1 00:00:04,179 --> 00:00:09,140 Greetings. This is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church with a 2 00:00:09,140 --> 00:00:14,099 moment of truth, where we challenge you to think through an important issue of life and faith. And 3 00:00:14,099 --> 00:00:22,500 today, God has declared the American church absent without leave in the war for the gospel 4 00:00:22,500 --> 00:00:29,760 when it comes to the culture, society, and politics of this nation. The American church 5 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:36,020 absent without leave in this war for the gospel. Where is the church to be found regarding the 6 00:00:36,020 --> 00:00:41,119 issues of life and death, those that matter to the gospel and her Lord, those which formed and 7 00:00:41,119 --> 00:00:46,719 shaped the American Republic at her founding? All around us, America is descending into chaos, 8 00:00:46,719 --> 00:00:52,820 decay, and tyranny. Her churches are silent. Our hard-won liberties are disappearing. Our heritage 9 00:00:52,820 --> 00:00:57,960 of personal freedom is being stolen. And the opportunities for rugged individualism are 10 00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:04,939 undermined by federal dependence. And the church is deaf and dumb. Those who rule over us disregard 11 00:01:04,939 --> 00:01:11,359 the constitution. They govern lawlessly. Those who govern us have one standard of law for themselves 12 00:01:11,359 --> 00:01:16,780 and another for us. And the churches are silent. International banks and the federal government 13 00:01:16,780 --> 00:01:22,459 steal from us, egregiously violating the eighth commandment and things like the heavy tax burden 14 00:01:22,459 --> 00:01:27,420 we have, the borrowing against the future, and the inflation of our currency. Make no mistake about 15 00:01:27,420 --> 00:01:31,959 this, dear listener. They are an egregious violation of the eighth commandment, thou shalt not steal. 16 00:01:32,260 --> 00:01:38,459 And yet the church says nothing. The American flag is figuratively blood-soaked from her wars, 17 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:44,920 her abortions, and her cynical grasping after power and bloody plot after bloody false flag incident. 18 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:53,879 And the church is absent without leave, intervening to stop it. Well, we can cite example after example 19 00:01:53,879 --> 00:01:59,959 to show that the American church indeed is absent without leave when it counts the most when it comes 20 00:01:59,959 --> 00:02:05,159 to culture, society, and politics. And this is our sphere under the civil covenant, dear listener. 21 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:09,419 Christians are to be the opposite of what they are today in their culture. 22 00:02:10,419 --> 00:02:16,180 We are to be salt and light in our world. For example, oh, famously in his sermon on the mount, 23 00:02:16,180 --> 00:02:21,840 Jesus exhorts us to have a profound impact on our world around us on behalf of the gospel. 24 00:02:22,379 --> 00:02:27,680 You are the salt of the earth, Jesus said. But if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be 25 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:32,180 restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. 26 00:02:32,879 --> 00:02:38,020 You are the light of the world, Jesus also said. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 27 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:44,060 Famous words all through America's history. Jesus goes on to say, nor do people light a lamp and put it 28 00:02:44,060 --> 00:02:50,060 under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light 29 00:02:50,060 --> 00:02:55,199 shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. 30 00:02:56,219 --> 00:03:01,819 This witness, dear listener, this witness of salt and light. Salt is a preservative against corruption, 31 00:03:01,819 --> 00:03:07,539 and light is the illuminator of the right way. This witness of salt and light is not constricted to 32 00:03:07,539 --> 00:03:12,159 the confines of church and family, but rather to the whole world. That's what was intended, 33 00:03:12,159 --> 00:03:17,680 including culture, society, and politics. If it is not, please show me where from the Bible. 34 00:03:18,379 --> 00:03:23,460 In fact, our founders were fond of using this metaphor to describe America just exactly. 