1 00:00:01,810 --> 00:00:07,809 Greetings. This is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church with a 2 00:00:07,809 --> 00:00:13,710 moment of truth, where we challenge you to think through an important issue of life and faith. And 3 00:00:13,710 --> 00:00:20,929 today, during this election season, I would like to ask you, is it impossible for the United States 4 00:00:20,929 --> 00:00:28,629 of America to collapse and come to an end as a constitutional republic? Is that possible? 5 00:00:28,629 --> 00:00:35,189 Is God so committed to us that he would never destroy us no matter how evil we have become? 6 00:00:36,149 --> 00:00:41,250 Now, I must frankly admit to you, as a patriot who believes that there has never been a nation so 7 00:00:41,250 --> 00:00:47,689 blessed by God than us, I find it hard to believe that God is finished with us and that he would bring 8 00:00:47,689 --> 00:00:54,770 this grand biblical experiment in liberty to an end. After all, I've traced for you in days past 9 00:00:54,770 --> 00:01:02,170 the Christian roots of the Constitution in American history. Generations of faithful men and women have 10 00:01:02,170 --> 00:01:09,989 studied, thought, and fought for a form of government that would give free, moral, and soundly converted 11 00:01:09,989 --> 00:01:16,969 men and women the opportunity to govern themselves as God had intended. And when the biblical form of 12 00:01:16,969 --> 00:01:23,489 government, that is a constitutional republic, meets a free, moral, and soundly converted people, 13 00:01:23,489 --> 00:01:29,849 that is a largely Christian populace, you get what we have gotten for the last 250 years or so, 14 00:01:30,010 --> 00:01:37,250 that is the United States of America. But if we're going to be biblical about this, then we must not 15 00:01:37,250 --> 00:01:44,890 shy away from what happens when those same people break faith with God who gave them their liberty to 16 00:01:44,890 --> 00:01:53,090 begin with. What happens when those same people become godless, corrupt, and degenerate? Can we expect God 17 00:01:53,090 --> 00:01:59,629 to preserve, protect, and prosper them? We have a model for this in the nation of Israel and Judah 18 00:01:59,629 --> 00:02:07,250 that became the prototype for all others to follow. Nations of the earth, take heed. The United States 19 00:02:07,250 --> 00:02:15,689 of America, behold, behold the fate of Judah and tremble. In our last days, Judah took great comfort in 20 00:02:15,689 --> 00:02:20,710 these words. Despite all the troubles besetting her as a warning from God, Jeremiah said, 21 00:02:20,710 --> 00:02:27,110 this is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord. Now for Judah, 22 00:02:27,210 --> 00:02:33,550 these were ritualistic superstitious words pronounced by the false prophets who thought that God would 23 00:02:33,550 --> 00:02:39,310 never abandon Jerusalem and her temple because he had chosen it for his dwelling place forever, 24 00:02:39,509 --> 00:02:45,210 regardless of what her people did. That's what they thought. After all, didn't God promise this at 25 00:02:45,210 --> 00:02:53,069 the very temple's dedication under King Solomon who constructed it? There we find the Lord said to 26 00:02:53,069 --> 00:03:00,250 him, that is to Solomon, I have heard your prayer and your plea which you have made before me. I have 27 00:03:00,250 --> 00:03:07,310 consecrated this house that you have built by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart 28 00:03:07,310 --> 00:03:16,610 will be there for all time. Oh, how Judah embraced these words and took them to heart. God loves us 29 00:03:16,610 --> 00:03:22,949 and he'll never forsake us. His temple is here, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord. We may 30 00:03:22,949 --> 00:03:29,930 be a bit scampish and naughty from time to time, but he'll forgive us and keep us. After all, I have 31 00:03:29,930 --> 00:03:36,370 consecrated this house that you have built by putting my name there forever. Oh, that is why 32 00:03:36,370 --> 00:03:45,550 generations later, leaders of Judah in Jeremiah's day could repeat as