In this sermon, the preacher focuses on the responsibility of God's people in a nation, specifically the church in the United States of America. He starts by referencing Exodus chapter 4, where Moses questions his ability to fulfill God's calling. The preacher then relates this to the present day, where many people may feel inadequate or insignificant in making a difference in their nation. He emphasizes the importance of crying out to God on behalf of the land and highlights the need for revival and awakening in the church to prevent judgment and bring about positive change. The sermon also mentions the pattern seen in Scripture, where God often uses natural disasters and economic challenges to wake people up and turn their focus back to Him.

Turn, if you would, to Exodus chapter one. A couple of weeks ago, I delivered a message on America, Oh, America, what will be your destiny? And this is will be, oh, America, what will be your destiny? Part two. And in this message, what I really want to talk about is the responsibility of God's people in a nation. The responsibility of God's people in a nation, the responsibility of the church today in the United States of America. Exodus chapter one. And before we read our text, let's go before the Lord, Father God, I ask you, Lord, to say to us what comes from your heart. Lord, speak to us from your word. I pray, Lord God, that you would speak through me, that it would not be my words, Lord, but yours make me sensitive, Lord, to your spirit. God, I just pray you would empty me completely of myself. Wash us all, Lord, keep us all covered under the blood of Christ and cleanse our hearts and minds, remove all the distractions. Father, I ask you to fill me with your spirit. Fill each and every one of us with your spirit, giving us ears to hear what the Holy Spirit has to say, or we look to you be glorified in this time and help us to hear you, Lord. In Jesus name, amen. Let's begin reading in verse six. And Joseph died and all his brethren and all that generation. Now, let's maybe I should give a little bit of background. You remember that God made a covenant with Abraham, that covenant was passed down to Isaac and Jacob, and then Jacob had Joseph. Joseph was in Egypt, second to Pharaoh. You remember that God was blessing the land because of Joseph and now his family had come and and they were being fed and provided for. But God's favor was upon the land of Egypt, all because of Joseph. And because of that, even Pharaoh during that time had a fear of the Lord. But now Joseph had died and that generation had passed on. And even though before Joseph died, he gave the people of God a promise. If you go back to Genesis chapter 50 and verse 24, Joseph said unto his brethren, I die. This was on his deathbed. I die and God will surely visit you and bring you out of this land unto the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac and Jacob. Joseph is saying to the people of God, God's chosen people, I'm dying, but you need to remember the promise. You don't belong in this land of Egypt. You're not to be in slaves in bondage here in Egypt. Remember the promise of God. Remember the promised land, the promise that he gave to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God will visit you and bring you out of this land. But now what happens? Joseph dies, that generation passed on and that promise was not passed down. The people of God forgot where they came from. They had lost sight. They'd forgotten the promise of God. Now, all the people of God, all the children of Israel are being held captive as slaves in Egypt under a new pharaoh who did not know God and did not fear God. We read in verse six again, Joseph died and all his brethren and all that generation and the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly and multiplied and waxed exceedingly mighty. And the land was filled with them. Now, there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph, and he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we. Come on, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply. And it come to pass that when there fall without any war, they join also unto our enemies and fight against us. And so get them up out of the land. Here we see again that the children are living in Egypt while they're still being blessed. Egypt was not God's ultimate destiny for his people. And something happened here and the Israelites had forgotten and lost sight of the promise of their God given destiny. Now, this pharaoh was the new king of Egypt. Verse eight says he did not know Joseph. Therefore, he did. He didn't know Joseph. He didn't know God. And he's holding God's people captive as slaves. This pharaoh was the highest political authority in the land. He had the final word about every decision. You would think that nothing could scare him with all the political power and authority that he had. All the people feared him. He was holding three million of God's people captive as slaves here. But this pharaoh had one great fear. It was a fear that nagged and consumed him. Pharaoh was afraid of God's people. Why was he afraid of God's people? They didn't have weapons like he had. They didn't have an army put together like he had. Pharaoh's greatest fear was that God's people would discover the truth. And no one fears the truth like a liar. God's people were being held captive as slaves in this land of Egypt by a lie. It was all a lie. Is that