35 00:03:24,020 --> 00:03:28,439 John Woodthrope, for example, leader of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, declared in a sermon, 36 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:33,280 we shall be as a city set upon a hill, the eyes of all people upon us, unquote. 37 00:03:33,639 --> 00:03:38,979 That metaphor has rung throughout our history, characterized us ever since until recently. 38 00:03:38,979 --> 00:03:44,879 And then secondly, also, we are not only to be salt and light in our culture, 39 00:03:45,139 --> 00:03:50,860 our society, and politics, but also we are to submit to authorities as they exercise justice 40 00:03:50,860 --> 00:03:56,439 amongst us, distinguishing between right and wrong. We are to submit to authorities as they 41 00:03:56,439 --> 00:04:01,840 exercise justice amongst us, distinguishing between right and wrong. The Apostle Paul is very clear as 42 00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:06,280 to what our attitude towards human government should be. He says in Romans chapter 13, 43 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:10,759 let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except 44 00:04:10,759 --> 00:04:15,800 from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists 45 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:21,339 the authorities, resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers 46 00:04:21,339 --> 00:04:26,360 are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? 47 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:31,379 Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. 48 00:04:31,379 --> 00:04:37,040 But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain, for he is the servant of God, 49 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:42,939 an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer, unquote, from Romans chapter 13. 50 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:47,939 And all through this passage, dear listener, there is an implicit understanding that magistrates 51 00:04:47,939 --> 00:04:53,759 distinguish between good and bad conduct, and between justice and injustice. What is the Christian 52 00:04:53,759 --> 00:04:58,959 to do then when the magistrate demands bad conduct and unjust behavior of his subjects? 53 00:04:58,959 --> 00:05:05,399 Further, what do you suppose Paul had in mind as a standard for good and bad, for the just and 54 00:05:05,399 --> 00:05:10,899 the unjust? And I suggest to you, it is precisely this, the Bible. By what other standard do we 55 00:05:10,899 --> 00:05:16,079 measure what is good and bad, what is just and unjust? In subsequent lessons, we'll expand our 56 00:05:16,079 --> 00:05:20,720 interpretation of this passage, which has been so much abused and misinterpreted by the contemporary 57 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:26,639 American church. But for now, know that it has been employed by pastors and churches to counsel a 58 00:05:26,639 --> 00:05:32,899 passive non-involvement or an uncritical submission to government that the Bible never intended. 59 00:05:33,579 --> 00:05:37,819 In fact, this is one of the prime reasons. I have seven reasons for the loss of America 60 00:05:37,819 --> 00:05:44,240 as we have known her at the hands of the church. Number one, the American church has counseled a 61 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:51,420 passive non-involvement or an uncritical submission to government. Yes, it has. Look around you. 62 00:05:51,420 --> 00:05:57,180 Perhaps your own church has counseled a passive non-involvement in politics, society, and culture, 63 00:05:57,300 --> 00:06:03,579 or perhaps an uncritical submission to government. Owing to a misinterpretation of Romans 13, 64 00:06:04,079 --> 00:06:08,879 and it's being made the one and only absolute text that deals with the Christian and his relationship 65 00:06:08,879 --> 00:06:14,319 to government, American Christians in particular have adopted a kind of, oh, well, what can we do 66 00:06:14,319 --> 00:06:19,959 about it? Attitude in the face of tyranny and injustice in America. We are to be content, 67 00:06:20,079 --> 00:06:25,040 according to them, to preach the gospel without knowing precisely what preaching the gospel entails. 68 00:06:25,279 --> 00:06:31,180 And we are exhorted to not soil the garments of the gospel with politics and society. And we are 69 00:06:31,180 --> 00:06:35,480 counseled to wait for the deliverance brought by the pre-tribulational rapture of the church, 70 00:06:35,819 --> 00:06:40,500 a gross error in eschatology that has retarded the effectiveness of the church. 