a mantra, right? They could 33 00:03:45,550 --> 00:03:52,430 repeat as a mantra, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord. Yet what 34 00:03:52,430 --> 00:03:57,750 Judah forgot is what God also told Solomon in that very same speech. He said, but if you turn aside from 35 00:03:57,750 --> 00:04:04,110 following me, you or your children and do not keep my commandments and my statutes that I have set before 36 00:04:04,110 --> 00:04:09,810 you, but go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel from the land that I have 37 00:04:09,810 --> 00:04:18,110 given them. Oh, oops. I guess we kind of forgot about that minor condition of obedience and faithfulness 38 00:04:18,110 --> 00:04:25,290 to the covenant that we signed onto. If we break faith of God, then we must not expect him to keep 39 00:04:25,290 --> 00:04:33,310 faith with us. Rather, we must expect him to judge us according to our breach of faith. This is exactly 40 00:04:33,310 --> 00:04:40,649 what happened to Judah when she forsake God. This is precisely the state into which America has sunk. 41 00:04:40,769 --> 00:04:47,129 In recent days, I submit to you, we take false comfort in these words, the constitution of the Lord, 42 00:04:47,230 --> 00:04:53,990 the constitution of the Lord, the constitution of the Lord. How could God abandon us? After all, 43 00:04:53,990 --> 00:05:00,290 we are the United States of America. Didn't he inspire our constitution? Didn't he providentially 44 00:05:00,290 --> 00:05:06,149 settle and establish our colonies? Wasn't he in our founding during the revolution and the 45 00:05:06,149 --> 00:05:12,430 leadership under George Washington? On and on we could go, listing the many kind providences of our 46 00:05:12,430 --> 00:05:19,430 God, as Washington would put it, the many kind providences of our God towards the United States in the 47 00:05:19,430 --> 00:05:25,449 past. Yet there are those nagging words of qualification. If you turn aside from following 48 00:05:25,449 --> 00:05:33,269 me, oh, I will cut you off from the land that I have given you. So, dear listener, we have served other 49 00:05:33,269 --> 00:05:41,170 gods. We have worshiped other gods. We have displeased God in other ways that caused him to judge nations. 50 00:05:42,029 --> 00:05:48,310 And Jeremiah told Judah about those things that caused him to judge nations when he said, 51 00:05:48,310 --> 00:05:54,490 do not trust in these deceptive words. This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, 52 00:05:54,649 --> 00:06:02,550 the temple of the Lord. For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice 53 00:06:02,550 --> 00:06:11,370 with one another, if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless or the widow, or shed innocent blood 54 00:06:11,370 --> 00:06:19,170 in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, then I will let you dwell in this 55 00:06:19,170 --> 00:06:29,970 place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever, unquote. Consistently, dear listener, 56 00:06:30,129 --> 00:06:36,870 consistently, these are the sins that drive nations from the land and causes God to destroy those nations. 57 00:06:36,870 --> 00:06:46,110 Behold the empire of Britain, for example. The record of history bears this out. But America 58 00:06:46,110 --> 00:06:53,589 today is oblivious to the near approach of judgment. It is on our doorstep. Our economy totters on the 59 00:06:53,589 --> 00:06:59,550 edge of a major depression, dear listener. As one bank president put it, the Federal Reserve has used 60 00:06:59,550 --> 00:07:06,009 up all of the tricks in its bag, and the dollar is all but worthless. And we see around us too, 61 00:07:06,009 --> 00:07:11,089 around the world. For example, the collapse of Deutsche Bank in Germany is but the first domino of many 62 00:07:11,089 --> 00:07:19,509 more to fall. We also stand toe-to-toe with Russia in war over her support of Assad in Syria, who are 63 00:07:19,509 --> 00:07:27,889 trying to overthrow us, I'm sorry, over who we are trying to overthrow, that is Assad, by using as our 64 00:07:27,889 --> 00:07:35,110 surrogates