1 00:00:04,879 --> 00:00:09,300 Greetings, this is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church 2 00:00:09,300 --> 00:00:13,080 with a moment of truth where we challenge you to think through an important issue of life and faith. 3 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:18,579 And today, the battle for the soul of America is first and foremost a spiritual battle. 4 00:00:19,260 --> 00:00:25,460 This reality is the neglected stepchild of the conservative family in the United States. 5 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:29,460 For a number of reasons, patriots, American patriots today, 6 00:00:29,460 --> 00:00:32,820 are fighting for their life and heritage with both hands tied behind their backs, 7 00:00:32,820 --> 00:00:37,759 attempting, in a manner of speaking, to defeat Goliath by kicking him to death, 8 00:00:38,439 --> 00:00:45,740 rather than having both hands free to at least sling a God-guided stone into the vitals of the pagan giant. 9 00:00:46,359 --> 00:00:48,240 And believe me, it is a spiritual battle. 10 00:00:48,359 --> 00:00:56,579 We need God-guided stones at the level of the human spirit, the invisible, to defeat the enemy before us. 11 00:00:56,579 --> 00:01:03,060 But as long as we continue to neglect this unseen but indispensable component of our warfare, 12 00:01:03,700 --> 00:01:06,359 that is, the spiritual component of our warfare, 13 00:01:06,359 --> 00:01:12,599 if we continue to neglect this, we'll never experience true, supernatural victory over our enemies. 14 00:01:13,420 --> 00:01:16,359 And they are a demonic kind of progressivism. 15 00:01:17,099 --> 00:01:18,879 The progressive globalist. 16 00:01:18,879 --> 00:01:24,319 But, oh, just look about you, dear listener, and tell me it's not a spiritual battle. 17 00:01:24,439 --> 00:01:32,079 Did you see, for example, the clutch of Democrat faces at the State of the Union message? 18 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:35,239 Oh, if that didn't look demonic, I'd tell you nothing is. 19 00:01:35,359 --> 00:01:38,900 Have you seen Antifa at protests, for example? 20 00:01:38,900 --> 00:01:43,459 Or the counter-protesters at abortion clinics. 21 00:01:43,739 --> 00:01:44,379 They're demonic. 22 00:01:44,599 --> 00:01:45,180 They're devilish. 23 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:46,719 They claim to hail Satan. 24 00:01:46,819 --> 00:01:49,340 They claim, indeed, to abort their own babies. 25 00:01:49,420 --> 00:01:51,719 They claim to bathe in the blood of children. 26 00:01:51,900 --> 00:01:53,540 And on and on it goes. 27 00:01:53,819 --> 00:01:56,859 Hillary Clinton claims to be, well, she doesn't claim to be. 28 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:01,939 She is reputed to be at least a fourth-level coven witch herself. 29 00:02:02,299 --> 00:02:03,680 And on and on it goes. 30 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:07,659 We are facing a spiritual reality here, my friends. 31 00:02:07,659 --> 00:02:11,419 And if we fail to acknowledge it, we will be defeated. 32 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:17,520 The Bible is clear on this principle, too, from cover to cover, that our battle is indeed a spiritual one. 33 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:19,659 For example, the Apostle Paul says, 34 00:02:20,300 --> 00:02:24,840 We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, 35 00:02:24,979 --> 00:02:27,199 against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, 36 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:31,219 against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 37 00:02:31,379 --> 00:02:35,680 We wrestle against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 38 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:39,680 And this goes for every realm in which we exist, dear friend. 39 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:42,199 And Paul also says, 40 00:02:42,300 --> 00:02:46,259 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 41 00:02:46,740 --> 00:02:52,099 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 42 00:02:52,159 --> 00:02:52,539 Unquote. 43 00:02:52,639 --> 00:02:55,639 And those strongholds are spiritual strongholds, dear friends. 44 00:02:56,180 --> 00:03:00,680 And if we fight with both hands tied behind our backs, in a manner of speaking, 45 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:06,659 for that's the net effect of neglecting the spiritual battle under which we wage warfare, 46 00:03:06,780 --> 00:03:08,400 then we will be defeated. 47 00:03:09,159 --> 00:03:12,699 The second we capitulate on this foundational truth, 48 00:03:12,740 --> 00:03:15,879 it becomes the moment we concede the ultimate victory to our enemies. 