sermonette: Us and Them
Austin Del Castillo
Given 06-Dec-25; Sermon #1849s; 13 minutes
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I'd like to start this message today by quoting some words of a song from the surf rock group known as the Beach Boys. It was a hit in October of 1963 and it was titled Be True to Your School. The lyrics start when some loud bragger tries to put me down and says his school is great. I tell him right away. Now, what's the matter, buddy? Ain't you heard of my school? It's number one in the state. So be true to your school now, just like you would to your girl or guy, and let your colors fly, be true to your school, unquote. What I want to point out in this message is that from our youth, we are taught to develop a party spirit in whatever society we are a part of. It can begin with us as individuals comparing ourselves to other members of our family. It can take place in feeling superior to our neighbors. Maybe we feel we have a better car than they do or even a better house. We can feel our neighborhood is better than those who live on the wrong side of the tracks. This escalates to the level of nations and ideologies. It comes down to the thinking that we are right and they are wrong. We are therefore better than them. This carnal thought process presents a very real challenge to the members of God's called out family. When we consider the state of societies in the Western world today, we in God's church can be very easily drawn into taking sides with one outlook or another. Just who are we in God's view? What is our role in whatever society we find ourselves? Please turn to 2 Corinthians, II Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 16, and we will read on through verse 21. II Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 16. Therefore, from now on we regard no one according to the flesh, even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Now, all things are of God who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading to us, we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God, for He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. I realized that on this occasion Paul is talking about what is expected of the ministry. However, it doesn't take much imagination to understand that these considerations actually apply to all of us as members of God's church. In that sense, we are all ambassadors for Christ. I've chosen to speak on this topic because as our societies deteriorate, lines are getting drawn that are more and more extreme and thus provide less and less tolerance of different points of view. My concern and more importantly, God's concern is how these ideas of the world can and have caused too many of us to at least emotionally take sides on a number of these issues that this world represents to us or presents to us. I have witnessed that in the last 30 years or so, that some in God's church have allowed themselves, themselves to actually vote in whatever level of government they feel is important to them. I've heard that some church groups do not speak about voting at all, because they feel that it's a personal matter for their members. I have to agree that indeed, it is a personal matter for all of us. So is everything we do in this life that God has called us to live. John Ritenbaugh was so right when he observed that everything we do under the sun matters. When we vote, we violate our status as ambassadors of another government. Do we forget that in Philippians Paul tells us that our citizenship is in heaven? In voting, we may in fact be going against God's will in placing a corrupt person in an office. He chooses. He tells us that He's going, what He's going to do to bring the curses upon us, the people of the modern Israel in Deuteronomy 28 and elsewhere. Have we decided to stop that? I found it quite refreshing when Senator Josh Hawley from the state of Missouri recently stated that there should be a sign on the doors of Congress that reads, bought and paid for by big tech. Please note that he did not say Democrats. He implicated everyone there. Picking sides in this world is absolutely foolish for us who've been called by our God to a completely new way of life. The effect of doing such a thing draws us away from the path to God's kingdom. It involves us in emotional turmoil. We can get so involved that we find ourselves trying to fund the side we want to win, never mind just voting. Please let me direct our attention to the greatest battle that has ever been fought on this earth. Please turn with me to Matthew chapter 4 and verse 8. Matthew chapter 4 and verse 8. Where we read. Again, the devil took Him upon an exceedingly high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, all these things will I give you if you fall down and worship me. Please notice that Jesus did not contradict Satan in his claim regarding owning this world's kingdoms. I clearly remember Herbert Armstrong saying this world is worshiping Satan, and it doesn't know it. I'm not trying to contradict any one of us when I point this out, we have to acknowledge that by the very actions of our societies, they have elevated Satan to being the god of this world. Satan is indeed the ruler of our societies. This perverted point of view is adapted in all of the societies of modern Israel. If we and the world as well, by the way, If we as God's people take part in supporting one side over the other in the outlooks of this world, we've already been duped. We've been taken out of our journey to God's kingdom. Can we see that? Well, we busy ourselves with hating one side or the other, we stopped taking our journey of the way. We've stopped walking along the straight and narrow path. We have busied ourselves with hating individuals to the point of wanting to hurt them, and perhaps even kill them, as we experienced with Charlie Kirk. Can we consider whether it's the right or the left, that these are all just men under Satan's influence. Personally, I do not have the time for any of this. There are too many things that I have to work on in my human nature to overcome, so that I may be able to stand before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ in confidence. That I did it all, that I did all I could to be welcomed. As His brother and son of the living and great God. I do not think our God doesn't hate what's going on in this world. It is pretty obvious to me that He does. We need to consider that He will take care of all of that. That is going on right now in His time. God has a plan for our existence and indeed this entire world. This will all take place according to His timetable, not yours or mine. We can't allow ourselves to get emotionally involved in corruption that we see all around us. Have any of us gone so far as taking pride in the hate we have for those who hold we hold to be corrupt. That can happen. How about hating our own human nature instead? That's the business our God has given us to deal with and overcome. We need to drop the hate and the violent wishes we harbor towards anybody and focus on the job at hand that our Savior has given us to do. That job is to produce godly fruit and overcome our own human nature in this very life we've been given right now. Busying ourselves with fixing this current world may well take us right out of being part of God's kingdom. It is that serious. Let's turn our attention. To the good fight, which is a spiritual fight against this world, against Satan's influence on us, and against our own human nature. Let's hope to hear our Savior, Jesus Christ, tell us that we did well and good and having been faithful servants. The party spirit of us and them has no place in the job we have at hand. It doesn't matter what and where people are taking sides to us in this world. We have a much bigger job. We've been called to overcome every society now in existence. We've been called to overcome Satan in our own lives. We've been called to qualify to rule all of creation, not just this universe. We can't ever afford to beat our chests and pride to be seen as haters of evil while neglecting our call to overcome ourselves. May our God continue to help us keep our eyes on the most important of goals. I will end this. Uh, this message, having us remember what Paul wrote to Timothy in II Timothy chapter 1 and verse 7. That's II Timothy chapter 1 and verse 7. Where he tells Timothy. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. The us and them mentality has to be. Uh, confined to our spiritual warfare with this entire world, and Satan and our own human nature as well. We need to busy ourselves with staying on the straight and narrow path that our great God has shown us. And has given us His Holy Spirit to be able to walk in it. Without the power that God has given us, we would never come out of this world. Which is fading away. And will finally come to an end.
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Sermon Topics
The Gospel
