1 00:00:05,580 --> 00:00:10,519 Greetings, this is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church with a 2 00:00:10,519 --> 00:00:15,300 moment of truth, where we challenge you to think through an important issue of life and faith. And 3 00:00:15,300 --> 00:00:22,300 today I'd like to ask you, when is it too late to save a sinking ship? Of course, I'm not talking 4 00:00:22,300 --> 00:00:27,480 about a literal ship. When I talk about a sinking ship, I use that term metaphorically for nations, 5 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:34,460 churches, great institutions, peoples that mankind creates. In particular, I have in mind 6 00:00:34,460 --> 00:00:40,140 our own constitutional republic, the United States of America. And I have in mind to ask 7 00:00:40,140 --> 00:00:46,119 several questions for you to dare to answer. And the first one is, is the United States of America 8 00:00:46,119 --> 00:00:52,780 beyond saving? Do we need to start over and perhaps create a new nation upon what is quickly becoming 9 00:00:52,780 --> 00:00:59,200 the ash heap of our constitutional republic? These are important questions to ask because our energies, 10 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:04,340 our hearts, our resources are all at stake, not to mention a nation and constitution. 11 00:01:04,459 --> 00:01:11,280 so many of us have come to love and cherish. But history is replete with cherished nations and 12 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:16,180 churches and institutions that have died to what they were when they were created. And they have 13 00:01:16,180 --> 00:01:23,340 become, in many cases, the opposite of what they were created to be. Can that be said of us? Has the 14 00:01:23,340 --> 00:01:29,439 United States of America founded as a Christian constitutional republic? Has it died to what it 15 00:01:29,439 --> 00:01:35,280 was at its founding and perhaps morphed into its opposite? That is a pagan lawless tyranny? 16 00:01:36,060 --> 00:01:40,840 I could probably make the case for you that that indeed is what has happened. But before we answer 17 00:01:40,840 --> 00:01:48,579 that, finally, let's look at the marks of a dead, failed state or a dying institution in history. 18 00:01:48,579 --> 00:02:06,280 First of all, number one, a state or a church or an institution is beyond reform when it regularly and 19 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:13,139 egregiously transgresses its own charter and principles. Yes, we can see this throughout history. A state, a nation, 20 00:02:13,139 --> 00:02:20,240 a church maybe, is beyond reform when it regularly and egregiously transgresses its own charter and 21 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:27,280 principles. How can such an institution that does these things to itself long survive? For example, 22 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:32,020 when the enemies of Jesus told the people that Jesus cast out demons by the power of Beelzebub, 23 00:02:32,479 --> 00:02:38,300 Jesus told them incredulously, he said, how can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against 24 00:02:38,300 --> 00:02:43,780 itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be 25 00:02:43,780 --> 00:02:48,680 able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is 26 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:56,840 coming to an end. Oh, how true this is. When a people divide against themselves, that is precisely 27 00:02:56,840 --> 00:03:02,439 what happens. They come to an end. Now, we at New Geneva have just completed our annual celebration 28 00:03:02,439 --> 00:03:09,520 of the Reformation, for example, when on October 31st, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the 29 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:15,120 door of the Wittenberg Chapel, which began an unstoppable movement to create a reformed church 30 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:21,919 outside of the Roman Catholic Church, not within that church. For centuries, the Roman Catholic 31 00:03:21,919 --> 00:03:28,099 Church had been regularly and egregiously violating its own charter and principles. It had become a house 32 00:03:28,099 --> 00:03:34,060 divided against itself and it could no longer stand. At its inception, for example, the church had its 33 00:03:34,060 --> 00:03:39,080 founding charter, the