possible for the devil to hold a whole nation captive with lies? Absolutely. That's what's happening today. That's what was happening here. Pharaoh feared the truth because he knew the only way he was holding the people of God captive as slaves was by a lie. And if these people of God ever discovered the truth, they would rise up as one mighty army, figure out that there was a war going on, join it and defeat them. Now, this was the truth that Pharaoh feared. Verse nine, he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we. That was the truth. The children of Israel didn't know it, they were blind to it because of a lie, but that was the truth. So what does Pharaoh do? Verse 10, he says, Come on, let us deal wisely with them. Let us deal deceitfully with them. Lest they multiply and it come to pass that when their fall without any war, they join also unto our enemies and fight against us and so get them up out of the land. Can I say, brothers and sisters, that behind this Pharaoh was the devil himself holding a whole nation of God's people captive? And you and I need to recognize the nature of the battle today, that we're not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities of darkness, spiritual wickedness in high places. The rulers of the darkness of this world were wrestling against demonic powers, not flesh and blood. And there is a war going on in this nation. There is a spiritual war going on for the White House, for the leadership of this nation. There is nothing that Satan would love more than to have this nation invaded by terrorists, overcome by Muslims that are enemies of God and watch the people of God go through persecution and enslavement. There's a war going on for this land. And the Church of Jesus Christ has to wake up to the truth that we are not we are not to sit apathetically idly by. We are to recognize that there is a war going on and God calls us to rise up and join him in the battle. Now, what does what does what are some of the strategies of the enemy here? I want you to notice a couple of his strategies. First of all, a torment and oppression. Notice this in, if you will, in verse 11. He wants to deal wisely with them. He wants to keep them from coming to the knowledge of this truth. So what does he do in verse 11? Therefore, they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens and they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Ramses. But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew and they were grieved because of the children of Israel. The more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. Surely Satan is behind the persecution of the Church of Jesus Christ. He hates Christians. He hates God. But just like always happens, the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. That's the beauty of the persecuted church. My heart breaks when I think of other brothers and sisters in Christ who are being persecuted in other parts of the world right now. Some of them right now are in dark prisons with broken bones, having gone without food for days cold. They are suffering for the cause of Christ. But this is the beauty of it all. The more you persecute the Church of Jesus Christ, the faster she grows. More and more people get saved, and that's what's happening here. Pharaoh sends taskmasters, oppress these people, keep them under bondage. But the more they afflicted them, the more they grew, the mightier they became. Well, that doesn't work. So what does he do next? Look at verse 13. And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigor and they made their lives bitter with bondage and mortar and in brick and in all manner of service in the field, all their service wherein they made them serve was with rigor. What I see here is that the enemy behind Pharaoh is keeping the people of God so busy and distracted. If he can keep them too busy and distract so busy and distracted, he can keep them from remembering the promise of God. He can keep them from waking up and saying, hey, we are more and mightier than him. What are we doing in Egypt? So what does he do? Keep you busy, keep you distracted. And that's what he's doing today. He's holding the people of God, the children of God captive with lies by keeping them so busy and distracted, they won't have time to remember the promises of God. They won't have time to get in the word of God. They won't have time to pray for this nation. They won't have time to go and vote. They will be too distracted. They won't have time to stand for righteousness and truth. Keep them busy, keep them oppressed, keep them distracted. And he's using the media to do it. Bombarding your minds with lies, distractions, keeping your focus off of Christ and his promises, if you continue to allow the media to do so, you will come to a place finally of giving up and saying this nation is going to hell in a handbasket. We might as well just get ready for it. No. I say to wake up and get in the word of God. I know that America is overdue for judgment and we're seeing the judgment of God in some expression now, and if revival doesn't, if God doesn't revive the church and send a great awakening, terrible judgment is coming upon this land. But I'm yet to let go of the mercy of God. We have children, we have grandchildren, generations coming up. If the church remains asleep, this nation will slide into hell. Into the judgment under an ungodly king, as I've said before, you see this pattern