respond? One way or the other? This is not based on outcomes. This is just based on what is it that God has called us to be? How is it that we grow in Christ's likeness? Well, here's one way. In Matthew 5, 14-16, "'You are the light of the world. The city that is set on a hill cannot be hid, neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.'" Now that's a very general statement. Okay, so we could put all kinds of specifics into that, but here's the question. Do you have such a witness that when people see your life, they thank God for what He's done in you? Now, that could happen in all kinds of different ways. That could happen at work, that could happen on, I say that should be happening at work, that should be happening at home, that should be happening on social media, that should be happening on every platform that you're communicating anything. Your purpose is to be a light so that men and women might see your good works and they might glorify your father who is in heaven. Part of this is We're being conformed to the image of Christ. We realize we are small representatives of God and His work in us. Look in Philippians 2. We see a similar passage. Philippians 2. Verse 14, "'Do all things without murmurings and disputings, that you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain." So here's the very clear instruction that Paul gives to the Philippian church as to how it is that they can honor the Lord. Number one, do all things without murmuring. That is, complaining. All things. all things without disputings, that is, fussing and fighting. Can you think of a more relevant verse for an election week? Two things you can't do all week. Don't complain and don't fuss. The country has to shut down. I mean, there's nothing left to do. What are they going to put on the news? How are we going to be a light in the world where people see our good works and they glorify our Father? I wonder how much it might stand out if you and I went all week without a word of complaint and without any silly disputings over political issues. I think that would probably stand out big time. You realize no matter who wins, more than likely there's gonna be riots. It doesn't matter who wins. There's gonna be a mess. People are so emotionally charged on both sides. Tuesday's not the end of this cycle. You know that already. So how is it that you're going to fulfill the purpose that God gave you before this election was even a thought? Well, it's by being more committed to honoring God in the way that you live in a crooked and perverse generation. By seeking to choke out the anxieties, the frustrations, the stresses of life by viewing it through the lens of His Word as you try to meditate and lay hold of by faith the realities of God's sovereignty in some of the things that we've said this morning. So God has you here in this place at this time for this purpose that you might seek Him, that you might be a light in a dark world But one of the things that we have to remember, and this goes back to what we've been talking about on Wednesday nights, in Ephesians 5, verse 8, where Paul says, you were sometimes darkness. That's what you were. But now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. And in the very next verse, for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth, and we'll stop there. What's your purpose? Well, your purpose is to be who you already are. Your purpose is to acknowledge the fact that I was darkness, now I am light, and now I've been called to walk in that light, which when you look at verse 9, is synonymous with walking in the Spirit. And so it's not just knowing something, but it's ordering your life around that something. So Paul says, you were darkness. Now you are light. That's doctrinal. And we understand that. And we could talk about that. But maybe you remember, and if not, you can go back and either listen or look at the notes. But there's that word walk. It means to totally restructure your life. Rearrange your life around this reality. That you're alive. Now walk in that. Arrange your life around that reality, that truth. Alright, a couple of implications. Then we'll be done. Number one, I'm kind of reaching back, I hope I'm wrong, but I'm thinking I'm probably not. We'll probably see a revival of this. The attitude of this particular candidate is not my president, is not consistent with the reality that God establishes leaders where they are, and at the same time, places you under their rule. If you're a Bible-believing Christian, you cannot say, not my president. You say, wait a minute, all the cheating and all that. Remember what we said this morning. God is sovereign over all of that. There is no such thing as not my president. Not because we're so thrilled with the person or even thrilled with the way that they got there, humanly speaking, but because we've resigned our will to submit to God's will. And eventually we have to accept what God allows. And the question is always how are we going to respond? And are we going to respond in a way that people see our good works and glorify our father? Are we going to respond in a way that we rile up people's flesh and they give us a thumbs up for being so bold? We want to be lights in a world that's dark. That's what we've been called to be. Ecclesiastes, this will be my last passage. Ecclesiastes chapter 7. Again, this is not a predictive anything. It's just a principle. Ecclesiastes chapter 7. v. 13-14, "'Consider the work of God, for who can make that straight which He has made crooked? In the day of prosperity, be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider. God also had set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after Him. Okay, in the day of prosperity, be joyful. That's easy enough. But notice what he says next. In the day of adversity, consider. That's the opposite of in the day of adversity, lose your mind. It really is the opposite. We have a tendency in the day of adversity to lose our minds. And Solomon says, slow down and consider this reality. It is God who has set one over against the other. And the reason that God has set one over against the other is that He might destroy our self-sufficiency and that we might learn to live our lives fully dependent upon Him. Two more applications and we're done. Our problem tends to be that we get so busy fretting and complaining and disputing in our hearts over the adversity that God has sovereignly allowed into our lives that we completely miss the opportunity for growth and to be a faithful witness that God is giving us. These opportunities can be easy to miss for three reasons. Number one, in our flesh, now, if that doesn't resonate with you, then you're abnormal. In our flesh, we long for the kind of comfort and ease that eradicates the need for living in childlike dependence on God. Your flesh is longing for that all day, every day. I don't want to have to need God. I'd love to be a good spokesman for God. I could show what it's supposed to look like, but I don't want to be in a place where I am in childlike, total dependence on Him. Our flesh hates that. In adversity, God is always after the kind of growth that's going to expose our weak and foolish hearts and force us to flee to Him for refuge. but that's the kind of growth that puts pride to death, and it's hard. And so, we need to remember, fourth application point here, that in God's sovereignty, we live when and where we do, and under the particular authorities that are in power for a purpose. And it's that we might seek Him be more dependent on Him, and also that we might live out His purpose, which is that we would become more and more Christ-like and less and less like ourselves. Let's pray. Father, we know that these things are true because they're in Your Word, but we also know that saying them doesn't make them real in our lives. And so I pray that You would bless us to take these things to heart And then I pray that you would empower us through the Spirit, not only to be able to recall these things, but to be able to live in light of these things. We have been brought out of darkness and into light, and we are called to totally restructure our life around that reality. May it be so, and may it be so this week. I pray in Jesus' name, amen.