Why Every Election Feels Like Armageddon (and how to respond)

The golden age of America begins right now. In light of the recent inauguration of President Donald Trump, the world has much to say. Every day now, it seems that there is a new headline regarding what this new president is doing or not doing. And before I move to the United States, how? Having grown up, born, raised in South Africa, I always perceived the United States, of course, as a world leader, a place where its people are very patriotic. You know, I grew up watching many of the same movies that many Americans watch. The world is Americanized. But when I moved here, I experienced things in a way that was much deeper. Of course, being immersed in the culture now. And I realized that nationalism is even bigger than I thought it was. Patriotism, the military and politics are much bigger arenas of conversation than most countries in the world. Politics and things of that nature is a big topic in any country. In South Africa, we have a lot of issues ourselves and we talk about it, but here, it permeates conversations so much more. Now, politics is important. Policies are important. In America, it shapes many key issues and even impacts the world. But why is it that every election year, in believing circles, it seems as though the world is shaken? Depending on who you vote for or whether you voted at all, it's either the end of the world or the beginning of a new world. While the presidents of other countries come and go without apocalyptic narrative, the new American president is either the Antichrist or the Savior. And in this teaching, I'm going to be speaking to both of those issues. Firstly, why is it that in times like these, some pastors and teachers who are supposed to ensure that we only exalt Christ spend their church service exalting a president? Is America our promised land? Is the Republican Party now God's emissaries? No, my friends. Yeshua's kingdom is not of this world. Trump is not your savior nor Satan himself. He is another broken man in need of Christ's changing power. Like me, like you, like all of us who are destitute. Without Yeshua's sacrifice, there is no problem with desiring to be politically active. But nations rise and fall by the breath of God, not because of who sits in the Oval Office. Any man is but dust with a fallen nature and the inability to rule God's kingdom. You are God's people. You are part of his kingdom. But the leaders of this world, they rule this world. And how is it going? Look around and see its nature. There is not a nation on earth without tragedy. Judge by the fruit, man cannot save. Man will not save. President Trump will not save you, nor the next. And I don't care what your president, no matter what country you're from, has done or what he promises to do. If you exalt them as larger than life, you raise a God for yourself. A man's life is but a viper. Ecclesiastes 9:5 says, for the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. All of us will be forgotten. In 500 years, even the most esteemed of presidents will end up with nothing but a name on a plate somewhere or in a book somewhere. No matter your president, the poor will still be here. The hearts of many will remain captive in sin. Millions will still die every day from disease, war, murder and tragedy. Ask yourself just this. What king has sold all they have to give it to the poor? Yeshua asked it of a rich young ruler, did he not? What then of a king? If a king is so good and so glorious and worthy to be called a savior of a nation, can he not at least do that? And his love for the least? And yet, with that rich young ruler, Yeshua stood before him there as the king of the universe, with nothing left to give. What king has saved the lives of the needy, the poor, and he who has no helper? Our presidents, they sit behind iron gates, and the poor stay poor. But only King Yeshua, he will put an end to it. Only King Yeshua, to whom President Biden, President Trump, and every other knee will bow. Psalm 72:11 May all kings fall down before him. All nations serve him, for he delivers the needy when he calls the poor and him who has no helper. Blessed be the Lord. Yahweh, for the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. He alone does wondrous things. Let no one take the credit for what he does. Give unto Caesar what is Caesar's. And if for you that is to give him a vote, then give him a vote. But give to God what is God's. Your life, your worship, your full attention and your adoration. And as for the American pastors who have turned their church services into political rallies, repent of your idolatry. And to those spending their time and their energy on the darkness. If it is today the end times, which I believe it is, and if it is today the last days, which I believe it is, let us be careful to not be like the foolish virgin who let her oil run out. See, being awake does not mean spending your time studying the works of the enemy and works of darkness. Being awake is action, as the Psalmist writes in Psalm 119, 148, My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise, focusing on the promise which is Yeshua, being our promised land and our salvation, focusing on how we can look more like him, how we can serve more like him, and love more like him. That allows us to discern darkness better than anything else. This world. Even those who do not know Yeshua are trying to study the works of darkness. There are many enemies of political parties and presidents who are not even believers and followers of Yeshua. There is no connection between the two. But it is the believer and the follower of Yeshua who will have the discernment in the end of days. Truly, because they know him, not because they have come to know what is darkness. Study the works of Yeshua and darkness will flee. And as for the desire to root up other people, whether it's a president or someone on the ground floor, you can do you. But I would like to remind you of the parable of the wheat and Tarsus, where a servant came and said to the master, an enemy has come to sow tares among the wheat. So the servant says, do you want us to go and gather up the tares? But Matthew 13:29, he said to them, no, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned. But gather the wheat into my barn. When there are weeds among the wheat, we must be careful, because sometimes our discernment is not perfect. And if our discernment is not perfect and we root up these tares, these weeds, we're saying, we're doing this for God. We're doing this for God. We're doing the kingdom's work. But then in the process, we accidentally pull out true believers and try and expose true believers because our discernment is lacking and we don't have the full picture and we don't know their hearts the way that God does. We will stand in judgment before God. We will have to answer as to why we threw a fellow believer, brother or sister, under the bus when we should not have, but have instead should have followed what the parable told us to do, to wait until the end when God will instruct himself, his angels, when it is clear when people have grown up and when their fruit can be evaluated, he will then separate the wheat from the wheat. And so, to be honest with you, even in this very video, I don't even want to talk about all this because I'd rather talk about those who are suffering the persecutions around the world, the hunger, the wars, the nakedness, the martyrdom all around us that you may not see, because maybe you live in a country where these things aren't evident everywhere, but they are happening everywhere else. They are happening every moment of every day all around the world. And all we can think about is who's the next Antichrist? All we can think about is who's our next presidential savior. All we can think about is whatever else is on Fox News or cnn. There's many things that aren't being reported, especially the things that Yeshua told us to focus on. They're not being reported on. So what is there to do for your present and for your country, no matter who you voted for or whether you even voted at all, you have a biblical mandate to pray for your leaders. 1 Timothy 2:1. First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God, our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. In vilifying someone or exalting someone as larger than life, we lose connection with their humanity and we forget that they are a man or a woman just like we are. They have their own issues and faults and they need our prayers just as we need prayers. They need our God, just as we need our God. They need a savior, just as we need a savior. That's why we must pray for them. God can and has used leaders, regardless of their moral standings. For his purposes. He even used Pharaoh. And in conclusion, the citizenship that truly matters is our spiritual citizenship. And spiritually, you're not an American, you're not a South African, you're not Chinese. Our citizenship is in heaven. Philippians 3:20. And from it we await a Savior, the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body by the power that enables him even to subject all things to Himself. May every knee bow to Him. Quickly, may we all see him on the throne. Quickly, may we all remember who is in charge. No matter who we see in the Oval Office. May we always give glory to God in prayer and supplication, no matter what happens on the world stage. And may we all remember that this world is but perishing. It's like the wind. It's fading away. But there is a kingdom coming that will never perish, that will have no end, and that will abolish slavery as we know it today. Father, help us in the midst of a fallen world like this, that is shouting ideologies and rhetorics our way. Help us to keep our mind fixed on you and your kingdom that is coming. Help us, Lord, to remember that you are the King of kings. No matter who sits in the Oval Office. We praise you, we glorify you. Yeshua. May every knee bow swiftly. May you come to set up your throne quickly. I pray all of this in the name of Yeshua. Amen.