throughout scripture when God judges a nation, he usually touches the ecology, the land. You see storms and drought and plagues and that nature, and it's to wake us up. And then after that, you often see him touch the economy, shake the economy, touch the pocketbook so the people of God are no longer looking to themselves, they're no longer self-sufficient and have to cry out to God for their daily bread. Touches the ecology, touches the economy, but then what happens next almost always is God puts that nation under an ungodly king, he allows them to be ruled by their enemies. May that not be, may that not happen, it will happen if the church doesn't wake up. So here's a strategy of the enemy, but I want you to see something else here. There's another strategy of the devil behind Pharaoh here. Look at verse 15. And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of one was Shipra and the name of the other Pua, and he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women and see them upon the stools, if it be a son, then ye shall kill him. But if it be a daughter, then she shall live. You know what the devil is always after? The children. Kill the children, Pharaoh says to the midwives, when you see one of these Hebrew women pregnant and they go into labor and you notice that it's a little boy, kill the little boy, kill the babies, slaughter the babies, he says later on in verse 22, Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born, you shall cast into the river and every daughter you shall save alive. The enemy always goes after the children. Why, especially the boys, why? Because little boys grow up to be soldiers, they grow up to be men, especially the Christian children. Oh, is he ever after our children, folks, through the media, through the world, through music, through false teaching, through every through their peers all over. The enemy is come to swallow up your children. With lies, and that's why we, as their parents, have to cover them in prayer, protect them, show them the way, teach them the ways of the Lord, he's after the children. But not only that, he's he's a murderer from the beginning, Jesus said. Here he is killing every baby boy. What is he doing today? He's slaughtering the unborn. Millions of babies have been slaughtered in this nation, that's why abortion is such an issue today. The shedding of innocent blood and especially in this election. Why is the enemy so threatened and afraid? Because we are ripe and ready for another great spiritual awakening if God's people respond to Second Chronicles, chapter seven, verse 14. And if that happens, you know what will happen? And I'm seeing glimpses of this. I was so encouraged in Atlanta, especially by one thing, the number of young men. And I'm talking about teenage boys up into the early 20s who are hungry for God. I'm talking about youth that are so hungry for God, they're willing to forsake all to preach the gospel and follow Jesus Christ. There is a stirring among young people and it's not a superficial thing, oh, let's let's have a good let's let's have a whatever they do, like an entertainment thing for Jesus, not that it's a deep hunger and desire to serve the Lord. I was so encouraged by that. If these young people come up and they rise up and they serve God with all of their heart, humble them, we humble ourselves before the Lord, turn from our wicked ways, God's going to revive this church and heal this land. So the enemy is threatened. So he's going after the babies. He's going after the youth, the children. No wonder the devil screams, kill the children, destroy the children. He's behind all the abortion in this land. There was an article written in a pro homosexual magazine by Patricia Warren called Future Shock. And in it, she said, whoever captures the kids owns the future. The homosexuals understand this, whoever captures the kids owns the future. When will the church wake up to that? Whoever captures the children, this is the next generation. Owns the future and folks, we need to understand that when because this is an issue that one of the the burden of my heart in any election, the primary burden of my heart is the issue of of life. The unborn, where does the candidate stand when it comes to the shedding of innocent blood, life or death, aborting babies or protecting them so they can live, you and I need to understand that when we go into a voting booth Tuesday, November the 4th, God has set before us life and death and you will choose one or the other. Deuteronomy chapter 30, let's look at this from Scripture. Deuteronomy chapter 30. Now, it's the principle here in the word of God, I want you to see that has everything to do with us standing up for those who cannot speak for themselves and choosing life and not death. Look at this Deuteronomy chapter 30, beginning in verse 19. God says, I call heaven and earth to record this day against you that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life that both thou and thy seed may live, that thou mayest love the Lord, thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, that thou mayest cleave unto him, for he is thy life and the length of thy days, that thou mayest dwell in the land, which the Lord swear unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, to give them. We must choose life. We must speak up and stand up for those who cannot speak for themselves. How will the unborn, who hears their cry? These unborn babies