The Kingdom Voter’s Guide to Integrity, Character, and Government | Tony Evans Sermon
Dr. Tony Evans highlights the importance of voting with both character and policy in mind, arguing that leadership in government should reflect God’s principles. Government authority originates with God and society flourishes best under leaders who embody competence, integrity, and alignment with divine values. SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/user/drtonyev… ▶ Never miss an episode of the Tony Evans Daily Broadcast by subscribing to the official channel: / @tonyevansdailybroadcast If you would like to download two encouraging, FREE full-length MP3s of Tony’s popular sermons: “The Sovereignty of God” and “How to Handle a Crisis,” you can do so by clicking on this link: https://share.hsforms.com/1atT9MJvXQN… If you would like to sign up for our daily devotional bringing you hope and inspiration, please go to this link: https://share.hsforms.com/1CkOLA910Sm… ▶ Do you know Jesus as your Savior? https://tonyevans.org/know-jesus-christ/ ▶ Stream Sermons: https://tonyevans.org/podcast/ ▶▶ Free Sermon App: https://subsplash.com/tonyevans/app/ ▶▶ DONATE: https://give.tonyevans.org/the-altern… ▶ Facebook: / drtonyevans ▶ Instagram: / drtonyevans ▶ Are you a preacher? Free sermon outlines: https://go.tonyevans.org/dr-tony-evan… Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative and author of over 100 books, booklets and Bible studies. The first African American to earn a doctorate of theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, he has been named one of the 12 Most Effective Preachers in the English-Speaking World by Baylor University. Dr. Evans holds the honor of writing and publishing the first full-Bible commentary and study Bible by an African American. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on over 1,400 radio outlets daily and in more than 130 countries. Dr. Evans’ sermons are also streamed and downloaded over 20,000,000 times annually. #tonyevans #tonyevanssermon #KingdomVoting
if you want to say God Bless America
then you want to make sure your leader
or leaders are recipients of the
blessings of God so that as
Representatives they can transfer to the
citizenry so you see all of this is part
of theology it’s part of Understanding
God’s way of governance and God’s
understanding of leadership
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leadership is a fundamental feature of
Kingdom
governance and when it comes to being a
kingdom
voter we look at policies what are the
policies of the person and of the
party but we do not skip the person
while we accept or reject the
policies in God’s Kingdom having the
right person with the right policies
packaged
together that take
seriously God’s rule of government is
the way a people a community a
society a country and a culture
progresses when the two become
disconnected because you have wrong
policies or wrong
people then you have set the nation up
for Conflict for
confusion and for
possible
regression so you are looking for the
person or persons depending on the
particular area of government you are
voting on and the policies to achieve
that goal of maintaining a safe just
righteous and compassionately
responsible environment for freedom to
flourish now the Bible is full of
politics so it is full of
politicians the Bible is clear that when
it comes to God he
determines Proverbs 8:15 and
16 that Kings rule by me it
says that I orchestrate who the rulers
are because government is my
institution in Romans chapter 13 where
we started when we looked at God in
government over and over again political
rulers are called deacons they’re called
Ministers of God three times in the
first seven verses of Romans 13 so the
closer a leader is in their character
and competence to the governing
guidelines of God the more ordered the
society will be the further the leaders
are in their character and in their
competence with regard to biblical
policy since God says he is the only
ultimate lawgiver the further that
Nation will be from God and that means
the more confusion will take place in
society so picking the right
leaders that’s critical to the voting
process while you don’t skip policy you
don’t skip the person
either Proverbs 292 says that when
Wicked rulers rule the people Gran they
go because if the leader is evil then
the
legislation will not achieve its
biblical goal so we are to pursue both
now let me explain for a moment
theologically how the principle of
leadership Works in God’s government ing
process because remember government
belongs to God that is the system of
government belongs to God God operates
his world
Covenant a covenant is a legally binding
relationship that is been established by
God the more you are in sync with God as
a leader and as a culture the more you
will progress in society it is critical
that the leader is in
alignment with God in his person as well
as in his or her
policies the Bible says in Daniel
chapter 2 verse
21 he says that it is God who sets up
and takes down rulers he says in verse
21