Bible. And over the centuries, the Roman Catholic Church had built up traditions and 34 00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:43,860 teachings derived from men that at times not only varied from those of the Bible, but contradicted 35 00:03:43,860 --> 00:03:49,080 them. The Roman Catholic Church at the time of the Reformation had become a house divided against 36 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:56,080 itself, ready to topple. When asked to recant his books that pointed these things out, Martin Luther 37 00:03:56,080 --> 00:04:01,060 encountered by saying, unless I am convinced by reason and the scriptures, I will not recant. Here 38 00:04:01,060 --> 00:04:08,039 I stand. I can do no other. Well, we can also see an example from history, the British Empire at the 39 00:04:08,039 --> 00:04:14,740 time of the American Revolution. It's an example of a people beyond reform, the British Empire, when it 40 00:04:14,740 --> 00:04:21,420 regularly and egregiously transgressed its own charter and principles. Every Englishman knew his 41 00:04:21,420 --> 00:04:26,899 charter and principles handed down from generation to generation in documents like the Magna Carta 42 00:04:26,899 --> 00:04:32,240 and the English Bill of Rights. And by them, the Englishman's rights and liberties were protected 43 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:37,699 from the tyranny of king, parliament, or local prince. What were the American colonists then? 44 00:04:37,740 --> 00:04:42,019 They were good Englishmen, so they considered it themselves. They too knew their own charter and 45 00:04:42,019 --> 00:04:47,360 principles. The only problem was the British Empire personified in King George III and parliament 46 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:54,339 regularly and egregiously transgressed the charter and principles of the colonists. Can such an umpire 47 00:04:54,339 --> 00:05:00,259 long stand? And no one expressed the violation of those charter and principles better than did Thomas 48 00:05:00,259 --> 00:05:05,339 Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence. He said, for example, when a long train of abuses and 49 00:05:05,339 --> 00:05:11,819 usurpations pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute 50 00:05:11,819 --> 00:05:17,319 despotism, it is their right. It is their duty to throw off such government and to provide new 51 00:05:17,319 --> 00:05:22,100 guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies, Jefferson 52 00:05:22,100 --> 00:05:27,459 says, and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. 53 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:32,879 The history of the present king of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, 54 00:05:32,879 --> 00:05:38,100 all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. 55 00:05:38,100 --> 00:05:44,120 And then he says, Jefferson goes on to say, to prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world. 56 00:05:44,220 --> 00:05:51,420 And then he goes on to list particulars along the list of them. America, when it initiated its 57 00:05:51,420 --> 00:05:59,300 revolution, dear listener, it was not a spoiled child, America, in a tantrum, but rather a genuinely 58 00:05:59,300 --> 00:06:05,360 agreed citizen of the British Empire, appealing to legitimate rights and liberties ensconced in its 59 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:11,220 traditions and charters. So with these examples in mind, we must now ask the precise question 60 00:06:11,220 --> 00:06:21,060 of America. Are we indeed transgressing our principles? Are we beyond reform when we do this, 61 00:06:21,100 --> 00:06:26,399 when we regularly and egregiously transgress our own charter and principles? Have you not seen, 62 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:31,040 dear listener, have you not taken note? One of the six prime directives of our constitution, 63 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:35,899 for example, was to establish justice, when in fact we have two tiers of justice in America now, 64 00:06:35,980 --> 00:06:40,699 one for the elites like the Clintons and another for the rest of us. What can be predicated of the 65 00:06:40,699 --> 00:06:45,459 Clintons can be said of the whole class of elites and nameless, faceless coterie of the deep state. 