in their mother's womb used to be the safest place on earth. Now it's become the most dangerous. Who hears the cries of the unborn? Who hears that innocent blood crying up from the ground? God does. But he's called us, his people, to stand up and to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. Listen to this true story of an elderly German man who lived through the Holocaust of the Jews in Nazi Germany and who was part of the church, who would not speak up. Listen to this. An elderly German man who lived through the Holocaust tells this following story. I always considered myself a Christian. I attended a church since I was a small boy. We had heard the stories of what was happening to the Jews. But like most people in America today, we tried to distance ourselves from the reality of what was really taking place. What could anyone do to stop it? A railroad track ran behind our small church each Sunday and each Sunday morning, we would hear the whistle from a distance and then the clacking of the wheels moving over the track. We became disturbed when one Sunday we heard cries coming from the train as it passed by. We grimly realized that the train was carrying Jews. Week after week, that train whistle would blow. We would dread to hear the sound of those old wheels because we knew that the Jews would begin to cry out to us as they passed our church. It was so terribly disturbing. We could do nothing to help these poor people, yet their screams tormented us. We knew exactly at what time that whistle would blow, and we decided the only way to keep from being so disturbed by the cries was to start singing our hymns. If some of the screams reached our ears, we just sing a little louder until we could hear them no more. Years have passed and no one talks about it much anymore, but I still hear that train whistle in my sleep. I can still hear them crying out for help. God forgive all of us who called ourselves Christians, yet did nothing to intervene. It sounds like the church, us, in America in 2008. Are we tempted just to sing a little bit louder? We've heard so much about this issue of abortion, we can become desensitized to it, callous to it. It is the murder of babies. It is the shedding of innocent blood. And church, if we don't stand up and speak up, it's no different than just singing a little louder so we can try to numb our consciences. We must. One of the greatest hindrances to revival and a great spiritual awakening in our nation today is when Christians are more concerned about personal comfort and their personal comfort and their material gain than they are the lives of the unborn. And for spiritual freedom and the release of the captives, Almighty God sets before us life and death. We need to understand this, that for the most part, we have two presidential candidates. For the most part, one of them clearly stands for death. He clearly stands for gay marriage, the homosexual agenda, abortion, the shedding of innocent blood. For the most part, the other one stands for life. Life. Protecting the unborn. Guarding marriage, the marriage, true marriage between a husband and a wife. And when you and I go into that booth on Tuesday, we're choosing one or the other life or death. And God forbid that there be a professing Christian go in there knowing that and vote for the one who's going to benefit me. Thinking only what can benefit me and my family, my dear friend, hear this clearly, if you vote for a candidate who has a clear record of supporting abortion, you are as guilty as they are for voting for them. Hang your head in shame. I hope somebody hears that. Hang your head in shame. Do you not fear God? You will stand before God and voting for someone who is supporting the slaughter of innocent babies. Their blood will be on your hands. It's time to speak up, it's time to stand up. Look at this. Thanks be to God, someone was willing to do that here in Exodus chapter one. These midwives received a clear order to kill the children. And Pharaoh ordered the death of the children. But verse 17 tells us the midwives feared God and did not, as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men, children alive. The midwives feared God. Now, listen to this. Romans chapter 13 tells us we are to submit to the governing authorities. But there is a time when you do not obey the government. We obey the government as long as the government is not rebelling against God. Anytime the government calls, it calls us to do something contrary to the will of God to rebel against our God. There's a time when you obey God, you fear God, not the government. You obey God, not the government, even if it means your head. Thanks be to God, these midwives feared God, they would not kill the babies, though they were ordered to. Verse 18, the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said unto them, why have you done this thing and have saved the men, children alive? The midwives said unto Pharaoh, because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women, for they are lively and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them. And so they feared God and saved the children, but they didn't have this is where they failed. They didn't have the boldness and the courage to look Pharaoh in the face and tell him the truth. They lied and said, well, they're having these babies before we can get to them. You know what we need today? We need to go beyond that. God, give us leaders