71 00:06:40,500 --> 00:06:46,379 But this was not the intent of Paul in this scripture, Romans chapter 13. Nowhere was there 72 00:06:46,379 --> 00:06:52,360 an unconditional submission to authority required to government any more than there was an unconditional 73 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:58,379 submission to other authorities, like masters of slaves or parents over children or husbands over 74 00:06:58,379 --> 00:07:04,420 wives. In subsequent verses, there is a principle in the Bible, and this principle is whenever those 75 00:07:04,420 --> 00:07:11,180 in authority require those under authority to do evil, it is the responsibility of those under authority 76 00:07:11,180 --> 00:07:17,560 to resist that authority. This, dear friends, is a biblical principle missing from the interpretation 77 00:07:17,560 --> 00:07:24,519 of Romans chapter 13. Whenever those in authority require those under authority to do evil, it is the 78 00:07:24,519 --> 00:07:31,300 responsibility of those under authority to resist that authority. Joseph resisted Potiphar's wife, 79 00:07:31,300 --> 00:07:36,579 Nathan resisted David in the matter of Bathsheba, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego resisted Nebuchadnezzar 80 00:07:36,579 --> 00:07:42,199 in his demands for idolatry, Daniel resisted Darius in his worship, Peter resisted the ruling body of the 81 00:07:42,199 --> 00:07:47,720 Sanhedrin with the words, we must obey God rather than men, time and again. This is the case, and the 82 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:54,480 American church has effectively turned off its conscience in this area. However, those under authority 83 00:07:54,480 --> 00:07:59,420 are to be obedient to God first in their marriages, families, and churches, but supposedly, 84 00:07:59,420 --> 00:08:05,180 in our scheme in America, not under government. When it comes to civil government, God has ceded 85 00:08:05,180 --> 00:08:12,519 his authority wholesale to human government in the eyes of these Christians. We obey authority in the 86 00:08:12,519 --> 00:08:17,579 home and the church conditionally, don't we? As long as it does not violate the will and the law of God, 87 00:08:17,579 --> 00:08:24,120 that is. When it does, we resist that authority. For example, wives, if you're commanded by your husband 88 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:29,600 to have an abortion of your child, you resist. Daughters, if you are commanded by your father 89 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:35,539 to have an abortion, you are commanded to resist. Conditional obedience, as long as it does not 90 00:08:35,539 --> 00:08:41,519 violate the law of God in these spheres of authority, but the modern church tells us we are expected to 91 00:08:41,519 --> 00:08:47,620 obey civil authority unconditionally, even when they're evil. We are expected to passively turn a blind 92 00:08:47,620 --> 00:08:53,419 eye to tyranny and bloodshed and corruption. When asked why, the American Christian mouths 93 00:08:53,419 --> 00:08:59,519 unthinkingly, let every person be subject to the governing authorities, right? This is probably what 94 00:08:59,519 --> 00:09:04,980 is preached at your church. Dear Christian, it has not always been so, however. For example, 95 00:09:04,980 --> 00:09:12,000 the English pastor Samuel Rutherford, from whom the founders drank deeply, he noted in his 96 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:19,399 mackisterial book, Lex Rex, the law and the prince, the law and the king. Samuel Rutherford noted, 97 00:09:19,580 --> 00:09:25,220 and I quote Rutherford here extensively, God has given no absolute and unlimited power to a king above 98 00:09:25,220 --> 00:09:31,740 the law. When a magistrate does anything by violence and outside of law, insofar doing against his office, 99 00:09:31,740 --> 00:09:38,500 he is not a magistrate. Rutherford goes on to say, then that power by which he does these things is 100 00:09:38,500 --> 00:09:44,919 not of God. None do resist the ordinance of God who resist the king in tyrannous acts. Therefore, 101 00:09:45,100 --> 00:09:52,580 an unjust king as unjust is not that genuine ordinance of God. So may we resist the injustice, 102 00:09:52,779 --> 00:09:59,240 the king, and not resist the king. That is the office of king. If any cast off the nature of a king 103 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:04,039 and become habitually a tyrant, he is not from God, Rutherford says. If the office of a tyrant be 104 00:10:04,039 --> 00:10:09,379 contrary to a king's office, it is not from God, and so neither is the power from God, unquote. 