66 00:06:46,540 --> 00:06:53,399 Are we not indeed beyond reform when we suppress and oppress Christians and their speech while 67 00:06:53,399 --> 00:06:58,279 protecting the abusive speech of Muslims and atheists? In fact, one of the goals of Marxists, 68 00:06:58,279 --> 00:07:02,560 wherever they seek to seize power, is to control speech, to control words and their definitions, 69 00:07:03,139 --> 00:07:08,500 the use and disuse, the banning of speech, speech labels, which they hang upon their enemies like 70 00:07:08,500 --> 00:07:16,139 racist, right? Have we not then gone beyond reform when the vested power of the people 71 00:07:16,139 --> 00:07:20,959 chartered to devolve into three branches of government, executive, legislative, and judicial, 72 00:07:21,819 --> 00:07:27,500 while in reality, government power today resides in a shadow government, a fourth branch of government, 73 00:07:28,279 --> 00:07:33,459 they call the deep state. And that consists of a permanent bureaucracy of federal employees who 74 00:07:33,459 --> 00:07:40,060 remain long after elected officials have come and gone. This deep state exists to serve and perpetuate 75 00:07:40,060 --> 00:07:44,240 their own big government interests and the interests of those who nourish and protect them, 76 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:51,699 like President Obama used to do. And of course, a good example of the deep state is the example of 77 00:07:51,699 --> 00:07:55,860 the Obama administration holdovers in the Justice Department, like Rod Rosenstein, 78 00:07:55,860 --> 00:08:01,540 who has obstructed every attempt at investigating the Clinton Foundation, obstructed the investigation 79 00:08:01,540 --> 00:08:06,500 into graft and corruption in the purchase of our uranium by the Russian government, and of course, 80 00:08:06,540 --> 00:08:12,300 the voter fraud and murder allegations in the death of Seth Rich, the Democrat operative who blew 81 00:08:12,300 --> 00:08:17,300 the whistle on the Clinton theft of the nomination from Bernie Sanders. On and on a week ago, where do we 82 00:08:17,300 --> 00:08:23,199 stop in chronicling how far we have drifted from being a constitutional republic? In fact, 83 00:08:23,199 --> 00:08:31,540 it is not far off to say that those actually running the United States of America is not the elected 84 00:08:31,540 --> 00:08:36,919 representatives of our executive and legislative branches. No, they hate and despise a free people 85 00:08:36,919 --> 00:08:43,700 under a constitutional republic because a constitutional republic presupposes no need of them, the elite who 86 00:08:43,700 --> 00:08:49,440 in their minds are entitled to the wealth and the power of the world because of their inherent superiority 87 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:56,139 owing to their intelligence, gifts and will, their will to power. Well, the centers of power, dear listener, 88 00:08:56,279 --> 00:09:02,059 are not where we think they are. The centers of power are not in Washington, D.C. or New York City or our 89 00:09:02,059 --> 00:09:08,720 state capitals. No, the wealthy and the royal meet regularly at places like Davos, Switzerland and the 90 00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:15,580 Bilderberg to decide wealth distribution and world policy. Make no mistake about it, dear listener, our insidious 91 00:09:15,580 --> 00:09:21,919 shadow government. The deep state is accountable to them, not you, the voter. Who do you think finances 92 00:09:21,919 --> 00:09:26,820 election campaigns? For example, the prime directive of every elected official is to what? Is to get 93 00:09:26,820 --> 00:09:33,539 re-elected. And it's not the $5 or even the $100 contributions of the average voter. No, it is the 94 00:09:33,539 --> 00:09:39,840 millions of dollars of influencers like George Soros or Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos or large corporations 95 00:09:39,840 --> 00:09:45,379 like Monsanto and Pfizer. And these are only a few of the familiar faces and corporate logos that we 96 00:09:45,379 --> 00:09:50,440 might recognize. There are dozens of others around the world, less well recognized, but nevertheless, 97 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:57,679 equally influential in feathering the financial nests of your congressman and president. So don't 98 00:09:57,679 --> 00:10:02,899 take my word for it either. For example, read Peter