it is he who changes the times and the
epochs he removes Kings and establishes
Kings he gives wisdom to wise men and
knowledge to Men of understanding he can
get you voted in and he can get you
voted out so you can’t even talk about
government and Leadership without
talking about God and his role with
regard to
leaders so in the principle of the
Covenant is this principle it’s a
Biblical principle it is the principle
of representation we are a
representative government we have a
representative system where we elect
representatives to represent us on
behalf of the nation that’s how God has
set up government to work
representatively he sets up families
that work that way the man is to
represent the family so Joshua says as
for me in my house we will serve the
Lord the Bible says leaders represent
the congregation so it tells the
congregation to obey its leaders and
then in
society who you elect represents you so
they will either represent you toward
God or aw from God either by their
character or policies or both so
leadership is critical and God
determines you know one of the worst
representative principles that we have
in life is Adam because the Bible says
in Romans 5 in Adam all die do you know
why you and I die because our
representative dis disobey God he was
our rep and when he disobeyed God it
transferred to the human race so because
he represented the human race and he
failed if he would have eaten of the
tree of life we would not be in this
mess but our rep failed now of course
that’s the good news too because we have
another representative Jesus Christ and
Jesus Christ didn’t fail he perfectly
satisfied in his person and in his
application of biblical truth the will
and the word word of God and when you
accept and trade representatives vote
for Jesus then for Adam you get the
benefit of the representative that you
select so you see all of this is part of
theology it’s part of biblio centricity
so Kingdom voting involves the people as
well as the policy God even operates
this way 1 Corinthians 113 it says that
God the father is over Christ Christ is
over every man a man is over a woman
he’s talking about how the blessings
flow through the bibloc Centric
principle of representation when you’re
operating Covenant God knows how to
handle leaders who go off who go off who
lose their uh uh proper perspective on
their role so to help us out with this
let’s look at the
qualifications when you’re on the
leadership Side Of The Ledger when
you’re voting you must be on the policy
side as well because policies often
Outlast leaders but you don’t skip
addressing leaders while you are
analyzing policy now the Bible says in
the book of
Exodus chapter 18 verse
22
21 the kind of leader you look for and
the kind of leader you endorse and the
kind of leader you correct he says in
verse 21 furthermore you shall select
that’s a choice you shall select out of
all the people able men who fear God men
of Truth those who hate this honest gain
and you shall place them over them as
Leaders of thousands hundreds 50s and
tens
or communities cities counties
States first of all he says that you
want to look for leaders who fear God
these are leaders who take god seriously
he says in Exodus 18 verse 21 he says I
want you to get them to judge the people
but I need leaders who fear God so let’s
talk about fearing God
a leader who fears God to fear God means
to take god seriously let me say that
again to fear God means to take god
seriously as opposing to taking God
casually Dr Evans will be right back
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series staying right with God do not be
caught off
guard when a leader doesn’t fear
God God knows how to bring the leader
down and bring the people down Following
the Leader if he’s the wrong or she’s
the wrong
leader one of the greatest biblical
illustrations of that of course is
Nebuchadnezzar he’s in the Book of
Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar I call him
nebby for
short he got the big
head he thought there was more to him
than there was he stood out on the port
a CET one day and said look at this
great Babylon that I have built I am the
man he was narcissistic to the max he
had a dream one day That Shook him up
and he wanted to know what the dream
meant to make a long story short a Godly
politician in government did you hear me
a Godly politician in government his
name was Daniel he’s in a secular
government he wasn’t
Israel the Theocratic government he was
in a secular society but that’s what we
need we need godly people in government
the Daniels he was in government and he
went over and he told uh the king king
uh I hate to tell you this but you
getting chopped down in verse 24 this is
the interpretation oh King this is the
decree of the most high God you you a
king but you’re not the king which has
come upon my Lord anding King that you
will be driven away from mankind you
will dwell in the place with Beasts of
the fields you will be given grass to
eat like cattle and Drench with the Dew
of heaven and seven uh periods of time
seven years will pass over you until you