105 00:10:10,019 --> 00:10:15,320 This was the understanding of King George III by our founders, who was such a king. 106 00:10:16,059 --> 00:10:22,259 Without this understanding and the understanding to resist such a king, the modern evangelical church 107 00:10:22,259 --> 00:10:26,679 would have none of the liberties they now have to worship, evangelize, and even express their 108 00:10:26,679 --> 00:10:33,279 non-biblical views. With the modern understanding of Romans 13 now extant in the evangelical church, 109 00:10:33,279 --> 00:10:38,360 why Thomas Jefferson, in his composition of the Declaration of Independence, will have had to 110 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:42,299 conclude with, and there's nothing we can do about the tyranny of parliament and King George. 111 00:10:42,419 --> 00:10:47,600 As the apostle Paul says, let every person be subject to the governing authorities. Boom. Period. And that 112 00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:53,399 would have been it. No American revolution, no constitution, no America as we know it. Therefore, 113 00:10:53,399 --> 00:10:59,559 to me, this is the chief reason that the American church is absent without leave in the current 114 00:10:59,559 --> 00:11:04,840 disintegration of our republic, dear listener. But there are other reasons too. Six other reasons I'd 115 00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:12,559 like to put before you. Number two, O church in America, you are the church of silence. This is a 116 00:11:12,559 --> 00:11:19,299 corollary of number one. Church in America, you are the church of silence. The wisest of all men, 117 00:11:19,299 --> 00:11:25,759 King Solomon says eloquently in Ecclesiastes chapter three, for everything, there is a season and a time 118 00:11:25,759 --> 00:11:32,440 for every matter under heaven. A time to keep silence. A time to speak. A time to speak. Church 119 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:37,600 of America, you who speaks with the voice and authority of the gospel and your master, Jesus 120 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:43,940 Christ, it is time to shout from the rooftops. It is time to speak. It is time to speak in every street 121 00:11:43,940 --> 00:11:50,340 and alley, from every pulpit and media microphone. Stop serving the beast, the antichrist of the federal 122 00:11:50,340 --> 00:11:56,220 leviathan. Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. We will 123 00:11:56,220 --> 00:12:02,039 have no king but Christ. It is time to shout, awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead and Christ will 124 00:12:02,039 --> 00:12:09,120 shine on you. If, as Edmund Burke observed, the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good 125 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:14,580 men to do nothing, then it's no wonder evil is triumphing in America because her churches do nothing. 126 00:12:14,580 --> 00:12:21,639 They are silent against the aggressive encroachments of evil in our day. The church's eschatology, for 127 00:12:21,639 --> 00:12:27,159 example, deceives and distracts and hypnotizes that church. That is, the beast and the antichrist 128 00:12:27,159 --> 00:12:31,399 won't appear until after the rapture, right? That's our eschatology. The beast and the antichrist 129 00:12:31,399 --> 00:12:36,379 are here, contrary to the contemporary church, who says the beast and antichrist won't appear until 130 00:12:36,379 --> 00:12:41,820 after the rapture. Our government is good, they say, ordained by God. I must be subject to it, 131 00:12:41,820 --> 00:12:47,419 right? I call them revelation red heifer rapture to Christians, and they're wrong. The American 132 00:12:47,419 --> 00:12:53,700 church's Anabaptist pacifist theology also effectively neutralizes her. That is, the 133 00:12:53,700 --> 00:12:59,100 American church's Anabaptist pacifist theology says we're not to soil the garments of the gospel with 134 00:12:59,100 --> 00:13:03,960 culture and politics and society. No, we're to stay out of this. Just preach the gospel and wait for 135 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:10,220 the rapture, is their counsel. And the American church's inability and incompetence and cowardice also 136 00:13:10,220 --> 00:13:15,940 in applying the law, the ethic, and the morality of the Bible to