49 00:03:16,379 --> 00:03:23,680 We may win a battle here and there by perhaps electing Donald Trump or passing a piece of legislation, 50 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:29,340 like a tax cut or an immigration bill, or perhaps we nominate a Supreme Court judge here and there. 51 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:35,620 But the war has already functionally been lost because we have agreed to lay down our spiritual arms 52 00:03:35,620 --> 00:03:40,680 and concede defeat on the most crucial of battlefields, that is the spirit of man. 53 00:03:41,620 --> 00:03:42,680 Job puts it this way, 54 00:03:42,879 --> 00:03:47,240 It is the spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand. 55 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:48,879 We are spiritual creatures. 56 00:03:48,879 --> 00:03:53,060 We straddle two realms simultaneously, the physical and the spiritual, dear listener. 57 00:03:54,199 --> 00:03:55,099 Do you know this? 58 00:03:56,099 --> 00:03:59,400 We've been made to forget it over the last few generations of our nation's history, 59 00:03:59,460 --> 00:04:03,319 especially when we talk about our political lives together in the Constitution 60 00:04:03,319 --> 00:04:06,479 and our economic lives together under capitalism. 61 00:04:07,340 --> 00:04:11,360 Yes, your economic life is also a spiritual life, dear listener. 62 00:04:11,719 --> 00:04:17,399 But it is time that we were brought back to this all-important foundation that we are spiritual creatures. 63 00:04:17,399 --> 00:04:20,339 We have so many important features already in place, dear listener. 64 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:22,100 Oh, let me just relish this for a minute. 65 00:04:22,220 --> 00:04:28,180 We do have so many important features already in place on the political and physical realm. 66 00:04:28,319 --> 00:04:32,879 We have patriots and Americans have their fleshly weapons of warfare on the field already. 67 00:04:33,519 --> 00:04:37,240 It's not as if victory appears magically if we sprinkle enough fairy dust in the air. 68 00:04:37,300 --> 00:04:41,740 No, we must make real in the physical realm what is decreed in the spiritual realm. 69 00:04:42,180 --> 00:04:45,639 And in this regard, patriots have organized very effectively over the last few decades. 70 00:04:45,639 --> 00:04:46,959 We have voices, for example. 71 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:49,579 Patriot Americans have a voice. 72 00:04:49,779 --> 00:04:55,480 And over the last few decades, intelligent, articulate, committed Americans have arisen from every walk of life to speak. 73 00:04:56,220 --> 00:05:02,819 Now, I won't mention any specific voices by name, lest I seem to censure by omission a voice that you may favor. 74 00:05:03,839 --> 00:05:05,420 Let a thousand flowers bloom. 75 00:05:05,879 --> 00:05:12,379 Suffice it to say that we have a full-throated voice that thunders conservative American principle if we have ears to hear. 76 00:05:12,379 --> 00:05:19,259 The Constitution and capitalism are clearly articulated across the American spectrum on radio, TV, and Internet. 77 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:31,060 Many of the nuances of conservative life and morality are also articulated as corollaries to the vital principles of the Constitution for our political lives together and capitalism for our financial lives together. 78 00:05:31,439 --> 00:05:33,680 We also have grassroots organizations. 79 00:05:34,759 --> 00:05:38,720 Patriot America is not just a cacophony of individual voices calling in the night. 80 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:49,339 And we're organized, too, across a broad spectrum of fronts, from the National Rifle Association to the National Center for Constitutional Studies to the Heritage Foundation. 81 00:05:49,500 --> 00:05:51,100 And these are just three of my favorites. 82 00:05:51,639 --> 00:05:56,399 We have an embarrassment of riches, if you will, of organized, effective corporations. 83 00:05:56,399 --> 00:06:13,399 Even an evil conspiracy like that of Lois Lerner and the IRS in league with the Obama administration, they could not stop the flood tide of tax-exempt corporations from enlisting the American people for a concerted effort to transform America. 84 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:16,839 We have grassroots organizations, don't we? 85 00:06:16,839 --> 00:06:20,000 We also have elected representatives. 86 00:06:20,439 --> 00:06:21,939 We can relish this, too, a bit. 87 00:06:22,259 --> 00:06:24,339 Not enough yet, but we do have some. 88 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:38,899 Because to the consternation of the smooth-running ecosystem in Washington, D.C., known as the swamp, and it is, isn't it, a political ecosystem in Washington, D.C., that President Trump has characterized as the swamp? 89 00:06:38,899 --> 00:06:45,620 And to their consternation, patriot Americans have begun sending Tea Party candidates to Congress to drain the swamp. 