Greetings, this is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church with a moment of truth where we challenge you to think through an important issue of life and faith. Today, let me ask you a very important question. Why does spiritual change always precede genuine political and economic change in the United States of America, that is? Look to our history, dear listener, because this is my chief criticism of the modern Tea Party movement in the United States of America today, my chief criticism of libertarianism, for that matter.

There is a complete and arid void of substance on this factor of the equation for a return to the United States of America's founding values. Now before us every day, inside and out on television and on radio, on the internet, there's a torrent of talk about the Constitution, but very little consideration of what constitutes the character of the people who bring the Constitution, who bring an economy to life.

Part of the problem we have today is that our constitutional offices, for example, are manned by people who have no moral scruples about violating their constitutional oath of office, which reads, I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of, for example, President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. Unquote. The oath of office that every president takes, but which the last several seem indeed to have ignored or deliberately decided to work against.

What kind of cynical man, for example, swears this oath and then goes out and selectively enforces the border laws enacted by Congress and in fact opens them up to a flood of illegal aliens? What kind of lawless president appoints cabinet officers without the advice and consent of Congress, as this one has? What kind of president passively ignores the laws on the books concerning drugs or the Defense of Marriage Act, the DOMA Act?

What kind of moral character swears this oath and then stands ready to plunge us into a war in the Middle East or fosters government institutions like ISIS, right, like the Islamic State, arms them and encourages them and selectively bombs them? What kind of president swears this oath of office and then blatantly lies about legislation before Congress like the so-called Affordable Health Care Act that will remove the ability to keep one's doctor to obtain health coverage more cost-effectively and do so affordably? Uh-huh. The kind of man who does these things is an immoral and characterless man.

No constitution on paper is able to check a tyrant in the flesh. That requires, the checking of a tyrant requires constitutional men in the other two branches to stop, admonish, and impeach the executive who violates his oath of office. We obviously have no such men in these two branches today, or else we would see different results. There is also a torrent of talk, too, isn't there? Out in television, out in radio, out on the internet, out on YouTube channels, there's a torrent of talk about a return to capitalism as our founding economic system, too, with which I am in hearty agreement.

But as men like John Locke and Adam Smith taught us, the fruit of a man's labor is his property, and that property is sacred. No other man has the moral right to take property from another through, for example, things like taxes and inflation and creating limitless debt, as our government has been doing in the last few years, and doing so without the consent of the governed, the notion that property is sacred implies that God has sanctioned private property and the righteous way in which it is obtained. Yet no one thinks through the moral issues of capital and its use today, do they?

Not only, for example, is it immoral to tax away the fruit of a man's labor, but it is immoral as well to undervalue that labor by suppressing wages, as happened during the Gilded Age? We've been through this historically, have we not? I covered this a few weeks ago, when the captains of industry conspired together to fix wages while prices of the goods produced continued to rise. Not only is it immoral to devalue another man's labor through inflating his currency, as our government does presently, it is also immoral to artificially keep prices higher than wages, such that the worker is chronically in debt.

We saw this happen in the 19th century as well, in the so-called company towns, like the coal mining towns of Kentucky. Read your history. And West Virginia, too, where the rents and the prices were deliberately calculated to make the miner more in debt at the end of the year than at the beginning of the year.

Not only is it immoral to borrow limitlessly in the name of those that you govern, even as our federal government does now borrows from the banks, but it is also immoral to loan to borrowers whom you know can never pay back those loans you offer, backed by the taxpayer as it is even in our federal system, the so-called federal banks, as happened in the Fannie Mae and the Freddie Mac collapse in 2008. Now, for example, many in the Tea Party movement are familiar with Adam Smith and his grand magisterial work, The Wealth of Nations, are we not?

This book, the idea, the concepts in The Wealth of Nations laid the groundwork for the conscious practice of capitalism, though very few have read his magnum opus. Yet, sadly, very few people are familiar with his equally profound work. How many of you out there have heard of Adam Smith's equally profound work, The Theory of Moral Sentiments? Yes, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, in which Adam Smith put forth his understanding of precisely how men behave in society with one another.

And despite the greater success of The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith personally always considered his other magnum opus, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, his more important work. He begins that work by saying, how selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature which interest him in the fortunes of others and render happiness necessary to him, that he derives nothing from it except the pleasure of seeing it." The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Every man has these kinds of sentiments if indeed they are encouraged. It is a natural capacity for compassion, if we can put it that way.

This natural capacity for compassion, or sympathy as Smith calls it, is God-given and it's wired into his very nature. This is the idea of The Theory of Moral Sentiments. This man accomplishes and expresses in the normal course of his everyday life. The first and primary directive for the individual, however, in order that he might not have to be the object of some other man's compassion, is the care of himself. It's so important, dear listener.