culture, politics, and society 137 00:13:15,940 --> 00:13:23,179 has also rendered her impotent and blind in the continuous rise of evil in America. All of these 138 00:13:23,179 --> 00:13:28,659 have contributed to silencing the prophetic voice of the American church. Thirdly, as well, 139 00:13:29,019 --> 00:13:34,879 oh, church of America, you are the church of blood. Yes, the church of America, you are the church of 140 00:13:34,879 --> 00:13:40,139 blood. One of the first reasons that God brings judgment upon a nation is for the taking of 141 00:13:40,139 --> 00:13:46,899 innocent life and the concomitant sin of sparing the guilty. The Old Testament metaphor for this 142 00:13:46,899 --> 00:13:52,860 situation is the shedding of innocent blood, as it's called the shedding of innocent blood. Judgment 143 00:13:52,860 --> 00:13:57,940 came upon Israel, as it will come upon America, because she would, as Isaiah said, acquit the guilty 144 00:13:57,940 --> 00:14:04,059 for a bribe and deprive the innocent of his right. It was in Israel, as it will be in America, 145 00:14:04,580 --> 00:14:11,019 when justice is required, justice is required in both, in all states for that matter. Ecclesiastes 146 00:14:11,019 --> 00:14:16,539 8 says, because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children 147 00:14:16,539 --> 00:14:23,100 of man is fully set to do evil. Even as our federal Leviathan, our government today is fully set to do 148 00:14:23,100 --> 00:14:29,340 evil because the sentence of justice and the sentence against an evil deed is not executed 149 00:14:29,340 --> 00:14:37,879 speedily. Make no mistake, dear American Christian, God hates and judges nations that have blood on their 150 00:14:37,879 --> 00:14:45,120 hands. Jeremiah 22, 17 says, but you have eyes and heart only for your dishonest gain, for shedding 151 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:51,659 innocent blood and for practicing oppression and violence. That is indeed the heart of our federal 152 00:14:51,659 --> 00:14:58,480 Leviathan this day. And as well, judgment came upon Israel because of her shedding of blood. In fact, 153 00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:05,200 2 Kings puts it this way, surely this came upon Judah, that is her exile and destruction. Surely 154 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:10,500 this came upon Judah, even as it will come upon America, at the command of the Lord to remove them 155 00:15:10,500 --> 00:15:16,500 out of his sight for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, and also for the innocent 156 00:15:16,500 --> 00:15:22,620 blood that he had shed. For he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord would not pardon, 157 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:28,460 unquote. The Lord will not pardon America either. Church of America, you have been complicit in the 158 00:15:28,460 --> 00:15:34,220 shedding of innocent blood with your lukewarm response to abortion, your lukewarm response to the 159 00:15:34,220 --> 00:15:41,080 needless wars of conquest, and your lukewarm response, excuse me, your lukewarm response and inability 160 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:47,879 to hold murdering magistrates accountable in the halls of justice. Oh, Church of America, if there 161 00:15:47,879 --> 00:15:52,879 were a true church here, abortion would be a bloody blot upon our collective memory, full of shame and 162 00:15:52,879 --> 00:15:59,539 regret, but not an ever-present reality yet today. How many more millions of rivers of innocent blood 163 00:15:59,539 --> 00:16:05,320 must be shed like the child's sacrifices of Israel before we, the church in America, say, 164 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:14,539 enough? Or else, God then finally requites every drop of blood shed by us in judgment. Church of 165 00:16:14,539 --> 00:16:19,759 America, how many more wars of conquest with no national interest at stake must we engage in before 166 00:16:19,759 --> 00:16:26,460 the church says, enough? There is a time for war, as Solomon says in Ecclesiastes chapter 3, but there 167 00:16:26,460 --> 00:16:32,179 is also a time for peace. Wisdom determines, indeed, when there is a time for war and a time for peace. 