who are bold and courageous, who will stand the government in the face, whoever it is, face to face and say, this is why we stand for life. This is why we will not shed the innocent blood of the unborn. We fear God. We don't fear you. There's a time not to obey the government. God, give us leaders like that, bold and courageous, that are not afraid to stand for righteousness and truth in the land. That throw out being politically correct when it means obeying God, fear God and not man. Proverbs 28, verse one says the wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are bold as a lion. The cowardice and apathy and complacency of God's people are the greatest threats to this nation, a British statesman named Edmund Burke said this. The only thing needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. The only the only thing needed for evil to triumph in this land and this nation is for good men to do nothing is for the church to remain asleep. And never stand up, never speak up, never pray up, do you realize that according to research done concerning the presidential election in the year 2000, that of the nation's fifty nine million self-identified Christians, twenty four million of these believers didn't even register to vote. What's more of those thirty five million who did register, only 15 million went to the polls. That means that fewer than half, less than half of our country's Christian population cast their votes. And we wonder why we have the leadership in the White House that we do, or that's that's headed to the White House. What else do you expect if the people of God don't stand up and speak up? I love what Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a man of God who lived during the Holocaust of the Jews, but he was one who stood up, stood for truth and righteousness. Eventually he was executed in 1945. But while he was in prison, he wrote many letters, and one of those letters was the December 1942 Christmas letter titled After Ten Years. Listen to what he says. He asked a poignant question that every Christian today must ponder. We have been silent witnesses of evil deeds. We have been drenched by many storms. We have learned the arts of equivocation and pretense. Experience has made us suspicious of others and kept us from being truthful and open. Intolerable conflicts have worn us down and made us cynical. Are we still of any use? Christians, are we still of any use? This man's sacrifice for the faith continues to inspire many today. But this question he asked, are we still of any use? The answer to that question lies not with politicians, not with the world, but with God's people, with you and me. Are we still of any use? Will we speak up, will we pray up, will we stand up? Now, God had a destiny for this nation of Israel. But they're being ruled by an ungodly leader in Egypt, what would God do to deliver them? Think about this. God could do anything, couldn't he? He could open up the ground and swallow up Pharaoh and all those taskmasters and his people would be free to go. God could have sent a mighty army of angels to come into that land and take out all the enemies and his people would be free to go. God could have done anything, but what did he do? He did what he so often does. He chooses to use his people. He chooses to use his people. And here especially he chooses to use the most unlikely, the most inadequate, he chooses to use the weak. To confound the mighty and strong, God chooses to use the least likely in this case, he raised up one man, Moses. A man way up in years. He raises up Moses. But look at Moses's response in chapter three, verse 11, Moses said unto God, God called Moses and Moses said unto God, who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? Who am I, God? Who am I that I could make any difference at all, who am I that I should go? To set your people free, he says in chapter four, look at chapter four and verse 10, Moses said unto the Lord, oh, my Lord, I'm not eloquent, neither heretofore. Nor since thou has spoken unto thy servant, but I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue. And the Lord said unto him who has made man's mouth or who make it the dumb or death or the seeing or the blind have not either Lord now, therefore, go and I will be with thy mouth and teach thee what thou should say. And he said, oh, my Lord, send I pray thee by the hand of him whom thou will send. God's having troubles with Moses. God's saying, Moses, I'm choosing to use you. I'm calling you to stand up. I'm calling you to look Pharaoh in the eye and say, let my people go. I'm choosing to use you, Moses and Moses. Moses can't accept it. Who am I? But, you know, God has the same problem with us today. If we're honest, many of us will say, who am I? Barnsdale, it's such a small place. Who are we? What good can my vote do? What good is my little prayer? But I want to challenge you folks tonight with something. We need to look at this from God's perspective. If you insist, it's first of all, it's not a little thing for you to go and vote. It's not a little thing for you to pray for this nation. It's not a little thing for you to call upon God. But if you insist on that being a little thing, how can that little thing make any difference at all? Let me ask you this question. If you are not faithful with the little things, what makes you think you'll be faithful with the greater things? If we are not faithful with the little