radical Islamicists, that is ISIS. We're also toe-to-toe with Russia in the escalation of 65 00:07:35,110 --> 00:07:42,410 rhetoric in the Ukraine. How many news channels have covered this, dear listener? And of course, 66 00:07:42,490 --> 00:07:47,709 the supposed cyber hacking of our election process by Russia. This is going to be used by the 67 00:07:47,709 --> 00:07:54,550 administration then to shut down the election, perhaps. Worst of all is the complete subversion 68 00:07:54,550 --> 00:08:00,709 of our constitution by those quietly working to bring us under the influence of extra-constitutional 69 00:08:00,709 --> 00:08:08,230 powers like the World Court, the United Nations, and international banking interests. So as these 70 00:08:08,230 --> 00:08:14,430 progress, you will see, O Church of Christ, the increased restriction of your freedom of speech, 71 00:08:14,910 --> 00:08:21,269 your liberty to practice your religion, the confiscation of your guns, and the general erosion 72 00:08:21,269 --> 00:08:26,829 of all your rights under the Bill of Rights, as well as the circumvention of the checks and balances 73 00:08:26,829 --> 00:08:35,250 and separation of powers found in our constitution. In other words, a looming tyranny. And there are no 74 00:08:35,250 --> 00:08:42,070 excuses for any of us, dear listener. We are all guilty. If you understand fully what I'm saying and 75 00:08:42,070 --> 00:08:47,909 you've done nothing, then you are an irresponsible coward. If you hear what I'm saying and think it is 76 00:08:47,909 --> 00:08:54,730 wild conspiracy talk, then you are an ignorant dupe that needs to wake up. All of this is here. 77 00:08:54,730 --> 00:09:02,190 And if you do not yet see it, then open your eyes and begin to take action. Awake, O sleeper, 78 00:09:02,289 --> 00:09:09,389 and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. All of the signs and portents are here for 79 00:09:09,389 --> 00:09:16,509 soon judgment. But what has lulled the American people to sleep and what will wake them up 80 00:09:16,509 --> 00:09:23,929 consequently, obversely, right? Well, let me first underline for you what has happened to us, 81 00:09:23,929 --> 00:09:31,090 the same thing that happened to Israel. That is presumptuous covenant protection. Presumptuous 82 00:09:31,090 --> 00:09:38,629 covenant protection, just as Israel thought that she was covenantally protected, presumed she was so 83 00:09:38,629 --> 00:09:45,429 because God's temple was in Jerusalem. So many American patriots and constitutionalists 84 00:09:45,429 --> 00:09:50,889 think that we have presumptuous covenant protection because our constitution is here. 85 00:09:50,889 --> 00:09:57,549 We assume that Christ is Lord of this land and that because so many of our founding fathers were 86 00:09:57,549 --> 00:10:04,330 Christian and that Christ would never forsake us. Oh, but this is the same fallacy to which Israel 87 00:10:04,330 --> 00:10:11,289 fell prey, presumptuous covenant protection. Just because God chose to enter into a civil covenant 88 00:10:11,289 --> 00:10:18,230 with us, he will never abandon or judge us, no matter how outrageous our disobedience becomes. 89 00:10:18,230 --> 00:10:25,649 Oh, this is so false. This was the essential fallacy of Judah's mantra. This is the temple of the Lord, 90 00:10:25,929 --> 00:10:31,509 the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord. It is the essential fallacy of the Patriots' mantra. 91 00:10:31,509 --> 00:10:40,970 This is the constitution of the Lord, the constitution of the Lord. Our disobedience stinks to high heaven 92 00:10:40,970 --> 00:10:48,409 and God knows it and sees it. Do you? Jeremiah tells us what we must do to remain in the land, 93 00:10:48,529 --> 00:10:55,809 the sins that drive God to drive nations out of the land in which they dwell. Number one, 94 00:10:55,809 --> 00:11:04,710 if you truly execute justice in the land, you will remain in the land. I have an entire sermon on this 95 00:11:04,710 --> 00:11:11,190 topic. It is desperately lacking in the United States of America, the execution of true justice 96 00:11:11,190 --> 00:11:17,950 in the land. I urge you to look for this on our dedicated website. That is omnipotestas.org. 97 00:11:17,950 --> 00:11:31,730 O-M-N-I dash P-O-T-E-S-T-A-S dot org. Omnipotestas.org. The Bible is very clear on the necessity of justice 98 00:11:31,730 --> 00:11:39,570 being administered by government magistrates. Oh, Moses says in Deuteronomy, justice and only justice 99 00:11:39,570 --> 00:11:45,830 you shall follow that you may live and inherit the land that the Lord your God is giving you, unquote. 