1994 Issue 8 - For Whom Shall We Vote? Election Sermons Revived - Counsel of Chalcedon

8/12/2019 1994 Issue 8 - For Whom Shall We Vote? Election Sermons Revived - Counsel of Chalcedon

1/7

friend of mine

recently

quipped,

If Ciod had intended for us to

vote, He would have

given

us

candidates " It's

sad

that this kind of

remark

is

funny. Each election in

recent

years

has

been a time of mourning. The closer you

look at the candi


2/7

The election

sennon has

been a

powerful instrument for

Cjod's glOly

in this

country. It is high time

to

revive it again. 50

(this

being

the season for elections), I offer to

you a

modem election sermon

on Cjod's

qualifications for

leaders. What

kind

of

men

should

be

chosen

for

positions of leadership

in a nationl What are the characteristics

necessal)' to qualify a man for public officel

The

Bible

tells us a great deal but we

are

given

a succinct description of what such

men

should be in Exodus 18:19-22 (a most

popular

text in

the 17th

and

18th centuries).

Moses had a problem. He needed help in

administering the

affairs

of

Israel. 50

he

sought

counsel

from

his

wise and godly

father-in-law, Jethro.

In response,

Jethro

described

to Moses the

sort of

men who are

qualified

to be leaders in

Israel

(Ex. 18:21

Moreover thou shalt provide out of aU

thepeople able men, such

as

fear Clod, men

of truth, hating covetousness; and place

such over

them,

to be rulers

of

thousands,

and

rulers

of

hundreds,

rulers of

fifties,

and

rulers

of

tens

. . . )

Three things must be true of

men if

they are to be considered able

men

and

thus,

fit

to hold local, state, or national

offices:

They must 1) fear Cjod , 2) be men

of truth , and 3) be men who

hate

covetousness. These 3 qualities

summarize

aU

the many

traits

of

godly character

outlined

elsewhere in the Scripture.

Let's

consider

each

briefly:

A MAN QUALIFIED

FOR PUBLIC

OFFICE MUST

BE

ONE WHO FEARS


3/7

(iod's laws

for

the good of the

people.

He is

to rule

as

one who

is

conscious that he too is

under authority. He is (iod's

representative

and

as

such, will render account to His

Master

for

how

he

discharged his

responsibilities.

MEN WHO

ARE

QUALIFIED FOR

PUBLIC OFFICE MUST BE MEN

OF

TRUTH.

The one

qualified for leadership

has a love and

reverehce

for

the Troth.

It

should

go

without

saying (but does

anything go "without

saying" anytnorel)' he

must be one who

speaks the troth. He

must be a man of

integrity. A man who

can be trusted. More

is

intended

here,

however. He must be one who not only

speaks the truth

but

is

loyal to The Truth.

That

is:

1. He is to be one who personally

adheres to Ood's law (Deut. 17:18-19). He

should not only be well acquainted with

the

Scriptures

but understand them intimately

and

seek

tofollow them

conscientiously.

He

must be one who reverences (iod's Word as

his rule of

life.

Further,

2. He is to be willing to uphold

Ood slaw publicly. He is to be willing to

maintain justice in the land. He must refuse

to

justify

the

wicked

or to

condemn

the just,

for he knows that

justice

can only

exist

when

(iod's laws are

followed.

He must allow

nothing but the law of

God

to determine the

issues before

him. He

must

remember the

truth

of Proverbs 29:4: The

king by

justice

establisheth

the

land: but

he who

receives

gifts overthrows

it.

3,

He

will not be pressured into

ungodly compromise. His policies and

positions must not be

determined

by

public

opinion

polls, the

media, or

by his

desire

to

promote his own

best interests.

They

are

to be

motivated by

(iod's Word

alone.

Everything contrary to

that Word

is

opposed.

The man qualified

to

lead

must be a

man

of

truth.

He

must

be

one who is married to the truth and

determined

not

so

much

as to consider even a

trial separation, far less a divorce,

from

it.

MEN

QVALlFlED

FOR PUBLIC OFFICE

MUST

BE

MEN WHO

HATE

COVETOUSNESS.

"

Covetousness

is

used

here

to

denote

all

sin and rebellion which

is

rooted in

self

-

love.

All who

fear

the

Lord

hate evil

(Prov. 8:13). The

man

fit for rule is

self-disciplined, able to govern himself by

God's grace (Deut. 17:17).