168 00:16:32,179 --> 00:16:38,639 Oh, Church of America, if there were a true church here, when will we demand the exacting of justice 169 00:16:38,639 --> 00:16:45,059 upon our murdering magistrates, our murdering magistrates who shed innocent blood? When will 170 00:16:45,059 --> 00:16:49,240 the Clintons be held accountable for their murders? When will the federal government be held 171 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:54,019 accountable for the deaths of our veterans at the Veterans Administration, for example, or the 172 00:16:54,019 --> 00:17:00,960 deliberate, cynical, death panel debacle of Obamacare? And when will the federal government be held 173 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:06,759 accountable for the CDC's cynical experimentation upon the American people? And when will the alphabet 174 00:17:06,759 --> 00:17:11,740 agencies of the federal government be held accountable for the poisoning of our food, air, 175 00:17:11,859 --> 00:17:17,839 and water, leading to the shedding of innocent blood, dear listener? With a clear understanding of 176 00:17:17,839 --> 00:17:24,619 biblical law and morality and ethics, the church should be shouting from the rooftops with the prophets, 177 00:17:24,619 --> 00:17:34,019 as indeed Moses exclaimed, purge the guilt of innocent blood from Israel and America, purge the guilt of 178 00:17:34,019 --> 00:17:40,220 innocent blood from you, so that it may be well with you, unquote. Fourthly then, oh Church of America, 179 00:17:40,420 --> 00:17:45,799 you are the church of pluralism as well. This is another reason for the collapse and fall of America. 180 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:52,720 Church of America, you are the church of pluralism. America was not founded as a pluralistic nation, 181 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:58,220 in which all religions were held to be equally good and equally beneficial to the republic. 182 00:17:58,660 --> 00:18:04,400 Was it? America was founded as no such thing. As Jefferson puts it, we owe our liberty not to 183 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:11,079 the Constitution, but to the commandments of the Bible upon which it is based. Many other citations 184 00:18:11,079 --> 00:18:15,799 could be mustered to demonstrate, indeed, that our founding fathers, at least, understood that, 185 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:20,319 as Adams puts it, our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. 186 00:18:20,319 --> 00:18:28,160 It is entirely unsuited to any other, right? And of course, that moral and religion was understood 187 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:34,680 to be a Christian one. We were founded, indeed, at least our institutions and our Constitution 188 00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:42,660 was founded on biblical principles. Other religions were to be tolerated and practiced, certainly within 189 00:18:42,660 --> 00:18:49,240 the confines of America, as long as these religions were consistent with the principles of liberty given 190 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:57,160 in the Bible, ensconced in the Constitution, expressed expressly, of course, in the Bill of Rights. 191 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:04,579 This encompassed the wide spectrum of Christian denominations, especially that were then extant in 192 00:19:04,579 --> 00:19:10,799 America, and not the virulent evil atheism of today, or the wicked secularism that wars against 193 00:19:10,799 --> 00:19:17,339 Christianity, or the utterly incompatible jihadist Islam, that is quickly supplanting Christianity 194 00:19:17,339 --> 00:19:24,119 as the religion that dictates culture, society, and politics, and does so under Sharia law. Do you 195 00:19:24,119 --> 00:19:30,660 realize how quickly Sharia law is supplanting the Christian basis for our culture, society, and 196 00:19:30,660 --> 00:19:36,720 politics, and law, for that matter? Tolerance and pluralism were once understood under Christian 197 00:19:36,720 --> 00:19:43,220 rubrics. Tolerance and pluralism have been severed from their Christian roots, however, and twisted 198 00:19:43,220 --> 00:19:49,920 now to elevate anything that destroys Christianity, but then which simultaneously gags and silences the 199 00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:57,440 Christian. No crushes, no Ten Commandments, right? No prayer in schools. Oh, Church of America, when will 200 00:19:57,440 --> 00:20:04,720 you find your right mind again and your clear voice to re-articulate biblical law, biblical morality, 201 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:11,160 and biblical ethic on behalf of the United States of America? If we continue