This is Adam Smith's idea behind The Theory of Moral Sentiments, is that in order not to be an object of compassion or sympathy, one must take care of himself. I quote now from The Theory of Moral Sentiments by Adam Smith. He says, "'The administration of the great system of the universe, the care of the universal happiness of all rational and sensible beings, is the business of God and not of man. To man is allotted a much humbler department, but one much more suitable to the weakness of his powers and to the narrowness of his comprehension, that is, the care of his own happiness, of that of his family, his friends, his country." Unquote.

Oh, dear listener, we need to return to these principles, these moral sentiments, however, as Adam Smith would call them. Note the crucial premise that Smith establishes in his theory of moral sentiments, quote, unquote, "'The administration of the great system of the universe, the care of the universal happiness of all rational and sensible beings is the business of God and not of man.'" Unquote. How unlike the modern progressive, dear listener, for him, it is the business of man to ensure the care and universal happiness of all rational and sensible beings, right, to the progressive.

Well, now, Smith realized, now, Smith realized, as we should, that if man acted his moral part in the realm given him, that is, the care of his own happiness, that of his family, friends, and country, well, then the great God of Providence would so weave and intertwine these destinies that a greater sense of the universal happiness of all men would begin to take place. Now, the modern Tea Party movement has forgotten this. At best, it has relegated it to a kind of embarrassing, oh, well, this too, kind of status.

Prayers are offered at rallies, speakers allude to God here and there, and a vigorous defense is given for him in the public square, like the Ten Commandments at the courthouse, or in God we trust on our currency, prayer in the public schools. But I tell you, the absolute necessity of Christ at the very core of the Tea Party movement, at the very core of the libertarian movement, is entirely absent. And I am here to draw a clear, dark line to the contrary.

I assert to you, dear listener, without the Christ of the Bible at the center of your passion and concern, all of your efforts to bring the United States of America back to the Constitution or back to capitalism will fail. You will rally for limited government, but see it cynically metastasize ever larger as it has over the last few years. What good has it done to elect Republicans to office, for example, that swept the recent elections? Oh, it's done no good. You will clearly articulate constitutional principles as we have for your kids and all to hear, but you will see, rather, tyranny continue to grow unchecked.

Without Christ at the center of your passion, you will argue vigorously for individual self-reliance, but you will see government dependence and passivity go on and on, even as we have seen metastasize before our eyes. You will establish beyond doubt that a people should not spend more than it has economically. You can do this without Christ. You can establish that it is wrong to borrow more than you can repay, and you can argue that to print more money than you can pay back with true wealth, you will nevertheless see your nation tumble over a financial cliff with its profligacy as we have seen it happen before our eyes.

Well, this is precisely because neither the Constitution nor capitalism is capable without the spiritual and moral integrity of the Christian faith. When I say these things, I hear howls or protests from atheists or agnostics, practitioners of other religions, even many libertarians. But I am not alone in asserting this, and I'm asserting this strongly, too. Thomas Jefferson said, and I quote him, the reason that Christianity is the best friend of government is because Christianity is the only religion that changes the heart. Brothers and sisters, Jefferson's words were never more true than they are today.

The reason that Christianity, he said, is the best friend of government is that because Christianity is the only religion that changes the heart, unquote. What a profound insight from our founding father, Thomas Jefferson. It's a crucial insight. I lecture elsewhere, for example, that no other religion on the face of the earth changes, transforms, gives birth from heaven above, as does biblical Christianity. Jesus himself observes, you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, and all of your soul, and all of your strength, and your neighbor as yourself.

Well, the biblical gospel of Jesus brings to life the human soul as no other religion can. The biblical gospel of Jesus saves the soul for eternity, and then secondly, makes one capable of behaving in a true moral and ethical fashion here on earth, traits that our founders recognized were requisite for free people. Even the so-called morality of the atheist is a see-me-too morality that is entirely derivative of Christianity, even as the atheist faith is derivative of biblical faith. True liberty gives space for a man to act according to his nature.

If that nature is fallen, corrupt, and dead to God, then that liberty will give him space to see what we see today, because liberty gives space for a man to act according to his nature. And if his nature is fallen and corrupt, we see a nation laden with debt and lies and tyranny. We see a people dependent and lazy and debauched. We see a country teetering on the brink of extinction. True liberty gives space for a man to act according to his nature.

If that nature is reborn in Christ, if it is virtuous, and if that nature is alive to God, then that liberty will give him space to see what we saw at our founding, at least, that is a nation spiritually alive and virtuous, a nation living the principles of the Constitution and prosperous in a capitalist economy. This cannot be emphasized too strongly, dear listener, without the Christ of the Bible at the center of your passion and your concern, all of your efforts, dear Tea Party worker, dear libertarian, all of your efforts to bring the United States of America back to the Constitution or capitalism will fail.