Schweitzer's book, Extortion, to see how this 99 00:10:02,899 --> 00:10:10,820 corrupt game is played. Well, if indeed our charter and principles continue to be systematically transgressed 100 00:10:10,820 --> 00:10:18,299 as they presently are, we are beyond reform. The swamp is not amenable to being drained. No power 101 00:10:18,299 --> 00:10:24,720 relinquishes that power willingly without a struggle. The swamp creatures presently inhabiting Washington, 102 00:10:24,879 --> 00:10:32,460 D.C. will persist in resisting every effort at reform, Democrat or Republican, because reform by its 103 00:10:32,460 --> 00:10:39,600 very nature threatens their power, wealth, and status. It happened to a corrupt, bloated Roman 104 00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:44,860 empire in its collapse. It happened to a corrupt, bloated Roman Catholic church prior to the 105 00:10:44,860 --> 00:10:50,240 reformation. And it happened to a corrupt, bloated British empire before the American revolution and 106 00:10:50,240 --> 00:10:56,279 thereafter too. The British empire kept declining after the American revolution. And as long as we 107 00:10:56,279 --> 00:11:01,840 continue to transgress our charters, that is our constitution and our principles, principles 108 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:07,700 like that declared in the Declaration of Independence, that for example, all men are endowed by their 109 00:11:07,700 --> 00:11:13,620 creator with certain unalienable rights. These are American principles, are they not? And as long as 110 00:11:13,620 --> 00:11:20,039 we continue to transgress them, we can expect nothing less than what they experienced. That is decline, 111 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:28,600 deterioration, and eventual oblivion. So a state, a nation or church even is beyond reform when it 112 00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:46,700 fails to heed the prophets sent to it calling for reform. Oh, a failed state, a dying state or church 113 00:11:46,700 --> 00:11:52,379 or institution is beyond reform, and it fails to heed the prophets that are sent to it calling it to 114 00:11:52,379 --> 00:11:58,240 reform. I use the biblical metaphor of the prophet precisely because that is what God sent to his people, 115 00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:06,620 Israel, to call them back to their original charter, which was the covenant at Sinai. And Israel, the prophets 116 00:12:06,620 --> 00:12:14,120 of Israel represented God to the people. They knew that charter, the covenant inside and out, didn't they? And 117 00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:19,899 they reminded Israel of its provisions and where they were going wrong. But what was the response of the people? 118 00:12:19,899 --> 00:12:26,039 Did they repent in dust and ashes? No. Jeremiah says, I have sent to you all my servants, the prophets, 119 00:12:26,399 --> 00:12:31,559 sending them persistently, saying, turn now every one of you from his evil way and amend your deeds 120 00:12:31,559 --> 00:12:36,759 and do not go after other gods to serve them. And then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to you 121 00:12:36,759 --> 00:12:43,360 and your fathers. But you did not incline your ear or listen to me, unquote, the prophet Jeremiah. 122 00:12:43,679 --> 00:12:48,519 And what was the consequence for Israel not heeding the prophets? They were, of course, 123 00:12:48,519 --> 00:12:54,139 expelled from the land. They went into exile at the hands of Assyria and Babylon. 124 00:12:54,840 --> 00:13:00,080 And the same has occurred throughout history with any people who transgressed their charter and principles. 125 00:13:00,340 --> 00:13:06,600 They are sent prophets. For example, for centuries, the Roman Catholic Church had prophets, if you will, 126 00:13:06,700 --> 00:13:09,700 sent to her calling for reform, but she would not listen. 127 00:13:09,700 --> 00:13:16,919 And John Wycliffe and John Huss were just two such prophets sent, calling the church back to its charter, 128 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:23,759 the Bible, and its vital doctrines. And for his efforts, John Huss was burned at the stake, 129 00:13:24,100 --> 00:13:28,360 at the Council of Constance. And then John Wycliffe, another prophet, 130 00:13:28,860 --> 00:13:33,080 calling the Roman Catholic Church back to her roots in the Bible and its doctrines. 