90 00:06:46,019 --> 00:07:08,680 As I've documented ad nauseum here and elsewhere, the Democrat and Republican system, and it is a system, a mutually supporting system, not an implicitly anti-party system in Democrat-Republicans in Washington, D.C., an adversarial system. 91 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:09,259 I mean, it's not. 92 00:07:09,620 --> 00:07:16,199 The way it has gotten so cozy over the decades that there's little more than paper-thin distance between Republican and Democrat on any given issue. 93 00:07:16,379 --> 00:07:23,079 Rhino-Republicans, in particular, preached one thing on the campaign trail but then voted for their own advantage once they got to Congress. 94 00:07:23,899 --> 00:07:29,699 When we sent Republicans like George Bush and John McCain and Lindsey Graham to D.C., little changed. 95 00:07:29,699 --> 00:07:43,180 But when we began to send people like Ted Cruz and Ron Paul, Rand Paul, Donald Trump to Washington, D.C., it began to upset the deep state apple cart that has been selling the American people rotten, worm-infested apples for decades. 96 00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:45,120 We've still got a long way to go. 97 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:49,120 But the swamp is being drained, and America is set right. 98 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:58,060 We also have a well-articulated, thought-out philosophy, don't we, in the conservative patriot movement. 99 00:07:58,459 --> 00:08:07,319 The progressive globalists like to flatter themselves that they're the smart ones who hold an intellectual superiority over the poor, benighted conservatives and patriots. 100 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:11,980 Dear listener, but that false characterization no longer holds any water. 101 00:08:11,980 --> 00:08:26,540 However, the term principled conservative now stands for a conservative who has thought through a consistent position that's in line with the Constitution and economic policy based upon sound capital as principles. 102 00:08:26,920 --> 00:08:29,560 We have many luminous examples, don't we? 103 00:08:29,620 --> 00:08:37,000 Ron Paul, the National Center for Constitutional Studies, the Heritage Foundation I've mentioned already. 104 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:40,679 One of my other favorites is the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. 105 00:08:40,879 --> 00:08:41,340 Google them. 106 00:08:41,980 --> 00:08:50,059 There are a very concise and well-thought-out public policy center, mostly for Michigan, but they have national implications. 107 00:08:50,580 --> 00:08:52,519 The Mackinac Center for Public Policy. 108 00:08:52,919 --> 00:09:01,500 These are all examples that have given us an intellectual and political tradition and foundation upon which to base sound policy. 109 00:09:02,279 --> 00:09:04,679 So, all of this must be acknowledged and granted. 110 00:09:04,919 --> 00:09:05,919 Well done, patriot. 111 00:09:06,179 --> 00:09:09,059 But is it sufficient in and of itself to win the war? 112 00:09:09,179 --> 00:09:10,559 I submit no, it is not. 113 00:09:10,559 --> 00:09:16,740 There is a side to our fight to which we must not be blind or ignorant. 114 00:09:17,779 --> 00:09:18,519 Observe with me. 115 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:28,600 For example, for example, progressives already have their spiritual weapons of warfare deployed, and they've been shelling us, if you will, artillery-wise for decades. 116 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:31,940 This principle may seem counterintuitive at first glance. 117 00:09:31,940 --> 00:09:41,879 How can a movement so anti-Christian as progressivism, Marxist-globalist progressivism, how can this be characterized as spiritual in any way, shape, or form? 118 00:09:41,879 --> 00:09:47,519 But it is one of the most overlooked components of our enemy's arsenal by us. 119 00:09:48,100 --> 00:09:52,039 We correspondingly refuse to match it as well in this field of battle. 120 00:09:52,539 --> 00:10:03,519 For example, let me point out to you that secularism is the universal spirit that's meant to destroy and overlay and suffocate all of America's religious faith. 121 00:10:03,519 --> 00:10:06,159 Secularism, ingenious and clever, isn't it? 122 00:10:07,039 --> 00:10:17,259 The progressive globalist Marxist has been at war in the spiritual realm now for over a century, unbeknownst, unseen, unfelt by most patriot Americans. 123 00:10:17,759 --> 00:10:22,659 And this is because the spiritual warfare is disguised as something other than it is. 124 00:10:22,659 --> 00:10:30,360 What has been held out to us over the last century or so is that America was founded as a secular nation. 