100 00:11:45,830 --> 00:11:52,629 Oh, for example, both Barack Obama and his administration, including former Attorney General 101 00:11:52,629 --> 00:11:59,950 Eric Holder and former Secretary Hillary Clinton, they must be held to account for their crimes, 102 00:12:00,509 --> 00:12:07,149 a thing for which neither our Congress, including the entire Idaho delegation and the courts, 103 00:12:07,509 --> 00:12:14,889 a thing for which they have no stomach. Cowards, spineless, the vested interest of both parties, 104 00:12:14,889 --> 00:12:21,690 Republican and Democrat, only hurt themselves when they help the people by exacting what God 105 00:12:21,690 --> 00:12:29,230 requires, and that is justice and only justice. To show partiality in judging is not good, the Bible 106 00:12:29,230 --> 00:12:37,029 says, and this is what has been happening. Partiality in judging, partiality in justice, excuse me, 107 00:12:37,389 --> 00:12:42,669 to show partiality in judging is not good. Whoever says to the guilty, the Bible says, 108 00:12:42,669 --> 00:12:49,389 you are innocent, Hillary Clinton, are you listening? Peoples will curse him, but it will go well with 109 00:12:49,389 --> 00:12:55,710 those who convict the guilty and rich blessings will come upon them, unquote, from Proverbs 24. 110 00:12:56,570 --> 00:13:04,509 We must also stop not only, we must, excuse me, we must also not only exact justice, we must also stop 111 00:13:04,509 --> 00:13:12,830 oppressing the weak and vulnerable among us. This is what Jeremiah meant when he says, if you do not 112 00:13:12,830 --> 00:13:21,409 oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, you will remain in the land. Now, the sojourner, 113 00:13:21,549 --> 00:13:28,090 fatherless, or the orphan, that is, and the widow were representative of the most vulnerable in ancient 114 00:13:28,090 --> 00:13:36,470 society. These had difficulty in helping themselves or standing up for themselves, and in unjust Israel, 115 00:13:36,889 --> 00:13:42,309 their property was taken, their wages were held back, and their lives were shortened and taken away 116 00:13:42,309 --> 00:13:48,990 when it served the purposes of the rich and the powerful. Such is it, such as it ever been. 117 00:13:49,870 --> 00:13:55,929 The sojourner was the legal immigrant who came to Israel to worship Yahweh, the God of Israel, 118 00:13:55,929 --> 00:14:02,929 and live among the blessed people and become a Jew. But the foreign customs and language made it easy 119 00:14:02,929 --> 00:14:09,149 to take advantage of them, consequently. And so it is with the illegal alien in our midst today. Both 120 00:14:09,149 --> 00:14:16,049 Republicans and Democrats have a vested interest in the illegal alien, one for votes and the other for 121 00:14:16,049 --> 00:14:21,929 cheap labor for their agricultural and industrial constituents. But make no mistake about this, 122 00:14:21,929 --> 00:14:28,490 dear listener. In the end, there is no interest by these groups in seeing the benefit of the illegal 123 00:14:28,490 --> 00:14:37,309 alien in the long run. They are only being used. They are vulnerable. In addition, our welfare system 124 00:14:37,309 --> 00:14:45,610 has created an entire urban ghetto of the fatherless, that is, the orphan and the widow. A cynical political 125 00:14:45,610 --> 00:14:52,230 party has manipulated both the urban poor, whites, blacks, and Hispanics by doling out government 126 00:14:52,230 --> 00:14:58,230 cheese, government housing, and government health care in exchange for their vote. Oh, what do they 127 00:14:58,230 --> 00:15:05,350 get in exchange, huh? But, oh, listener, look