Do you realize how unanimous this was amongst our founding founders? The future and success of America, said James Madison. Listen to this. The future and success of America is not in this Constitution, but in the laws of God in which this Constitution is founded, unquote. Oh, how profound that is.

Once again, insights from Jefferson and, of course, from Madison. The future and success of America, he predicted, is not in this Constitution, but in the laws of God in which this Constitution is founded, unquote. The Constitution is but an empty vessel without the law of God. The Constitution is but a hollow parchment without a virtuous people to execute it. The Constitution is but an exercise in futility until Americans are brought alive in their Savior, Jesus Christ.

You can rally at the courthouse till the Lord returns, elect Tea Party candidates until the Congress has choked with them, and slashed the size of our bloated federal government until it goes from the carnival fat lady to a fashion model on the runway, but you will still have tyranny and poverty and despair because men's hearts will not have been changed. When will the Tea Party recognize this and get their lives right with God first? The future and success of America is not in this Constitution, Madison said, but in the laws of God in which this Constitution is founded, unquote.

If the foundation of the Constitution, then, is the law of God, what happens when you destroy that foundation, as progressives are only too glad to see and do, and as the Tea Party is casual or neglectful in repairing. Of course, the whole structure collapses when that foundation is eroded, as we see happening before our eyes. Jesus tells us that a wise man built his house on rock so that when the tempest comes, it stands the forces that beat upon it. Our founding fathers recognized this and so built the foundation of the Constitution on the rock of God's law and word.

Progressives have so effectively brainwashed and propagandized generations of Americans that they are euphemistically referred to now as low-information voters, right? Such that we are now fools who have built upon the sand of secularism and statism and socialism rather than Christ's Constitution and capitalism. What is the result? Oh, as Jesus said, the house fell, and great was its fall, as he says on the Sermon on the Mount. Am I a lone voice in this?

Am I crying in the wilderness? America, repent? No. To tell you the truth, historically, when you look back through American history, I am only an echo of many voices in the past, and many voices in the future, too, if we survive so long. If we abide by the principles, as Webster said, Daniel Webster, the great senator, one of the last great senators from Massachusetts, said, if we abide by the principles taught in the Bible, our country will go on prospering and to prosper.

Webster goes on to say, but if we and our posterity neglect its instruction, the instruction of the Bible, that is, and the Bible's authority, no man can tell how suddenly catastrophe will overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity, unquote. Daniel Webster. Dear brother and sister, in the founding spirit of America, the posterity of Daniel Webster and the founders, I'm afraid, are frittering away the rich heritage, bequeathed us like the prodigal son who spent all of his inheritance on whores and hors d'oeuvres, hors d'oeuvres, right?

And he did this in a far country, and we will come to this same pass, as great a ruin as the prodigal son, unless we too return to our father. All of America needs to have the heart of the prodigal son who came back in repentance. And Jesus says in that parable of the prodigal son, and I quote Jesus, but when he came to himself, he said, How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger. I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.

Treat me as one of your hired servants, unquote. Only such humility and repentance from the American people, listen, O Tea Party, listen, O Libertarian, only such religious humility and repentance will bring us back from the brink of ruin and the catastrophe, as Webster calls it, the catastrophe that will overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity, unquote. Good intentions are not enough, listener. A pure spirit towards the Constitution and great labors to restore it will not suffice. Inculcating conservative fiscal policy, electing Tea Party candidates is mere economic spitting in the wind.

The spiritual renewal of all of America must first precede the constitutional and economic renewal of all of America. Without your own spiritual birth in Jesus Christ, dear listener, your own personal spiritual birth in Jesus Christ, as Jesus said, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. You will not only perish eternally in hell in the life to come, but in this life, you will live a life of death and be incapable of living the life of liberty under our Constitution that our founders intended.

Additionally, dear listener, you will live one of two extremes, one of two economic extremes with this history has demonstrated this for us time and time again. That is, you will either experience the life of predator capitalism that we saw historically during the Gilded Age several weeks ago. I lectured on that period and the consequences for unrestrained libertarianism, or else you will fall into the other economic extreme of government socialist dependency that we see alive and well today.

The spiritual revival of the late 19th century brought us back from the catastrophe of the Gilded Age that almost overwhelmed us then, unfettered capitalism without morality, without Christianity, without religious restraint and the spiritual revival, which included men like Dwight L. Moody and Billy Sunday. That brought us back from that catastrophe. Then, and only then, did we begin to return to constitutional principles and economic prosperity. And I ask you, will God intervene to bring us another renewal, another reformation, dear listener? This is, and it always has been, the bellwether of constitutional and economic renewal.