26 THE

COUNSEL of Chakedon October November, 1994


4/7

He is

to be one

who refuses to live

by

impulse and feeling. He

must

not allow

personal

ambition,

pride,

or

selfishness

to

determine his way. He is to

be

a

man

whose

principles

have

been

hewn

out

of the granite

rock of Scripture and

he

refuses to budge from

them.

What

qo

loves,

he

is

to love,

and

what qod

hates,

he

is

to hate.

Only the man who has these

qualifications is fit to

Of course, some candidates

are

better

than others but

too

often we find ourselves

facedwith

the hoi e between men who have

none of the biblical qualifications for public

office . There have been exceptions here and

there, but the vast majority

of us

have never

had

the opportunity

to

vote

for

a candidate

who meets the requirements

of

Exodus 18. It

is clear we

no

longer have biblically qualified

men who are willin to lead. Our leaders

are

nothing but

children.

e entrusted with

public

office.

But

where

are

the

men

like

thisl

We

have men who profess

to be Christians, but

name the national

leaders

(and sadly,

there

are

precious

few

local

leaders)

who

Our

leaders

are

nothing but

children This is

a

sure mark of

God s judgment.

This is a

sure

mark

of qod's judgment.

listen

to

these

sobering words from

Is. 3:1-5: For, behold,

the Lord, the LORD

of hosts, doth take

away

from

Jerusalem

truly

manifest

a fear of the Lord.

They

may

profess to

be

Christians

but

they

are

embarrassed to be identified with

distinctively biblical positions. They may call

themselves Christians but they place their

confidence in man (in military might new

social programs, or

other statist

solutions).

They profess to believe the Bible but quickly

forsake it if it means winning the support

of

a

particular interest group. They profess to

honor qod's law

yet

do

not obey

it.

They

have no

concern

for

biblical worship or true

godliness. They are satisfied with keeping

up

a

religious front --

paying lip servi e

to qo

when their hearts

are

far

from

m They

will quote

from

the Scriptures one moment

and justify adultery the next.

and from Judah the

stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread,

and the whole stay

of water.

The mighty

man, and the

man

of

war,

the judge, and the

prophet, and the prudent and the ancient,

The captain of fifty, and the honourable man,

and the counsellor, and the cunning

artificer,

and the eloquent orator. And I will give

children to be their princes, and babes

shall rule over them. And the people

shall

be oppressed,

every

one by

another,

and

every

one by

his neighbour: the child shall

behave himself

proudly

against the ancient

and the base against the honourable."

qo

says he will take away the

honorable

men

and replace them with

children. Not

children literally,

but children

spiritually. qrown men who are unwise,

October November, 994 THE COUNSEL ofChalcedon 27


5/7

easily intimidated, undisciplined,

irresponsible,

ignorantof the ways of

Ciod,

and easily deceived. Calvin

comments,

By

children are meant not only those who

are

so

by

age, but also

by

mind and conduct,

such as

delicate

imdeffeminafe persons, who

are

destitute

o

courage

and cannot wield

the

sword intrusted

to

them. He does not here

cany oot the

contrast,

clause by

clause, for he

thought it enough

to point

out

one

way in which a >

comrrionwealthis >

speedily ruined

i

that

is, when its rt.Jlers

are

weak and

foolish

men,

like >

children,.who have

no gravity or

wisdom:

(Commentary on

lsaia.h) . .

.

.

. A rebellious nation win

be

filled with

childish, immature leaders. Why does this

happen 1

It is

not an

accident.

Ciod says, I

am

going to do this

and He does it in

response to the rebeUion of the

people.

A

covenant-breaking people are not going to

be

given covenant-keeping leaders.

Even

if Ciod

were to

raise

up

godly

men,

such

a people

. would

scorn

them.

Men

desire leaders like

themselves. We have immoral, childish

leaders because we have

become

a nation of

immoral, .

childish people

. It

is for

this reason

that neatly

every

election

in

recerit

memory

has been a

day of

sorrow for those who love

the

Savior

and

care

for this nation.

WHAT MUST WE

DO?

It would be wrong

for

us to

give

up

in

despair. Just as surely as

Ciod judges

and

destroys nations, so He

revives

and

blesses

them. The

same

Ciod who judged Israel also

restored

them -- and He restored them in

response

to

the

prayers

and labors of a very

small minority who

set their hearts to

honor Him. To say

all that I have said

does not mean that

we should

lose

heart.