125 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:41,279 That is one that favors no religion, but is rather neutral, concerned only with the non-religious issues of the state, right? 126 00:10:41,879 --> 00:10:43,279 Ostensibly, secularism. 127 00:10:43,700 --> 00:10:50,019 Once again, as I have detailed over and over, this is one of the major lies propagated by the Marxist progressive globalists. 128 00:10:50,019 --> 00:10:52,360 Until it is believed without question. 129 00:10:53,019 --> 00:10:56,019 But it is a lie, precisely because its premises are flawed. 130 00:10:56,120 --> 00:11:00,980 First, there is no spiritual neutrality when it comes to God and the Christian faith. 131 00:11:01,059 --> 00:11:04,559 There is no secularism as a philosophy. 132 00:11:05,379 --> 00:11:15,480 The Marxist globalist progressive hates the Christian faith and seeks to stomp it out wherever Christianity seeks to assert its influence. 133 00:11:15,559 --> 00:11:16,399 We know this by now. 134 00:11:16,399 --> 00:11:26,139 So, oh, yes, secularism is a religion of hate, hate for God and his people, hate for all for which Christianity stands. 135 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:33,879 And at the spiritual level, it seeks to diminish, detract, and destroy Christ and his gospel wherever and when ever possible. 136 00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:40,440 And secondly, let me point out to you concerning secularism, America was founded as a Christian nation in principle. 137 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:44,559 And this, too, I document for you again and again, broadcast after broadcast. 138 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:50,399 Oh, again and again, let me point out for you, for example, the U.S. Supreme Court said in 1892, and I quote, 139 00:11:50,899 --> 00:11:58,100 Our laws and institutions must necessarily be based upon and embody the teachings of the Redeemer of mankind. 140 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:01,019 It is impossible that it should be otherwise. 141 00:12:01,019 --> 00:12:10,220 The Supreme Court goes on to say in 1892, in this sense and to this extent, our civilization and our institutions are emphatically Christian. 142 00:12:11,019 --> 00:12:19,179 Yes, our institutions are and our civilization is emphatically Christian, according to the Supreme Court in 1892. 143 00:12:19,179 --> 00:12:26,500 Secularism is the anti-American religion that seeks to neutralize and suppress the source of our liberty. 144 00:12:26,820 --> 00:12:31,799 We must take the spiritual battlefield again and reassert that we are a Christian nation. 145 00:12:32,240 --> 00:12:37,740 This is why I contrast secularism with Christ for our spiritual lives together. 146 00:12:38,659 --> 00:12:41,259 They are mutually exclusive, secularism and Christianity. 147 00:12:41,779 --> 00:12:44,039 They are incompatible for a free people. 148 00:12:44,039 --> 00:12:57,600 It is time we stop being bullied and silenced by the enemies of liberty who seek to enslave us with secularism, statism and socialism, the three S's, rather than Christ, constitution and capitalism, the three C's. 149 00:12:58,299 --> 00:13:10,519 Also, we must admit and observe that spiritually speaking, our enemies have already taken the spiritual field while we are still climbing out of bed at revelry, the spiritual revelry. 150 00:13:10,519 --> 00:13:15,940 For example, Islam is seen already now as compatible with the spirit of America. 151 00:13:16,460 --> 00:13:24,679 How this has been shoehorned on the foot of the American people, Islam seen as compatible with the spirit of America. 152 00:13:25,779 --> 00:13:36,379 If you still think, if you still think, dear American, that Islam is compatible with liberty, as understood under our constitution, then I submit it is too late for you. 153 00:13:36,639 --> 00:13:37,659 You've been bamboozled. 154 00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:38,679 You've been brainwashed. 155 00:13:38,679 --> 00:13:41,659 You are already a child toady of the left. 156 00:13:42,340 --> 00:13:49,720 Islam is by its very nature a theocracy, whereby Allah rules the Ummah, that is the people of Islam. 157 00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:56,980 And he does this by his chosen caliph under the system of law known as Sharia, which is derived directly from the holy book of the Quran. 158 00:13:57,700 --> 00:14:00,120 And under Islam, there's no room for compromise. 159 00:14:00,580 --> 00:14:02,379 Tolerance for others is not an option. 160 00:14:02,379 --> 00:14:09,799 And if you doubt this, look to the nations of the earth where Islam reigns supreme, and you will see the level of tolerance tolerated. 161 00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:15,039 You cannot, for example, bring a Bible into Saudi Arabia if you are coming in to visit. 