to move our national 202 00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:16,960 culture, society, and politics away from its Christian mooring, then we will make of America what we are 203 00:20:16,960 --> 00:20:24,160 seeing today, that is a politically correct, brainwashed nation in which true tolerance and pluralism is 204 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:31,480 transformed into the Maoist, Stalinist groupthink that we see materializing before us. Oh, number five, 205 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:35,619 then. Oh, Church of America, one of the reasons, the fifth reason that we are losing in America, 206 00:20:35,920 --> 00:20:41,339 losing America, and losing our republic. Oh, Church of America, you are the Church of Sloth. 207 00:20:42,380 --> 00:20:48,839 You are the Church of Sloth. Oh, Church of America. That America has become a welfare nation is a truism 208 00:20:48,839 --> 00:20:55,519 that's recognized by practically all except the church. Things like Social Security and food stamps, 209 00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:59,559 welfare, Obamacare, the thousand and one programs of the federal government, and I would include the 210 00:20:59,559 --> 00:21:04,660 minimum wage laws, too, in America today. All of these have contributed not to the general 211 00:21:04,660 --> 00:21:11,279 welfare as stated in the Constitution, but the general illfare of the country. Gradually, 212 00:21:11,519 --> 00:21:17,099 over the decades, we have seen all of these programs that they have eaten away at the 213 00:21:17,099 --> 00:21:23,480 independent, self-reliant spirit that used to characterize America, but not all Americans. 214 00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:29,180 Let me put that before you two, and let me qualify that. There are still many, many fine areas of 215 00:21:29,180 --> 00:21:33,259 America where that self-reliant spirit, that independent spirit, that can-do spirit, the 216 00:21:33,259 --> 00:21:39,059 entrepreneurial spirit is still alive and well in America, and I'm glad to say it's alive and well 217 00:21:39,059 --> 00:21:43,319 in Southeast Idaho, so I rejoice in that. But gradually, over the decades, we have seen 218 00:21:43,319 --> 00:21:49,039 that in the main, especially in our larger cities, these programs have eaten away at the independent, 219 00:21:49,039 --> 00:21:56,039 self-reliant spirit of America. We will not work. We say, let the illegal immigrant do all the real 220 00:21:56,039 --> 00:22:02,920 work of America these days. The Bible lays out exactly opposite principles, do they not? The 221 00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:07,599 Apostle Paul says, for example, a workman is worthy of his labor. Indeed, he's expected to labor. 222 00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:13,059 Paul lays out the principle, if a man will not work, he will not eat. These used to form the foundation 223 00:22:13,059 --> 00:22:19,019 for American can-do spirit, the entrepreneurial spirit, the working man's spirit. The working man 224 00:22:19,019 --> 00:22:26,339 used to be respected for his labors, and now that respect is being eaten away by the sloth of the 225 00:22:26,339 --> 00:22:32,140 American church, the silence addressing these things. Number six, then, as well, as we articulate seven 226 00:22:32,140 --> 00:22:38,299 of the reasons we are losing in America, and the church is primarily responsible for it. The church, 227 00:22:38,519 --> 00:22:44,440 I submit to you, as goes the church, so goes the nation. And number six, oh, church of America, 228 00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:51,259 you are the church of greed. Yes, you are the church of greed. Wall Street is not the only and exclusive 229 00:22:51,259 --> 00:22:58,339 domain of greed in America. As Gordon Gekko said, greed is good, right? And so many practice that in 230 00:22:58,339 --> 00:23:03,599 America these days, and how we Americans have loved our wealth and our prosperity, haven't we? 231 00:23:03,920 --> 00:23:09,859 And oftentimes, to our own decadence and complacency. There are many Christians that know how to handle 232 00:23:09,859 --> 00:23:18,940 wealth and do so responsibly, and they do so compassionately. But as James characterized the 233 00:23:18,940 --> 00:23:24,339 rich of his day, so we can characterize so many of the rich in America today. Come now, you rich, 234 00:23:24,519 --> 00:23:29,240 reap and howl, James says, for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted, 235 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:34,059 and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be 236 00:23:34,059 --> 00:23:38,740 evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. 