131 00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:37,080 John Wycliffe barely escaped that fate. They wanted to burn him at the stake. 132 00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:40,940 They dug up his corpse and burned it. So they hated him so. 133 00:13:41,820 --> 00:13:47,500 And then even loyal Catholic prophets like Erasmus, for example, who called for reform of the church 134 00:13:47,500 --> 00:13:52,100 from within. He did so patiently and lovingly. They were not heeded either. 135 00:13:52,740 --> 00:13:57,460 Even Martin Luther initially saw himself as another prophetic reformer, if you will, 136 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:02,700 calling his church, the Roman Catholic Church, back to its roots in the Bible and its doctrines. 137 00:14:02,700 --> 00:14:09,980 And instead of Luther's prophetic voice being heeded, it rather precipitated what we now call the 138 00:14:09,980 --> 00:14:14,559 Reformation, which was a wholesale breakaway church from the Roman Catholic Church, 139 00:14:14,559 --> 00:14:18,279 which has been arguably in decline ever since. 140 00:14:19,340 --> 00:14:25,759 And as well, not only the Roman Catholic Church, but also for decades prior to the American Revolution, 141 00:14:25,759 --> 00:14:32,940 the British Empire had prophets sent to her too, didn't he? Didn't she? Calling the British Empire back 142 00:14:32,940 --> 00:14:38,379 to her charter and principles. Most of our founding fathers wrote passionate letters, gave stem-winding 143 00:14:38,379 --> 00:14:43,980 speeches, calling Britain back to her charters of liberty like Magna Carta and the English Bill of Rights. 144 00:14:44,139 --> 00:14:47,960 All of them considered themselves good Englishmen, and they only wanted for themselves what other 145 00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:53,179 Englishmen possessed. Even the great British statesman Edmund Burke warned in a prophetic voice, 146 00:14:53,179 --> 00:14:58,179 King George and Parliament, that they were driving the colonists to rebellion by transgressing their 147 00:14:58,179 --> 00:15:02,860 own charter and principles in the case of the colonists. All of these and more had prophets 148 00:15:02,860 --> 00:15:07,480 sent to them, didn't they? Calling them back to their charters and principles. We have them too. 149 00:15:08,179 --> 00:15:13,059 For example, for generations now, we've had the National Center for Constitutional Studies, 150 00:15:13,159 --> 00:15:17,220 one of my favorite places, the National Center for Constitutional Studies. 151 00:15:17,220 --> 00:15:23,240 They have taught the Constitution and its principles faithfully and consistently for 152 00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:28,779 generations now, calling young and old to their charter and to live it too. And they make it a 153 00:15:28,779 --> 00:15:33,720 policy to hand out free copies of the Constitution to any and all, dear listener. They deserve your 154 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:44,460 support. That is the National Center for Constitutional Studies. And you can write them at 37777 West 155 00:15:44,460 --> 00:15:52,840 Juniper Road in Malta, Idaho at 83342. That's, once again, the National Center for Constitutional Studies. 156 00:15:52,960 --> 00:15:57,960 You can get free copies of the Constitution. They deserve your financial support too, if you can help them. 157 00:15:58,899 --> 00:16:03,980 Also, we have prophetic voices like Hillsdale College. They have also taught and inculcated 158 00:16:03,980 --> 00:16:09,360 the Constitution for generations of college students. Hillsdale College, no government money do they take. 159 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:14,899 And they have offered much of their curricula online for the rest of us too. They have been a consistent 160 00:16:14,899 --> 00:16:20,519 prophetic voice, calling us back to our charter and principles. There have also been individual 161 00:16:20,519 --> 00:16:26,620 prophetic voices that have been heard. Authors and commentators like Mark Levin have been very active 162 00:16:26,620 --> 00:16:31,759 in calling us back to our constitutional roots. A couple of his books, Liberty and Tyranny, for example, 163 00:16:31,860 --> 00:16:36,580 or Men in Black, How the Supreme Court is Destroying