out over the vast landscape of urban America and tell me 128 00:15:05,350 --> 00:15:11,830 this is not oppression. Further, it is the deliberate design of the Democrats and Republican 129 00:15:11,830 --> 00:15:20,129 establishment and the elites behind them to make you poor as well. Witness the vanishing middle class over 130 00:15:20,129 --> 00:15:28,730 the last few decades and the increase of the rich, the ultra-rich, and the increase of the ultra-poor 131 00:15:28,730 --> 00:15:35,269 and the vanishing of the middle class. The rich and powerful know that when a man spends all of his time 132 00:15:35,269 --> 00:15:42,070 and energy looking for his next meal, he has no time or energy to look to change things. The Greek 133 00:15:42,070 --> 00:15:47,490 aristocrats knew and practiced this. The Roman emperors knew and practiced this. The French nobility 134 00:15:47,490 --> 00:15:54,070 knew and practiced this. Communist dictators like Stalin and Mao and Pol Pot knew and practiced this. 135 00:15:54,070 --> 00:16:01,029 And the well-protected elites of both parties and the interests that backed them, they know this 136 00:16:01,029 --> 00:16:09,289 today in the United States of America as well. When the economy crashes, when war ensues, and regular 137 00:16:09,289 --> 00:16:15,870 law and order breaks down in the United States of America, you too will spend all of your time and 138 00:16:15,870 --> 00:16:22,029 energy looking for your next meal, and you will have no more time and energy to change things. 139 00:16:22,269 --> 00:16:27,490 So take no comfort in the words, this is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, 140 00:16:27,490 --> 00:16:33,750 the temple of the Lord, or as it is in America, the constitution of the Lord, the constitution of 141 00:16:33,750 --> 00:16:42,210 the Lord, the constitution of the Lord. God is not beyond judging America for her crimes and sins. 142 00:16:42,610 --> 00:16:49,169 He will take away our place and our constitution, and you too will be one of the oppressed of whom 143 00:16:49,169 --> 00:16:56,889 Jeremiah prophesied. We must also then, thirdly, stop the shedding of innocent blood in the land. 144 00:16:56,889 --> 00:17:03,909 This is one of the things that causes God to expel nations from the land. Stop shedding the innocent 145 00:17:03,909 --> 00:17:10,950 blood of the land. Now, you must understand that there are three ways in which government attempts 146 00:17:10,950 --> 00:17:18,490 to obtain the compliance of its people, such it is, such it will ever be. Three ways in which 147 00:17:18,490 --> 00:17:25,390 government attempts to obtain the compliance of its people. A, by arguing the reasonableness and efficacy 148 00:17:25,390 --> 00:17:34,349 of that government's policies and thereby persuading the populace. B, by lying, deceiving, and manipulating 149 00:17:34,349 --> 00:17:41,269 the people into compliance. And then C, finally, if the other two don't work, by eliminating the people, 150 00:17:41,589 --> 00:17:49,369 quite frankly, by eliminating the people or a portion thereof, such that the rest are intimidated 151 00:17:49,369 --> 00:17:57,769 into compliance. So, know your American history, and you will know that all three of these options 152 00:17:57,769 --> 00:18:03,410 have and are being applied, with increasing reliance upon the third option as people wake up. 153 00:18:04,250 --> 00:18:13,289 Witness the Clinton body count now at 87 of those who have crossed the Clintons. Well, the shedding of 154 00:18:13,289 --> 00:18:20,549 innocent blood we see today across the land with increasing frequency, the millions of abortions 155 00:18:20,549 --> 00:18:28,430 in the United States of America. For example, there is still a price we must pay for the millions of 156 00:18:28,430 --> 00:18:35,069 abortions committed in the United States of America. There is also the thousands of shootings and murders 157 00:18:35,069 --> 00:18:45,670 in our inner cities. Just this past weekend, 33 were killed in Chicago alone over the weekend. There is also 158 00:18:45,670 --> 00:18:53,109 the cynical manipulation into war and conflict across