recognize that the most high is ruler
over the realm of mankind and bestows it
on whoever he wishes and in that it was
commanded to leave the stump with the
roots of the tree your kingdom will be
assured to you after you recognize it is
heaven that rules hello we shouldn’t
just succumb to policies we shouldn’t
skip him but we shouldn’t just succumb
to them we must hold the character in
high esteem as well he says secondly
they must be men of Truth people of
truth that means they must protect
integrity
that doesn’t mean they’re perfect you
will not find a perfect leader because a
leader is
human but you want their goal you want
their
pursuit to clearly be the pursuit of
what is true of what is honest and what
bears
Integrity well what God wants is no fake
he doesn’t want you to be a fake
politician and he doesn’t want you to
support fake in politics
because God
wants the highest caliber of people in
his Covenant if he’s going to bless the
land along with High Caliber policies
that go along with them so they are to
be
god-fearers even in a secular society
they ought to be people of truth even in
a dishonest
government he then goes on to say that
they are are able
men okay they are
productive they function
excellently at the highest possible
level God doesn’t want you just getting
by as a political leader or voting
political leaders who are not willing to
give their highest and their best for
the citizenry that they represent their
standard of
Excellence they are slouches and
lazy and doofus no like Ecclesiastes 9
10 says when they do what they do they
do it with all their might that’s what
Ecclesiastes that should go for all of
us if you’re gonna do it do it if you’re
gonna go for it get it you don’t give
slop to God you don’t give slop to God’s
covenant and when you have political
leaders who just getting over getting a
paycheck and not doing the
do then they have failed you want men
and women who work hard at the job and
who don’t just try to get over the
fourth thing he says is they must be
selfless servants he says they hate
dishonest
game in other words they’re out
there for for the betterment of the
people not the betterment of
themselves now it’s okay to get benefit
from your
service but it should be because of good
service not because you’re robbing
people stealing from them ripping them
off using them undermining them no you
should be able to be trusted that you
are after their good in how you are
serving them you’re not after you using
them just so you can be better
off so you want selfless
service
so what is our
responsibility as voters Kingdom voters
first of all let me review you should be
a kingdom
independent okay now just so that
there’s no
confusion I don’t mean by that you don’t
vote for a Democrat I don’t mean by that
you don’t vote for a republican I don’t
mean by that you don’t vote for a
Libertarian I’m not talking about that
I’m talking about a mindset that says
that I am not ultimately committed to
any
party I may vote Democrat but I’m a
Democrat light I may vote Republican but
I’m a republican light I am not fully
committed to that party unless that
party can argue that it has has
character and competence people and
policies that are in line with the
kingdom of God that’s hard to find so
people are going to choose some are
going to lean on policy others are going
to lean on
person some disagree with policy some
disagree with people so people may be
divided so when you come out of the
voting booth you come out unified as a
kingdom independent I follow God and
when my party doesn’t follow God I’m
leaving that party on that issue when
this party doesn’t follow God I’m
leaving that party on this
issue because you are a kingdom
independent as a mindset as a world view
that governs and influences not only
your decision when voting but you’re
living after you vote and your
fellowship with other Christians who may
have differed with you in how they vote
but they didn’t differ with you in what
it means to be a kingdom voter and a
kingdom citizen what are you to do for
your leaders okay stay with me
here 1 Timothy 2 veres 1 and two says
you are to pray for all including your
political leaders that is including your
president your Congress
person including your city council
member your mayor your Governor you are
to pray for
them it is
amazing how many people will
criticize a politician who are unwilling
to pray for them if we have more prayer
than criticism we get more action
because we’re getting God involved God
should hear their name ring out in
heaven to correct their wrong to support
their
right he says that you ought to pray for
them
he says you are to submit to them 1
Peter chapter 2: 13 and 14 let me read
that to you 1
Peter chapter
2 verses 13 and 14 says
this submit yourselves for the Lord’s
sake to every Human Institution whether
to a king or one in Authority or to
Governors as sent by him for the
punishment of evil doers and the praise
of those who do right you submit to them
unless there is an exception here they
are asking you to disobey God let me
