The Kingdom Solution To Political Corruption by Dr. Myles Munroe: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Nations Are God's Property

Understanding that the kingdom is a practical implementation of heaven's government on earth is what makes us responsible for the conditions of earth. Nations are our responsibility. God did not leave the nations in the hands of government — because God is the creator of nations.

In Acts 17:24, Paul captures the concept of nations — their birth, their locations, and their purposes. God made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he is the owner. He never gave earth to man as a right of ownership. He gave man the management contract.

Acts 17:26 tells us he has made from one man every nation of men, he chooses where they shall dwell, and he has determined their pre-appointed times. Every nation is born at the right time. Nations are not forever — many have died. Your country has a schedule in God's great calendar.

Why God Created Nations

God specifically tells us why he created nations in Acts 17:27 — so that they should seek the Lord. Through the entire national psyche should be a hunger, a passion, and a pursuit for God. If a nation doesn't want God, God leaves. He says, "I'm not far away, but if you don't pursue me, I'll go. I'll leave you to your own destruction."

Acts 17:28 — "In him we live and move and have our being" — is not a personal statement. It's in the context of nations. In God, your economy is held together. In him, you are protected from wars.

God judges sin based on its category:

• Private sin — God judges you privately.
• Community sin — God judges the whole community.
• National sin — God judges the nation.
• Constitutional sin — when you institutionalise sin in law, God has to judge the very existence of the country. Whatever your constitution gives you existence — when you put sin there, God must judge nationally and constitutionally.

Corruption at the highest level is when sin is made a constitutional right. If you stay in the closet, you'll have closet judgment. But when it becomes institutionalised, God has to destroy the whole nation.

What Is Corruption?

1. Corruption is the violation of accepted values, morals, standards, and behaviors. When anyone violates values that have been agreed upon.
2. Corruption is the pursuit of personal gain at the expense of the value or respect for others. Going after what you want without caring who gets hurt.
3. Corruption is the sacrifice of correct principles and practices and conscience. Anything that makes you sacrifice principles that nature has proven to be correct.
4. Corruption is the breaking of covenant. When you swear on the Bible to represent your constituency and break that vow — that is covenant-breaking. If a man cannot keep a covenant with one person, how can he keep covenant with five million? That is why Paul says the qualification for leadership in God's church begins with being married to one woman.

Sources of Corruption

• Oppression — When people have been oppressed for a long time, it breeds a spirit of corruption. When they finally get free, they will destroy their own to pursue what they feel they deserve.
• Low self-esteem — Those without a healthy estimation of themselves degrade others to prop up their own image.
• Poor self-concept — A low picture of yourself breeds inferiority, which drives the need to make others feel inferior.
• Materialism and the spirit of immediate gratification — Oppression produces impatience and suspicion. People pile up resources out of fear, which is why a government leader might deposit billions in a foreign bank while people suffer.
• Poor ethics and low morals
• No spiritual accountability — When people are not afraid of God, corruption has no limits. You become your own standard.
• Demonic influence — The Bible speaks of the prince of Persia — a demonic power making laws through a king. Leaders in government can be influenced by demonic powers, producing legislation driven by forces opposed to life.

Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people. Proverbs 14:34

Proverbs 33:12 — Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. If the Lord is not your God, your nation will not be blessed. Joseph brought prosperity to Egypt. Daniel brought prosperity to Babylon. When the righteous rule, the blessing comes even to the wicked in the nation.

How to Protect a Nation from Corruption

1. Spiritual accountability
2. Living by principles
3. Spiritual laws
4. Values in keeping with those laws
5. Set standards you will not violate
6. Love for God — when you love God, you fear God, and the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom
7. Love for God's image — that is, people. No man can say he loves God and hates his brother. When you see people as God's image, every political decision is made with that awareness

Proverbs 29:4 — By justice a king gives a country stability, but one who is greedy for bribes tears it down.

Proverbs 29:12 — If a ruler listens to lies, all his officials become wicked. You cannot have corrupt people around you and hope to make pure decisions. Sometimes the first thing a new leader must do is clean the cabinet.