the globe that the United States of America is 159 00:18:53,109 --> 00:18:59,450 involved in, that kills not only Americans, but thousands of innocents in Iraq and Syria and Libya, 160 00:18:59,450 --> 00:19:07,990 in all of which places our corrupt administrations have plunged us into needless conflicts. The history 161 00:19:07,990 --> 00:19:14,849 of the world is the history of government shedding innocent blood by fighting wars of conquest and 162 00:19:14,849 --> 00:19:22,890 diversion and distraction. Behold, O American, war is materializing. The shedding of innocent blood 163 00:19:22,890 --> 00:19:29,430 is materializing before our eyes in the drumbeat for war with Russia by the very man who was a 164 00:19:29,430 --> 00:19:36,089 war to the now discredited scrap of kindling paper, the Nobel Prize for Peace, and that is, of course, 165 00:19:36,190 --> 00:19:42,690 Barack Obama. Do not let this man, do not let this administration do this. Bring us into war with 166 00:19:42,690 --> 00:19:49,589 Russia. Our Idaho delegation to Washington, D.C. should be hysterical, doing everything in its power 167 00:19:49,589 --> 00:19:56,890 to prevent the shedding of innocent blood. It will bring judgment on America. Do not be fooled by the 168 00:19:56,890 --> 00:20:03,150 false pretenses being laid out before you for this looming conflict, the shedding of innocent blood. 169 00:20:03,150 --> 00:20:10,490 We stand toe-to-toe with Russia in war over her support of Assad in Syria. We should be fighting 170 00:20:10,490 --> 00:20:19,269 with Russia, destroying radical Islamicist ISIS, but instead we're trying to overthrow Assad using radical 171 00:20:19,269 --> 00:20:28,109 Islamist Islamist. That is ISIS. Clinton and Obama have been instrumental in creating this. We also stand 172 00:20:28,109 --> 00:20:33,690 toe-to-toe with them over the escalation of rhetoric in the Ukraine. We have no fight with Russia over 173 00:20:33,690 --> 00:20:40,289 Ukraine and, of course, the supposed cyber hacking of our election process by Russia, which is a crock. 174 00:20:40,289 --> 00:20:48,529 We have no vital national interests in a war with Russia. It would be the shedding of innocent blood. 175 00:20:49,089 --> 00:20:55,230 It is a war of special interests rather than vital interests that is symbolized by George Soros, 176 00:20:55,569 --> 00:21:02,009 the world's megabanks who have always profited by war, and, of course, the broader regional powers that 177 00:21:02,009 --> 00:21:10,190 seek to increase the power and influence of Islam and Islamicists like Saudi Arabia. Any war with Russia, 178 00:21:10,289 --> 00:21:16,750 would be a shedding of innocent blood, which God hates, and for which he will judge America. 179 00:21:17,250 --> 00:21:21,650 Oh, dear listener, do not take comfort in the mantra, this is the temple of the Lord, 180 00:21:21,930 --> 00:21:28,369 or, in our case, the constitution of the Lord, the constitution of the Lord. God will judge America 181 00:21:28,369 --> 00:21:35,529 for her shedding of innocent blood. He will take away our constitution and place. God will destroy 182 00:21:35,529 --> 00:21:44,549 you and me for our complicity in it. God judges the nations. We must also then stop chasing after 183 00:21:44,549 --> 00:21:51,170 other gods and return to the God of the Bible. Yes, dear listener, we must stop chasing after other 184 00:21:51,170 --> 00:21:58,369 gods and return to the God of the Bible. Jeremiah warned Israel of this, a thing for which he is still 185 00:21:58,369 --> 00:22:04,589 passionate. If you do not go after other gods to your own harm, you will remain in the land. 186 00:22:05,589 --> 00:22:11,829 Well, and the evidence for our abandonment of the God of our founding is abundant, too. For example, 187 00:22:12,390 --> 00:22:20,309 those who self-identify as atheists have increased. They have. They have increased from some 6% in 2010 188 00:22:20,309 --> 00:22:28,049 to 10% in 2015, according to Pew Research polls. Now, this is reflected, of course, in the vitriol 189 00:22:28,049 --> 00:22:34,650 against Christianity displayed by those same militant atheists at every expression of our faith 190 00:22:34,650 --> 00:22:42,210 in every venue of our faith. Our communities are also being deliberately seeded with radical 191 00:22:42,210 --> 00:22:49,970 Islamists from around the world, but especially by defeated jihadists from Syria, so-called refugees. 