America. They are two that come to mind for me. 164 00:16:36,580 --> 00:16:42,799 Mark Levin has also been very active and a clear voice in calling for an Article V Convention of the 165 00:16:42,799 --> 00:16:47,879 States to amend the Constitution as a partial remedy. It's not a cure-all, but a partial remedy 166 00:16:47,879 --> 00:16:54,539 for many of the abuses of power we see all around us. Well, all of these voices, many, many more as 167 00:16:54,539 --> 00:16:58,879 well, are the very last ones that both establishment Democrats and Republicans want to hear, though, 168 00:16:59,100 --> 00:17:03,159 isn't it? Smaller government, more efficient government, leaner government, 169 00:17:03,159 --> 00:17:08,019 government that relinquishes power and money? Oh, that's never going to happen, leaving it up 170 00:17:08,019 --> 00:17:13,400 to the Republican and Democrat establishment. No. Saying things like this is like flashing the 171 00:17:13,400 --> 00:17:19,480 cross at a vampire. They recoil in horror. It's the last thing they want. The prophetic voices calling 172 00:17:19,480 --> 00:17:26,559 us back to our charter, the Constitution, and our principles are not being heeded, are they, these 173 00:17:26,559 --> 00:17:32,019 voices? And thus far, it will be said of us. If we keep in this direction, if we persist in this 174 00:17:32,019 --> 00:17:36,700 course, it will be said of us as it was said of Israel. I have sent to you all my servants, the 175 00:17:36,700 --> 00:17:42,880 prophets, sending them persistently, but you did not incline your ear or listen to me. And we deserve 176 00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:49,740 the fate that results from this as well, sinking into obscurity, sinking into oblivion as the first 177 00:17:49,740 --> 00:17:56,940 Christian-free constitutional republic in the history of the world. And we will be sent away 178 00:17:56,940 --> 00:18:03,779 into oblivion and into decline if we do not heed the voices of those constitutional prophets, if you 179 00:18:03,779 --> 00:18:11,539 will. So we see that a state or a nation or a church, as it regularly transgresses its charter 180 00:18:11,539 --> 00:18:18,319 and principles, is a failed state beyond reform. We also see that a nation or a state or a church that 181 00:18:18,319 --> 00:18:24,519 refuses to heed the refuses to heed the prophets sent to it is also beyond reform and will fall into 182 00:18:24,519 --> 00:18:33,339 decline and will fall into a failed state. Thirdly and lastly, then, we also see that a state or a 183 00:18:33,339 --> 00:18:40,319 nation or church is beyond reform. When it turns on those, it was created to serve and rather begins 184 00:18:40,319 --> 00:18:48,259 to feed on them. Instead, yes, a state, nation, a church is beyond reform. When it turns on 185 00:18:48,259 --> 00:18:54,980 those, it was created to serve and begins serving itself upon them instead. Do you need convincing 186 00:18:54,980 --> 00:19:00,740 of this reality in the United States of America, dear listener? In every instance throughout history, 187 00:19:01,039 --> 00:19:08,099 a dying nation, a dying church turns on those it was established to serve and rather serves itself 188 00:19:08,099 --> 00:19:15,160 upon the body politic of that people at the expense of the people. This was the reality at the time of the 189 00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:22,619 Reformation. In fact, what finally, just one egregious example, what finally enraged Martin Luther was the 190 00:19:22,619 --> 00:19:28,160 selling of indulgences, as they were called, by the Pope to the common people. What this practice 191 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:34,819 entailed, the idea of selling indulgences, was a promise by the Pope that he, because he had the power 192 00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:41,039 through Christ, that he would grant a full forgiveness of all the sins of a person who gave money. 