things, why would God entrust us with greater things? Look in the Gospel of Luke chapter 16. I want you to see this with your own eyes. Luke chapter 16. You see, the issue is not what good could could I do? I'm so small. What good can the little that I do? How can that make any difference? That's not the issue. The issue is, will you be faithful in the little things? Luke chapter 16, verse 10, Jesus said he that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. Will you be faithful in the little things? God chooses to use his people. This is a this is another burden of my heart. This apathy that says, well, God is sovereign, he will do as he pleases. Yes, that is true. But do you not know that God is sovereign and he chooses to use his people? And in his sovereignty, when he discovers that his people are so complacent and asleep and apathetic that they won't even rise up and stand for truth and righteousness in the land, what do you think God's going to do? He'll give us what we deserve. Until we do wake up and begin to share the burden of his heart away with the apathy. That says, what good can I do? Be faithful in the little things, be faithful when it comes to standing for righteousness and truth, when it comes to voting, when it comes to to praying. When it comes to standing for truth in this land, you say, who am I? Bottom line is, apart from God, we're all the same, we're nothing, we're nothing but dirt. But with God, we become a child of God who is adopted as a son or daughter of God. And with God, one plus God makes somebody makes a majority. So how many people was Moses one? And he obeyed God and a whole nation was delivered. How many people was Elijah one man? The Bible says Elijah was a man just like us, and he prayed and what happened, things happened. And you and I as Christians need to open our eyes. And say and see ourselves as that Elijah, that Moses, Lord, I'm but one man, but so was Moses, so was Elijah, I'm but one woman, but so was Esther, so was Hannah, so was Ruth and Deborah. But with you, God. God will do mighty things, the church has got to wake up out of her apathy. And slumber. Because it's really not about us, it's all about God and his glory, does it bother you, my dear friends, that God's name is being blasphemed in this land? Does it bother you that we are even dealing with issues in this nation such as gay marriage? Who would have ever thought that? Some of you older brothers and sisters, would you have ever thought that 60, 70 years ago that we're facing these these issues in the government today, trying to decide what the definition of marriage is. Whether or not we should save a baby or kill it. All that we would wake up now, look at chapter three, and before I read this verse, let me just bring this to a close. Well, you'll notice in verse 12, let's do read verse 12. God says to Moses. Certainly, I will be with thee and this shall be a token unto thee that I have sent thee when thou has brought forth the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God upon this mountain. God has made Moses a promise. He says, I will be with you. And here's the bottom line, brothers and sisters, whatever happens in this election coming up, this presidential election, whatever happens, whatever the outcome is, God's promises remain true. I will be with you. We may we may suffer. We may go under, go through incredible persecution. But one thing there are things that will never change. God's faithfulness will never change. God's presence to be with us, never to forsake us will never change. God will be upon his throne and no one will move him. We will still come and worship the Lord Jesus Christ, we will serve him with all of our hearts, that will never change. But now is the time to fight. Now is the time to pray. Now is the time to join in this battle, waging war. And we do that through prayer. We do that with boldness and courage, standing for truth and righteousness. Let me just close this with some application. It all begins, if you'll notice, in chapter three, in verse seven, the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people, which are in Egypt and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters. For I know their sorrows and I'm come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of the land unto a good land and a large unto a land flowing with milk and honey. God says in verse seven, I've heard their cry. This encourages me. God waits for our cry, waits for our praying. God says, I heard their cry. This is where it all begins with the people of God. Are you willing to cry out to God on behalf of this land? To get your get our eyes off of ourself and what affects me, what about what affects this nation, what about what affects the next generation? Are we willing to cry out to God? That's the first application to be made, to pray, to cry out to God. But then to do like Moses did and obey him, Moses, he murmured and he didn't want to go, but finally he obeyed God and we must obey God. And I want to tell you, as Christians, we have a responsibility. Before God to stand for truth and righteousness and to vote, to let your voice be heard, to obey God, to be faithful in the little things and when we vote, to vote with integrity and understanding, I haven't had time to do it, but I'm going to get with Rhonda the first part of this week and we're going to print out some voter guides and we're going to have them in the foyer next week