192 00:22:50,309 --> 00:22:55,990 And as a consequence, we will see the continued radicalization of Islam here in the United 193 00:22:55,990 --> 00:23:02,509 States and the growth of conflict with Christianity and our way of life here in the United States, 194 00:23:02,650 --> 00:23:09,109 which, of course, Islam sees as a culture of infidels. Islam has become an increasingly 195 00:23:09,109 --> 00:23:15,509 protected religion, while Christianity is an increasingly profaned religion by the larger culture. 196 00:23:15,509 --> 00:23:23,410 And the church has increasingly been cowed, beaten, and intimidated into silence by a false construct 197 00:23:23,410 --> 00:23:31,150 of the separation of church and state, which separation doesn't seem to apply curiously to Islam. 198 00:23:31,650 --> 00:23:37,950 We, the church, we Christians, are also burdened by several false interpretations of Scripture, 199 00:23:37,950 --> 00:23:45,950 like those of the Sermon on the Mount and or Romans chapter 13. For example, we extrapolate that because 200 00:23:45,950 --> 00:23:50,710 Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount that we're blessed when we're persecuted for righteousness' sake, 201 00:23:51,150 --> 00:23:56,049 and we should rejoice when persecuted for His name's sake, and we are to turn the other cheek in the face 202 00:23:56,049 --> 00:24:02,390 of persecution, we extrapolate that ipso facto we are to remain passive in the wake of government 203 00:24:02,390 --> 00:24:08,710 intrusion, invasion, and trampling of our rights. But this, dear listener, is patent nonsense. 204 00:24:09,769 --> 00:24:15,410 Once more, if the church returned to the understanding of covenant, and covenant is God's 205 00:24:15,410 --> 00:24:21,009 economy, not dispensations, dear listener, if the church returned to the understanding of covenant, 206 00:24:21,670 --> 00:24:27,210 she would realize that Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, was articulating behavior required 207 00:24:27,210 --> 00:24:34,309 in response to the demands of the covenant of grace, also sometimes called the covenant of redemption, 208 00:24:34,549 --> 00:24:41,170 under which we're saved, under which God covenanted with Christ to save a people. This is the covenant 209 00:24:41,170 --> 00:24:48,710 of grace and our behavior under it, not that of the civil covenant. The demands of the civil covenant, 210 00:24:48,910 --> 00:24:55,109 which has been in full force and effect since the pages of Genesis, the demands of the civil covenant 211 00:24:55,109 --> 00:25:02,829 require submission to just authority and resistance to unjust authority. This is especially true when the 212 00:25:02,829 --> 00:25:08,450 civil covenant cut with the United States of America, that is, our Constitution, demands the 213 00:25:08,450 --> 00:25:16,230 consciences and the participation of we the people. Our rights are to free speech and the free exercise 214 00:25:16,230 --> 00:25:23,470 of our religion in both the private and public arena. Do not be cowed, be heard, be felt, O Christian. 215 00:25:23,470 --> 00:25:31,210 And then we, the church, we Christians tend to make the interpretation of Romans chapter 13 absolute 216 00:25:31,210 --> 00:25:36,930 when it comes to our response to government authority. Paul tells us to submit to the 217 00:25:36,930 --> 00:25:42,069 governing authorities because they have been ordained by God. And this is true, but not without 218 00:25:42,069 --> 00:25:48,450 qualification. Implicit in this chapter and throughout the Bible is that justice must be served, 219 00:25:48,450 --> 00:25:55,750 as we mentioned earlier. And that standard of justice is God's standard, not that of evil tyranny. 