193 00:19:41,039 --> 00:19:46,599 Yes, the full forgiveness of all the sins of a person who gave money to help complete the 194 00:19:46,599 --> 00:19:53,079 construction of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Well, not only that, but he went on to say that one 195 00:19:53,079 --> 00:19:58,059 could buy a shorter stay in purgatory for a relative who had died and was there for the same 196 00:19:58,059 --> 00:20:04,599 kind of contribution too. There was a saying that the hawkers used that when a coin in the coffer rings, 197 00:20:04,599 --> 00:20:13,039 a soul from purgatory springs. That was the cynical promise. And it was a crass and cynical use of a 198 00:20:13,039 --> 00:20:18,880 religious principle that had utterly no basis in the Bible. There's no basis in the Bible for the 199 00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:24,279 selling of indulgences, or there's no spiritual reality behind it whatsoever. It was a crass 200 00:20:24,279 --> 00:20:30,440 money-making scheme by the Pope. The Pope was serving himself at the expense of the people he was 201 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:35,160 supposed to serve. And in fact, that was rife throughout the Roman Catholic Church at this 202 00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:40,700 time. And one of the things that Martin Luther called for in reform, this is what happens, 203 00:20:40,980 --> 00:20:47,200 dear listener, when a state, a nation, a church is beyond reform. It turns on those it was created 204 00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:54,420 to serve and ends up eating on them, instead serving themselves and the body politic of those 205 00:20:54,420 --> 00:20:59,460 they were meant to serve. It was also the state of things at the time of the American Revolution too. 206 00:20:59,460 --> 00:21:06,779 King George and Parliament, there ostensibly to serve the colonists, were serving themselves up 207 00:21:06,779 --> 00:21:13,720 large portions of the colonists' wealth and power and property instead, weren't they? We know from 208 00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:19,440 history of the Stamp Act and the attacks on tea, these were only two of the more obvious examples of 209 00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:25,200 the British Empire feeding on the colonists rather than feeding them. And then, of course, when the 210 00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:31,319 redcoats marched on Lexington and Concord to seize the colonists' guns and powder there, well, that 211 00:21:31,319 --> 00:21:36,220 became the last straw. And we heard the shot heard round the world, did we not, in the commencement of 212 00:21:36,220 --> 00:21:41,779 the American Revolution? Because in part, King George and Parliament, there ostensibly to serve the 213 00:21:41,779 --> 00:21:47,380 colonists as government is supposed to do, were rather serving themselves up large portions of the 214 00:21:47,380 --> 00:21:54,319 colonists and their property, weren't they? Well, can you spell deja vu, dear listener? It's happening all 215 00:21:54,319 --> 00:21:59,920 over again. Your federal government is leeching the financial lifeblood from our collective veins of 216 00:21:59,920 --> 00:22:07,319 property. For example, you know that four of the ten richest counties in the United States of America 217 00:22:07,319 --> 00:22:14,119 with the highest median income surround Washington, D.C., where, of course, the suburbs are dense 218 00:22:14,119 --> 00:22:22,019 with government bureaucrats being paid fat salaries with secure benefits. In fact, the top two of those 219 00:22:22,019 --> 00:22:27,059 counties in the entire country are Fairfax and Falls Church counties in Virginia surrounding 220 00:22:27,059 --> 00:22:33,779 Washington, D.C., bedroom communities for the government bureaucrats with fat salaries and secure 221 00:22:33,779 --> 00:22:39,359 benefits. And this, of course, while the middle class in America is swiftly disappearing, it is shrinking 222 00:22:39,359 --> 00:22:48,400 while the wealth of America flows to Washington, D.C. Let me also point out for you the level of taxation 223 00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:55,660 that we pay in America. Liberty for Life, which is a superb outfit, a superb outfit that analyzes the 224 00:22:55,660 --> 00:23:02,720 real tax rates that Americans pay. Liberty for Life estimates that by the time Americans finish paying 225 00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:10,200 both open and hidden taxes. Yes, we pay not only open taxes, that is the taxes that we can see on the surface 226 00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:16,680 right before our eyes, whether they be a sales tax, an income tax, whatever it might be. We also pay hidden taxes. 