162 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:20,100 And you can go to prison for sharing your Christian faith with a Muslim in Saudi Arabia. 163 00:14:20,100 --> 00:14:27,820 This is exactly the kind of tyranny Muslims wish to bring to America if they can establish a large enough majority to bring it off. 164 00:14:28,460 --> 00:14:36,259 Yet progressive Marxist globalists make nice, and they try to level the playing field by saying it's just another world religion that can get along in America. 165 00:14:37,080 --> 00:14:43,259 Oh, dear listener, look to Europe, which has sued its people with the same lie, and tell me that it's true. 166 00:14:43,259 --> 00:14:51,399 Well, the progressive Marxist globalist is actively warring in the realm of the spirit already, and we refuse to wake up. 167 00:14:51,639 --> 00:14:52,899 We refuse to take the field. 168 00:14:53,419 --> 00:14:58,360 Almost any other worldview and religion under the progressive Marxist globalist is acceptable, 169 00:14:59,159 --> 00:15:06,240 just so that that worldview and religion is not that of Christianity, biblical Christianity. 170 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:13,679 It is okay to hail Satan at pro-abortion rallies, or teach Islam in public schools as cultural enlightenment, 171 00:15:14,080 --> 00:15:22,460 or it's okay to promulgate atheism in science courses, or advocate Hinduism as part of world literature in public schools. 172 00:15:22,919 --> 00:15:26,600 But these same progressive Marxist globalists will recoil in horror, 173 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:32,899 and they'll report you to the authorities for saying Merry Christmas or pledging allegiance to the flag under God. 174 00:15:32,899 --> 00:15:38,700 One, progressive Marxist globalism is indeed the cosmic power, as Paul says, 175 00:15:39,059 --> 00:15:45,360 the cosmic power over this present darkness, the spiritual force of evil in the heavenly places. 176 00:15:46,019 --> 00:15:50,759 Oh, dear listener, Patriot America, Patriot Christian America is ignorant of, 177 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:55,379 and there's silence concerning the necessity of deploying their own spiritual weapons. 178 00:15:56,019 --> 00:15:57,820 Our mouths have been gagged. 179 00:15:58,200 --> 00:16:00,159 Our eyes have been blinded. 180 00:16:00,159 --> 00:16:05,980 Our ears no longer hear in the realm of the spirit when we come, then, to our own national state, 181 00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:07,580 to our own political situation. 182 00:16:08,259 --> 00:16:12,679 We believe the lies that there's a separation between church and state, for example. 183 00:16:12,759 --> 00:16:14,340 I go over this time and time again. 184 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:17,039 You can check these out in our radio broadcast, 185 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:21,679 that the lie of the separation between church and state. 186 00:16:22,039 --> 00:16:25,720 And there's also been a historical blackout about our history, too. 187 00:16:25,720 --> 00:16:30,659 A classic brainwashing technique, the idea of historical blackout, 188 00:16:30,740 --> 00:16:35,600 where a subject is deliberately deprived or cut off from his or her history and past 189 00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:38,279 so that they lose continuity with their past 190 00:16:38,279 --> 00:16:43,039 and can be more easily shaped by new information provided by the propagandist. 191 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:44,679 This is a spiritual tool as well. 192 00:16:45,500 --> 00:16:48,019 Our Christian spiritual heritage has been lost 193 00:16:48,019 --> 00:16:51,539 because of the historical blackout that we have experienced. 194 00:16:51,539 --> 00:16:57,679 Well, dear listener, know that our battle for the soul of America, 195 00:16:58,039 --> 00:17:03,120 if America still has a soul, the battle for our soul, dear Christian, 196 00:17:03,240 --> 00:17:05,539 is first and foremost a spiritual battle. 197 00:17:06,079 --> 00:17:10,799 Everything you see around you has its corresponding spiritual component to it 198 00:17:10,799 --> 00:17:13,019 because we are spiritual creatures. 199 00:17:13,019 --> 00:17:17,240 Oh, Genesis tells us that our first father, Adam, 200 00:17:17,819 --> 00:17:19,740 was formed from the dust of the ground. 201 00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:22,900 And consequently, we are physical beings, are we not? 202 00:17:22,980 --> 00:17:25,579 That's what that text is telling us, that we are physical beings 203 00:17:25,579 --> 00:17:27,720 formed from the dust of the ground. 204 00:17:28,140 --> 00:17:32,059 But then also, the Genesis account tells us that the Lord God 205 00:17:32,059 --> 00:17:34,579 breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, 206 00:17:34,579 --> 00:17:36,839 and he became a living being. 