220 00:25:55,750 --> 00:26:02,509 The punishment of wrongdoers and the reward of well-doers is implicitly that of the right and 221 00:26:02,509 --> 00:26:11,170 wrong as God understands it, not Karl Marx or Mohammed or Barack Obama. Now, I explain and expand upon this 222 00:26:11,170 --> 00:26:15,789 in several other places. And you need to check out, once again, our website, 223 00:26:16,910 --> 00:26:27,470 omnisprotestas.org, O-M-N-I-S dash P-O-T-E-S-T-A-S dot org, omnisprotestas.org. 224 00:26:27,470 --> 00:26:34,549 But suffice it to say for now that in the whole counsel of Scripture, which the contemporary church 225 00:26:34,549 --> 00:26:41,069 is ignoring to its own peril, the whole counsel of Scripture, there is time and opportunity for 226 00:26:41,069 --> 00:26:46,589 resistance to evil by the Christian. And this is doubly true for us in the United States, 227 00:26:46,869 --> 00:26:53,369 seeing that our very charter, the Constitution, demands our conscientious participation and resistance 228 00:26:53,369 --> 00:26:59,470 where necessary. Dear Christian, the times demand your participation and your prayers. 229 00:26:59,470 --> 00:27:06,769 Evil is afoot, as C.S. Lewis put it. There are times of peril when the economy is about to implode, 230 00:27:07,190 --> 00:27:14,250 wars impending, and dark tyranny about to descend upon our land. Do not take comfort in the mantra, 231 00:27:14,410 --> 00:27:20,069 this is the temple of the Lord, as Jeremiah puts it, or as we might put it, this is the constitution 232 00:27:20,069 --> 00:27:25,190 of the Lord, the constitution of the Lord, the superstitious mantra, because God will judge 233 00:27:25,190 --> 00:27:32,390 America for her worshiping other gods to her own peril. God will take away our constitution and place. 234 00:27:32,710 --> 00:27:41,630 He will destroy you and me for our complicity in it. Finally, then, Jeremiah begins his entire 235 00:27:41,630 --> 00:27:49,109 exhortation with this, for if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, you will remain in the land. 236 00:27:49,109 --> 00:27:55,369 If you truly amend your ways and your deeds. Here's the sine qua non for the redemption of America, 237 00:27:55,490 --> 00:28:02,130 dear listener. This can only come from a movement of the Spirit of God in America. Pray for this, 238 00:28:02,309 --> 00:28:08,549 O Christian. None of the other reformations of the American character can come until there is first 239 00:28:08,549 --> 00:28:15,529 a spirit of humility and repentance among her people. Those of you in churches, pray and exhort, 240 00:28:15,529 --> 00:28:22,029 speak out, speak out to your pastors, speak out to your people. And those of you who say you are 241 00:28:22,029 --> 00:28:29,730 Christians, but you refuse to commit to a church. Oh, dear listener, come to New Geneva, OPC, or another 242 00:28:29,730 --> 00:28:35,710 faithful Bible-believing congregation that knows these things and speaks out on them, but get to one. 243 00:28:35,910 --> 00:28:43,569 We need your support. Stop lingering in the shadows, agreeing, but doing nothing. Such Christians are no 244 00:28:43,569 --> 00:28:49,950 better than the Israelites at Mount Carmel, who, when Elijah said to them, choose between Baal and God 245 00:28:49,950 --> 00:28:55,890 today. How long will you go limping between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. But if 246 00:28:55,890 --> 00:29:03,789 Baal is God, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a word. Oh, you will not answer a word 247 00:29:03,789 --> 00:29:11,690 to this, John. Speak up. Do not be silent. New Geneva meets for holy worship on Sunday at 10 a.m. 248 00:29:11,690 --> 00:29:18,109 at 101 4th Street on the corner of 4th and Boulevard. Come and join us. This is Pastor David Bass at New 249 00:29:18,109 --> 00:29:25,150 Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church. We meet for holy worship at 10 a.m. at 101 4th Street on the 250 00:29:25,150 --> 00:29:34,069 corner of 4th and Boulevard every Sunday. You can call us for feedback and more information at 523-0196. 251 00:29:34,069 --> 00:29:41,910 That's 523-0196. Or check out our website. That is omnispotestas.org. 252 00:29:41,910 --> 00:29:48,789 O-M-N-I-S dash P-O-T-E-S-T-A-S dot org.