tell you what you’re not you don’t have
to like them these government Governors
that that Paul talks about and Peter
talks about were not Christian
governments it says in Exodus chap 22:
28 we are not to curse rulers oh yeah it
did it says in uh
Ecclesiastes chapter 10 verse 20 you’re
not to curse rulers uhoh watch this
hello in your bed chamber you know what
that means in private when nobody’s
listening because you’re in your own
private bedroom he says don’t you curse
that that means more than curse you know
cuss is bad words curse is to wish evil
on them at the same time leaders in who
office whose character falls short you
challenge them yes you do that’s what
Paul did Paul did this when he went
before Felix and when he went before
Felix in Acts 24 verse 25 he told Felix
the political leader you out of control
and we challenge character lovingly
responsibly honorly clearly and bibloc
centrically the Bible is clear Proverbs
24:21 we are to respect the king we are
to honor them and when you pray
if they’re not the best
people would you pray that God changes
their character if they’re in if they’re
in off even if they’re out of office but
if they’re in office pray for their
character condemn the wrong but pray
that there be a change because God God
changed a lot of folks character in
scripture I hope you know that Moses was
a murderer Peter was a you know a denier
Solomon was a woman Isa I mean you got
all kind of issues where God got in
there fixed their
heart including nebbi yeah he did
because in Daniel chapter 4 after he
went through seven years of insanity
when he lost his mind because God God
made him lose his mind and he came to
himself after that period and he
reflected the king reflected and said
Daniel 430 is this not Babylon the great
which I myself built as a royal
residence and and and he went through
that process he comes to the end in
verse 34 he says he raised his eyes
toward Heaven my reason returned to me I
got my sanity back because I had lost my
mind and I blessed the most high and
praise and honored him who lives forever
for his Dominion is Everlasting Dominion
his kingdom endures from generation to
Generation all the inhabitants of the
Earth are accounted as nothing but he
does according to his will in the host
of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth and no one I mean no one can
ward off his hand oh neb be
changed no he didn’t yeah he did because
he got a righteous person speaking into
his life so pray for those who aren’t
right yet while you criticize the wrong
in a legitimate responsible way
when you go to
vote you have to look at persons in
policy ideally you want both great
people with great policies godly people
with Godly
policies but often you don’t get most of
the time you don’t get both you may get
a person who’s not the best person but
they represent better policies or you
may get a person who’s a great person
but the policies they represent are not
consistent with God’s definition of
government so you got to choose people
going to choose differently but wherever
it’s way you go you come out of that
voting booth you stand for the King of
Kings and the Lord of lords and the
unity of his church take your stand as a
kingdom voter and never never never
ignore character for character must
accompany competence persons must
accompany policies if we’re going to
have the kind of nation that God is
free to
bless well this principle of
representation is an important principle
for
Life Jesus is your representative he
represents you before God the Bible says
he ever lives to make intercession for
his children you got a representative
the question is are you in align
or are you out of alignment are you just
a church goer are you just a Christian
or are you a disciple oh disciple that
means you are identifying with him in
your character and in your
conduct in your attitudes and when
you’re in your actions you’re under his
authority and you are pursuing a
relationship with the living Christ if
you’re not doing that you may go to
church every Sunday
but you’re not one God can do anything
with because you have not fully
committed to
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[Applause]
him civil leaders can be for good or for
bad based on the kind of leader that
they
are in my study of the transmission of
the Bible through our documentary
Unbound
we’ve seen how governmental leaders can
work against the program of God and the
expansion of his truth or they can
cooperate with the program of God and
the expansion of his truth that’s why
we’ve got to be really careful about the
kind of leaders we elect we support we
Embrace and uh we promote because the
wrong leader can hurt the program of God
and hurt the society
in which God’s created people live work
raise their
families governmental leaders are
critical to the well-being of society
but don’t forget governmental leaders
ought to be Servants of God for the
benefit of the people they not to be
Replacements as though they were God for
the detriment of the people
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