Have the people first and prior experienced a spiritual renewal in Christ? And there will be no economic revival without a spiritual revival. Dear fellow pilgrim, on our mutual spiritual journey, examine our history and you will see that this has always been the case in the United States. States of America. There would have been no Declaration of Independence, no War of Independence, no Constitution without the First Great Awakening, led by men like George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards.

There would have been no continuing American Union under the Constitution. There would have been no war between the states, no liberty for slaves, without the Second Great Awakening happening first, prior to the Civil War. And there would have been no child labor laws, no Spanish-American war, no prosperity for the American worker, if there had not been first and prior the great revival of the 19th century happening first. As God is sovereign over the affairs of men, there will be no constitutional renewal today.

There will be no economic recovery and prosperity in America today until there is first a prior spiritual renewal in the Jesus Christ of the Bible. It is not enough to say, yeah, you tell him, pastor, and walk away. You, dear listener, must repent of your sins, and you must believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior, though no works of your own do this, but only and utterly by God's grace do you come alive to Him.

You, dear listener, must reform your life according to biblical principles, that is, live honestly in your dealings with your fellow man, live a life sexual and of moral and sexual purity before the Lord, and practice the religion of the Bible. You, dear listener, must apply these principles of the Bible to your daily life, politically, socially, and economically. To this, I must warn of several grave errors that will prevent true spiritual, political, and economic reform as well. These warnings are, number one, libertarianism is a grave error that will bring catastrophe.

Let me say this again, and I fly in the face and the teeth of much thinking today in conservative circles, but I assert to you, libertarianism is a grave error that will bring catastrophe. This moral and spiritual error is fashionable in many conservative circles today. Well, I recognize that the Libertarian Party does not speak for all libertarians. Its platform does reflect many of the values of libertarians. For example, they say on their website, we seek a world of liberty, a world in which all individuals are sovereign over their own lives.

We defend each person's right to engage in any activity that is peaceful and honest and welcome. We do the diversity that freedom brings, unquote. Now, our founding fathers, on the other hand, recognized that God was sovereign over the affairs of men and that human activity was accountable to more than being peaceful and honest. That activity must be in line as we have seen with God's law and his righteousness. Libertarians have a hands-off approach to social issues like gay marriage and faithfulness in the bonds of marriage and drug use and abortion.

And for a host of reasons, I declare elsewhere, see my lecture on libertarianism in particular, that all of these social issues will destroy us as swiftly as the issues we agree upon with libertarians, like limited government versus statism, fiscal austerity in government versus profligate debt-ridden spending, and an emphasis upon personal liberty versus the tyrannical nanny state and alliances amongst the nations of the world only when it serves our national interests versus being the world's policemen and enforcer progressive ideals. I agree with progressives on all these things.

So realize, dear fellow pilgrim, that the areas in which we agree are only half the bridge to American salvation. God will not act to save the United States of America until the other half of that bridge is built. That is a spiritual rebirth in Christ that transforms the so-called neutral social issues into biblical social issues. Traditional, faithful, one-man, one-woman marriage, sobriety, and use of drugs, and an ethic of life instead of death on the abortion issue, all these things, for example, you will end up in the river crossing half a bridge as surely as you drove off the bank with no bridge.

So it will be for all who follow the libertarian agenda. So as centuries of history have proven, it is only and exclusively the biblical Christian faith applied to society, culture, and politics that has culminated in the most just and prosperous and freest nation the world has ever known, the constitutional republic of the United States of America.

So dear Tea Party member, dear libertarian, you have been cowed, you have been propagandized, you have been tyrannized into hiding your lamp under a bushel, as Jesus would put it, into separating church and state such that the two are isolated airtight compartments such that the twain shall never meet. You are meant to be mutually independent church and state and interactive. So I would encourage you then to stand up, otherwise you will never see the constitution practiced as you know it. Pray for true and genuine reformation in America, not just a superficial religiosity.

Do more than mouth religious cliches like in God we trust, or we are a Christian nation, or Christ is the God of this country. Stop it. Live it. Rather, first come to the God of grace, not of works, who saves you for belief in Him. And then bring your life in line with Christ's as you live out the remainder of your pilgrimage here on earth.

This has been Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church. New Geneva meets for holy worship at 10 a.m. on Sunday morning at 101 4th Street on the corner of 4th and Boulevard. Join us at New Geneva 10 a.m. on Sunday mornings and call us at 523-0196. 12-3, the home of the wedding. Middle East, West, West, West, West, West.

West, West, East, West, West, West, West. West, West, West, West,