But what

must

we

dol

1.

We must repent

for our own sin

and the sins of our

nation. Read

Daniel's

prayer of

repentance

in

Dan.

.

9.

We dare flOt

think that the

victory

is

wein

if

the

man we

vote

for

wins. We

must neit

be satisfied until

our nation isfiUed

with men who fear

Ciod,

love the truth, and hate evil.

2.

We must devote ourselves to the

duty of Christian education. We must

train a generation wise in

the

things

of

Ciod.

3. We must give ourselves to the

preaching of the gospel-- teaching all

things

that Christ

has

commanded. The

peoplewill never desire godly leaders until

they desire Ciod.

4.

Some of

you

must

give

serious

8 THE COONSEtofChalcedon October/November, 1994


6/7

October November,

994

THE COUNSEL

of Chalcedon 29


7/7

consideration to running for public office.

We must have godly men who

are

willing to

seek election to

local,

state, and national

offices. We cannot be content to vote for the

"lessor of two evils." It is wrong for us to

vote for evil, even if the alternative

is

worse

Pray that

qod

grant

us

men

who will stand

for righteousness and

ask yourself, "Am

I that

manl"

5. We must

pray.

Our

qod delights

in bringing victory

out

of what appears

to be

certain defeat. Now is the time to

seek

Him.

Fast and

pray.

Beg qod to tum to us again.

Listen

to

Samuel Langdon

who

preached the follOwing in an

election

sermon

in 1775:

"If qod

be

for

us, who

can be

against usl The enemy has

reproached us

for

calling on his name, and professing our trust

in him. they have made a mock of our

solemn fasts, and every appearance of serious

Christianity in the

land.

On this account, by

way of contempt, they

call

us

saints:

and that

they themselves

may

keep

at the

greatest

distance from this

character,

their mouths are

full

of horrid blasphemies, cursing, and

bitterness, and vent all the rage of malice and

barbarity. And may we not be confident that

the Most High, who regards these

things,

will vindicate his own honor and

plead our

righteous cause against such enemies to

his

government, as well as our

liberties.

0 may

our

camp be

free from

every accursed thing

May

our land

be purged form

all its

sins

May

we

be

truly a

holy

people and

all our

town cities of

righteousness."

Only when qod's people are devoted

to

righteousness

in public

and private

can

we

have any

confidence

that qod will

fight

for

us. Let us

therefore

humble ourselves and

tum

from

our

wicked ways. Then

qod

may

hear our cries from heaven and tum to us and

heal our land.

Q

yron Snapp

ook Review

A

Treatise

on

Earthly Mindedness

by Jeremiah

Burroughs. Soli Deo Gloria Publications.

1991

hb. 219

pp. $18.95.

R C Sproul begins his introduction

to

the reprint of

the 1649 Puritan work with these words: "My guess is

that few people will ever pick up this book and read it.

Its theme and content are too alien

to

modem

Christianity

to evoke

much interest." (p.

i).

I believe he

is right.

Yet

this is the very reason you and I need

to

read this volume.

Being sinners saved by

grace we

can easily

get

caught

up

witli'iile'enjoyment of GOQspliysicaIElessings n -

forget God. In so doing, our spiritual lives are weakened

and our Christian witness can

easily

become a shambles.

This book consists of several sermons based on PhiL

3:19,20

and

Gen.

5:24. In them this faithful pastor

explores what earthly-mindedness

is

and how

to

Scripturally deal with it. He

follows

this with an

examination of how

we

can walk with God

in

our daily

life.

The chapters are short and provide much opportunity

for self-examination. As we have come to expect from

Puritan works there are an abundance of Scriptural

citations. With the citation the verse itself is usually

written out. Thus the reader does not have

to

put down

the book and search Scripture nor can he read the

reference without being faced with the contents of the

verse.

Applying the message of this book

to

our lives we will

grow in the Lord and certainly stand more faithfully

in

our culture. We willbe reminded time and again not

to

let our witness be encumbered by our love for physical

possessions.

I hope Dr. Sproul and I are wrong. I hope this book

gets wide, soul-searching reading by officers and

laymen. If so,

we

are certain

to

see a church that

is

more

God-honoring and awake than

is currently the case. n

30 THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon October November,

1994

Documents

1994 Issue 8 - For Whom Shall We Vote? Election Sermons Revived - Counsel of Chalcedon