227 00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:24,759 Those hidden taxes are those often disguised in the prices that corporations charge for their products. 228 00:23:24,759 --> 00:23:31,299 That's why I love the saying, because it's so true, that corporations don't pay taxes, do they? 229 00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:37,359 Corporations don't pay taxes. Every time their taxes go up, what do they do? They raise their prices. 230 00:23:37,900 --> 00:23:42,420 And stupid Americans think they're finally getting back at corporations by having their tax rates go up. 231 00:23:42,599 --> 00:23:47,359 Well, they don't. You are just being a stupid taxpayer if you think that corporations actually pay 232 00:23:47,359 --> 00:23:54,779 taxes because all they do is raise their prices and you, the taxpayer, end up paying their tax for them. 233 00:23:55,559 --> 00:24:03,559 By the time then Americans get done paying both open and hidden taxes, we have paid an average of 52% 234 00:24:03,559 --> 00:24:10,500 of our income in taxes, dear listener. And taxation is not the only way in which government robs you, 235 00:24:10,500 --> 00:24:15,440 dear listener. They have two other methods of robbing you. That is inflation and borrowing, too. 236 00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:22,460 This is two other ways that government consciously, cynically steals from you. By printing more money 237 00:24:22,460 --> 00:24:27,839 than the economy requires, for example, the government becomes the first spender of dollars 238 00:24:27,839 --> 00:24:33,539 that the rest of us must in turn absorb, not having created true wealth to back them up. 239 00:24:33,980 --> 00:24:40,759 Money is only meant to be a representation of wealth by which we can exchange our wealth with others 240 00:24:40,759 --> 00:24:45,339 through that money. But there must be real tangible wealth to back up those dollars. 241 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:50,420 And that doesn't happen if you just print money willy-nilly. It's the essence of inflation. 242 00:24:50,420 --> 00:24:56,500 That is too many dollars chasing too few products. And when that happens, prices inflate. 243 00:24:57,059 --> 00:25:04,599 Also, not only by inflation, but by borrowing money from us, the United States citizens, we must pay back 244 00:25:04,599 --> 00:25:10,380 that loan. So when a government borrows money, it's not government that pays it back. It's us, 245 00:25:10,380 --> 00:25:16,019 the new United States citizen. And by doing this, the government steals from us in this other way. 246 00:25:16,779 --> 00:25:24,099 What generation, I ask you, for example, what generation will finally pay back the trillions of dollars 247 00:25:24,099 --> 00:25:29,480 that the federal government has already borrowed and is living high on the hog in Fairfax County, 248 00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:39,220 Virginia, Virginia, for example. So we find, once again, that there are three signs that a nation or 249 00:25:39,220 --> 00:25:49,220 a church or a people of any kind is beyond reform. As nation or church is beyond reform, when it turns 250 00:25:49,220 --> 00:25:55,940 on those, it was created to serve and feeds on them rather instead. A state, a nation, a church is beyond 251 00:25:55,940 --> 00:26:01,900 reform. When it regularly and egregiously transgresses, it's charter and principles. You can't 252 00:26:01,900 --> 00:26:09,400 keep doing this contradicting the very documents that have founded you and expect to survive and 253 00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:16,559 thrive. And then thirdly, a state, a nation, a church is beyond reform when it refuses to heed the 254 00:26:16,559 --> 00:26:22,059 prophets sent to call it back to that charter and principles, dear listener. It happened to Israel. 255 00:26:22,059 --> 00:26:28,799 It happened to the Roman Catholic Church, and it happened as well to the British Empire. We were 256 00:26:28,799 --> 00:26:35,119 founded on such things. Please, dear listener, consider these things in the course of your week 257 00:26:35,119 --> 00:26:42,319 and just know that New Geneva meets for holy worship on Sunday at 10 a.m. at 1014th Street on the corner 258 00:26:42,319 --> 00:26:49,759 of 4th and Boulevard. And you can call us for feedback and more information at area code 208-523-0196.