The drive-by media flies so fast, that Trump getting hit in the head with a bullet seems like old news. But let's think about it for a moment: what if that bullet went through his brain? I can't even imagine what this country's response would be. Today, we talk about Lincoln's eulogy and look at 2 Peter 1 as a reminder of what's in our control.
Welcome to Politics by Faith, brought to you by the Patriot Gold Group. I love this scripture right here. It's a good way to end the week. 2 Peter 1, 5. It says, giving all diligence. Add to your faith virtue. Moral excellence, some translations, moral excellence. The Greek word is arete. A very huge Greek word. It encompasses a lot there. Add to your faith virtue to virtue knowledge to knowledge self-controlto self-control perseverance to perseverance Godliness and to godliness Brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness love. It's great scripture Just to put extra emphasis on this word giving all all diligence to do these things. The Greek word here means with haste, with earnestness, striving after something. You have to do it. You have to strive after these things.
This is about the complete Christian life, the well-rounded Christian life. You should be different in the world and you should be different than your old self. Spurgeon said to pay diligent attention to your virtue you should plead with God to give you the face of a lion so you can go forward with boldness. You should pay attention to your body, your self-control. The Greeks when they use that word self-control it almost only always applied to sexually.
Try to keep your thoughts and behaviors sexually pure but in all ways self-control get control your life you control of your lips your thoughts and then pray for perseverance no matter what comes your way to hold true to these things that are good and maybe I don't ever every time I read it I have a different one that stands out but the one that stands out the most this time is godliness that what is godliness exactly this this list of things it's so easy to skip over just like read through it real quick. But godliness, it means making God's glory the object of your life. That's godliness. If you're doing that, if the object of the point of your life and everything you do in your life is to glorify God, then that is godliness. I read a bit of this on the radio today. I actually didn't get to this specific part. I want to do it here. But I've been thinking a lot recently about Trump getting shot in the head. He was shot in the head. How unbelievable is that? I get so amazed with this drive-by media where we just move on to the next thing and a ton of things have happened.
Yes, but man, like, so at the risk of talking about old news two weeks ago, Trump got shot in the head. The former president, the almost probable future president got shot in the head, a turn of the head away from getting hit in the brain. It's unbelievable. So I've been thinking a lot about what would have happened if he did, if he was shot in the brain. And I don't even know. I have no idea. How would we react? What would we do? What would our country do?
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But of course, I was, you know, I thought of Abraham Lincoln, a former president who was shaman. And on the show today, we read some parts of sermons that were delivered because he was murdered on, assassinated on Good Friday. So that Sunday was Easter and was the topic of many a sermon. This one was a little different. This one was from a pastor who knew him. He actually was the pastor of a church that Lincoln would go to in DC and was with Lincoln
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at the end of his life. He said, this is the sermon that was given at his funeral. He said that when Lincoln left Illinois to become president, to go to DC, to act as president, he told his friends and everyone who came to bid him farewell at the train station, he said, I leave you with this request. Pray for me.
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This pastor said, Lincoln gave a calm and abiding confidence in the overruling providence of God and in the ultimate triumph of truth and righteousness through the power and blessing of God. Again, this was at his funeral. This confidence strengthened him in all his hours of anxiety and toil and inspired him with calm and cheering hope when others were inclining to despondency and gloom. Never shall I forget the emphasis and the deep emotion with which he said in this very room, to a company of clergymen and others, who
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called to pay him their respects in the darkest days of our civil conflict, he said, this is Lincoln said, gentlemen, my hopes of success in this great and terrible struggle rests on that immutable foundation, the justice and goodness of God. And when events are very threatening, and prospects very dark, I still hope that in some way, which men cannot see all, will be well in the end, because our cause is just and God is on our side. Such was his sublime and holy faith, and it was the anchor to his soul."
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The pastor goes on, talks about wonderful qualities of Lincoln, then he says, "...is more sublime than all or any of these, more holy and influential, more beautiful and strong and sustaining was his abiding confidence in God and in the final triumph of truth and righteousness through him and for his sake." He quotes Hebrews 11, 4, he being dead yet speaketh. Last quote here, yes, but that his steady enduring confidence in God and in the complete ultimate success of the cause of God, which is the cause of
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humanity, more than by any other way does he now speak to us and to the nation he loved and served so well. By this he speaks to his successor in office, and charges him to have faith in God. By this Lincoln speaks to the members of his cabinet, the men with whom he counseled and so often was associated so long, and he charges them to have faith in God. By this he speaks to the officers and men of our noble army and navy, and, as they stand
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in their posts of duty and peril, he charges them to have faith in God. By this he speaks to all who occupy positions of influence and authority in these sad and troubled times, and he charges them all to have faith in God. By this Lincoln speaks to the great people as they sit in sackcloth today, and weep for him with a bitter wailing, and refuse to be comforted, and he charges them to have faith in God. And by this he will speak through the ages unto all rulers and peoples in every land,
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and his message to them will be cling to liberty and right, battle for them, bleed for them, die for them, if need be, and have confidence in God. O, that the voice of this testimony may sink down into the hearts today, into our hearts today and every day, and into the heart of our nation, and exert its appropriate influence upon our feelings, our faith, our patience, and our devotion to the cause of freedom and humanity, a cause dearer to us now than ever before, because consecrated by the blood of its most
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conspicuous defender, its wisest and most fondly trusted friend, he is dead, but the God in whom he trusted lives. So good. If that all sounds very dramatic. Oh, slider, he's fine. Just hit his ear. Man, slightest of a turn away. Where would we be right now?
Maybe it doesn't matter. Our country would be in turmoil, no question. But maybe we are now to maybe that miss just delayed the inevitable. Who knows?
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But it always goes back to what's up to us. What is up to us? What is in our control? This is right here, 2 Peter 1. To live a life of virtue, self-control, to pray for perseverance in the midst of chaos and whatever chaos is to come, to pray for godliness and love, and to make sure that everything we do is for his glory.
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Mike Slater dot locals dot com. Transcript and commercial free. It's on the website, Mike Slater dot locals dot com. And if I may add one more thing here, if you're listening to this on Friday or the weekend, every Monday at 6 o'clock on the radio,
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we do a gratitude segment. Cicero said that the parent of all virtues is gratitude. So if we want more virtue, we need to be grateful. And that's what's going to save our country, not DC, not policies. Those are important, of course, but we need virtue in this country to save our country and that's it. And it starts with gratitude. So we open up the phones and say, you know, what are you grateful for? And we've done it
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for a couple months and at first it didn't work. No one called in for a couple weeks and I was like, I'm not giving up on this. And then people started calling and they were amazing. And then we had two ridiculous stories happen over the last two weekends in a row. First Trump was shot in the head and then Biden resigned. Was that what happened last week? I think, yeah, Biden resigned.
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Or said he was going to. I think that's what. Anyway, we didn't do it for the last two Mondays. We didn't do it. I didn't know what to do and I was going back and forth. Did we do this segment?
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Not, uh, there's so much going on, breaking news. I got to, and I fell for it and I didn't do the gratitude segment. And someone wrote me a note and they said, Sider, none of this politics matters if we don't get our heart right.
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That's right. Darn it. You're so right about that. So I just want to give you a heads up that we do that every Monday at 6 o'clock Eastern. Even if you don't have serious sex and patriot, feel free to call in at 6 o'clock Eastern time and we'll take your call. What are you grateful for? The number is 866-95-PATRIOT. If you want to write it down, think about it this weekend, and join us Monday at 6 o'clock, 866-958-TRIP. 866-958-TRIP. The website again, MikeSlater.Locals.com.