237 00:23:38,740 --> 00:23:43,119 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, 238 00:23:43,220 --> 00:23:47,440 are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of 239 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:51,920 hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in 240 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:57,000 a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you, 241 00:23:57,319 --> 00:24:02,000 James says in James 5, verses 1 through 6. This characterizes so many of the rich, especially the 242 00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:08,319 super-rich in our day and age, indeed, who rule and who manipulate quietly behind the scenes 243 00:24:08,319 --> 00:24:12,420 with their riches and their wealth. The church has been complicit in this, and sometimes 244 00:24:12,420 --> 00:24:17,980 indistinguishable from it in the world, have they not? Indeed, Joel Osteen, a prime example here, 245 00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:23,220 and the name-it-and-claim-it wealth-and-health gospelers that we see all around us, especially 246 00:24:23,220 --> 00:24:30,039 on the cable channels. Dear listener, the Church of America, you are the church of greed. And then 247 00:24:30,039 --> 00:24:36,579 seventhly, too, O Church of America, you are also the church of covetousness. Church of America, you are 248 00:24:36,579 --> 00:24:42,740 also the church of covetousness. And rather than biblical morality, biblical ethics, and biblical 249 00:24:42,740 --> 00:24:49,740 law, the church oftentimes seems to be culturing and encouraging covetousness. If greed is the sin of 250 00:24:49,740 --> 00:24:55,660 the rich, and it is. If greed is the sin of the rich, then covetousness is the sin of the poor. And our 251 00:24:55,660 --> 00:25:02,740 politicians cynically encourage this in order to whip up opposition, in order to divide us by 252 00:25:02,740 --> 00:25:09,819 fostering covetousness as the sin of the poor. In fact, that is one of the techniques of the 253 00:25:09,819 --> 00:25:15,740 community organizer, is to polarize and to distinguish classes one from another. And this 254 00:25:15,740 --> 00:25:20,539 is precisely what Obama, as a community organizer, has been doing as President of the United States, 255 00:25:20,539 --> 00:25:26,640 too. Fostering and encouraging covetousness in the lower classes. For example, reparations. What is 256 00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:34,619 reparations? The demand, indeed, for payment for past sins of our slave ancestors, demanding 257 00:25:34,619 --> 00:25:41,380 reparations for past sins. Covetousness. Nothing more than covetousness. Or state welfare as well. 258 00:25:41,759 --> 00:25:49,440 The rich owe you. State welfare. And once again, Christians are complicit in this. And those that 259 00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:54,940 state that the state should be taking care of the poor, rather than the church. This is the province 260 00:25:54,940 --> 00:26:00,079 of the church, dear listeners. But those like Ron Sider, in his book, Rich Christians in an Age of 261 00:26:00,079 --> 00:26:07,019 Hunger, is fostering these very things. So, dear listener, we could articulate and fill these all 262 00:26:07,019 --> 00:26:13,720 out further. But know, indeed, that because of the inaction, because of the passivity, because of the 263 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:19,140 silence of the church, we are losing our republic. As goes the church, so goes the nation. You have 264 00:26:19,140 --> 00:26:24,859 heard these things. Now, they have been laid before you. It is time to act, dear listener. This has 265 00:26:24,859 --> 00:26:30,440 been Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church. We meet for holy worship on 266 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:36,579 Sundays at 10 a.m. at 101 4th Street on the corner of 4th and Boulevard. And you can call us for response 267 00:26:36,579 --> 00:26:43,380 or for feedback. It's time to come out of the shadows. 523-0196. Join us for worship at New 268 00:26:43,380 --> 00:26:50,380 Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church, 10 a.m. on Sunday at 101 4th Street on the corner of 4th and Boulevard.