so you can look on there and vote with understanding. You'll be able to see clearly which ones, which one his record shows that he's been pro abortion, which one shows that his record has been pro-life and you can vote with understanding. Vote with integrity. And we'll have those next week. But then I want to remind you what what I said a few weeks ago, I called the church to pray, to set aside at least one day a week to fast and to pray for this nation. I want to remind you of that, to do that, to set at least one day a week aside to fast and pray for the election, for this nation. And I would like to encourage you. I would think I think it'd be wonderful if we could all fast and pray on that Tuesday, November the 4th. To fast and to pray to call upon the Lord. We'll trust him with the results, but now it's time to wage war. Say, God, please put in put in the godliest leader that we have to choose from. In office, please turn the whole course of this nation, awaken your people to fast and to pray. Let me close with a couple of verses. Psalm 33, verse 12, says this, Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord and the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance. Folks, this nation was founded upon the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let's not forget where we've come from. And the battles that were fought so that we have what we do now. And the men who prayed and stood for righteousness and truth. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord and the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance. Proverbs 29, verse two, says when the righteous are in authority or when the righteous rule, the people rejoice. But when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn. I want to make an appeal tonight. I want to ask those of you who are willing to stand for truth and righteousness, you're willing. To go on that Tuesday, November 4th and vote for righteousness, for life, for truth, those who are willing to vote, those who are willing to commit to pray, to seek God, to fast. Are you willing to take that seriously tonight? If you're willing to commit to that, those things, would you stand with me as we pray? If you're willing to do that, if you're willing to fast and pray to seek God on behalf of this nation, to vote with integrity and understanding, would you please just stand? And let's call upon the Lord together. Father, I thank you so much for brothers and sisters who are gathered here tonight. And God, my prayer, beginning with me, is that you would help us, O Lord, to lift our eyes off of ourselves and to fix them upon you. And God, I pray that the things that break your heart will begin to break our heart. The things, Lord, that grieve you would grieve us. I pray, Father, that you would help us and cause us to see the discern the times in which we live and to see as you see, Lord, to see things through your eyes. I thank you, God, for those Christians who are willing to boldly stand and proclaim. The truth and who are willing to fight. For life. To choose life, to speak up for those who cannot speak up for themselves, to stand up and to pray up. God, I pray for each and every one of us that you would put this fire in our hearts, Lord. To simply obey what you call us to do, to be faithful in the little things, to vote with integrity and understanding. God, I pray that you would pour out upon us a spirit of prayer, a burden to pray for this nation, O Lord, not to give up, not to lose heart. But God, to trust you, to cling to your mercy, we thank you that you are a merciful God, Lord, we thank you that you take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Thank you that you're not willing that any should perish, O Lord. Father, I know that is not your perfect will, that this nation just crumble and fall apart and turn completely away from you. So, God, we ask you in Jesus name to awaken your church, O Lord, to raise them up. God, this sleeping giant, wake us up, deliver us from the lies that we've been held captive by. God, make us lovers of truth. Let your truth burn in our hearts, give us boldness and courage, Lord, to stop being so afraid of not being politically correct and rather to fear God, to be bold as a lion when it comes to righteousness. God, we pray for this nation. We are so blessed to live in this country, Lord. My heart is so grieved, just what I even what I saw in Atlanta, the number of mosques that are all over that city. The largest Hindu temple in the whole nation. God, I must grieve your heart. The ungodly leadership and greed that has been allowed to creep into the White House. Oh, Lord, I pray that you would awaken us, I pray that you would change the entire direction of this nation. God, there's so many people who don't believe you can do it. Don't believe that you will do it. But I believe that you are merciful, God, and though we deserve judgment, Lord, and not mercy, it's mercy that we plead for. We ask it for your name's sake. For the for the sake of your glory, Lord, we ask it for the next generation, the children that are coming up, Lord, give us grace, Lord, and passion. To fight for the next generation, oh, Lord, we thank you for your goodness and grace. Help us, Lord, to awake. To be vigilant, sober. To keep our eyes fixed upon you. We love you, Lord, God, be glorified in this land and heal it, we pray in Jesus Christ's name. And if you agree, say amen. Amen. God bless you all.