207 00:17:37,099 --> 00:17:39,619 That is, we are spiritual creatures as well. 208 00:17:39,619 --> 00:17:43,220 What other creature in all the universe, dear friend, 209 00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:47,119 straddles the true realms of the spiritual and the physical? 210 00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:50,559 The angels indeed dwell in and inhabit heaven. 211 00:17:51,359 --> 00:17:54,539 Indeed, the animals of the earth, the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, 212 00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:57,400 they indeed inhabit the physical realm. 213 00:17:57,759 --> 00:18:01,480 But we, sons of Adam, made in the image of God, 214 00:18:01,700 --> 00:18:03,359 we straddle both those realms. 215 00:18:03,599 --> 00:18:05,839 You, presently, as you're listening to me, 216 00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:07,359 you straddle two realms. 217 00:18:07,359 --> 00:18:10,359 You live in both a spiritual realm with spiritual consequences 218 00:18:10,359 --> 00:18:12,559 and the physical realm with physical consequences. 219 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:17,119 So everything that we touch, everything that we come to, dear listener, 220 00:18:17,500 --> 00:18:20,579 has its physical and spiritual consequences. 221 00:18:20,940 --> 00:18:22,359 Every issue we face. 222 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:24,920 Let me just take a couple, for example, for you. 223 00:18:25,319 --> 00:18:27,039 For example, the issue of gun control. 224 00:18:28,380 --> 00:18:31,779 Sensitive, in the forefront after these recent shootings in Florida. 225 00:18:31,779 --> 00:18:36,359 The issue of gun control is not about transforming America, for example, 226 00:18:36,500 --> 00:18:40,299 into a gunless society, but about transforming the heart of man 227 00:18:40,299 --> 00:18:42,839 into one of godliness, not gunlessness. 228 00:18:44,039 --> 00:18:46,680 Oh, transform the heart of man into one of godliness and wisdom 229 00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:49,220 such that he knows the difference between good and evil 230 00:18:49,220 --> 00:18:53,500 and the when and where and against whom a gun should be used. 231 00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:54,579 This is the issue. 232 00:18:55,079 --> 00:18:58,599 The issue is one, not one of gunlessness, but of godliness. 233 00:18:58,599 --> 00:19:02,299 The operator of the machine is always the one responsible 234 00:19:02,299 --> 00:19:04,180 for the results of his work, isn't he? 235 00:19:04,779 --> 00:19:09,019 Whether he uses a knife or a tractor or a bus or a drill press 236 00:19:09,019 --> 00:19:10,500 or a lathe or a gun. 237 00:19:11,140 --> 00:19:14,420 Indeed, the gun is nothing more than a machine. 238 00:19:15,079 --> 00:19:18,160 And the results depends upon the hand of the operator. 239 00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:21,900 And if the operator doesn't have a gun, 240 00:19:22,059 --> 00:19:25,900 then the evil operator will use a knife, as we've seen in the past, 241 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:28,779 or a bus, even as the radical Islamists have done. 242 00:19:29,839 --> 00:19:31,460 Gun is nothing more than a machine. 243 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:34,720 Guns are not evil in and of themselves, are they? 244 00:19:34,980 --> 00:19:36,740 It is the hand of the operator, the machine, 245 00:19:36,839 --> 00:19:39,119 that determines whether evil or good is done. 246 00:19:39,759 --> 00:19:42,859 Amending the Constitution to get rid of guns will change nothing. 247 00:19:43,039 --> 00:19:46,819 Only amending the heart of man so that he responsibly uses guns 248 00:19:46,819 --> 00:19:48,059 will change anything. 249 00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:51,220 Amend the heart, not the Constitution, dear listener. 250 00:19:51,660 --> 00:19:53,319 Amend the heart, not the Constitution. 251 00:19:54,019 --> 00:19:56,099 It begins and ends in the realm of the spirit. 252 00:19:56,619 --> 00:19:59,019 Take up your spiritual arms as well, dear listeners, 253 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:00,359 and fight this fight. 254 00:20:00,740 --> 00:20:04,400 Right now, with all of the mass shootings and false flags, 255 00:20:04,960 --> 00:20:07,359 we can see before us in the streets of America 256 00:20:07,359 --> 00:20:09,039 that our hearts are evil. 257 00:20:09,039 --> 00:20:11,279 The hearts of America are evil, 258 00:20:11,460 --> 00:20:14,920 and they're full of hatred and sickness and soullessness. 259 00:20:15,420 --> 00:20:17,099 It is the heart that must change. 260 00:20:18,259 --> 00:20:20,279 Amend the heart, not the Constitution, 261 00:20:20,619 --> 00:20:22,000 and you will see a transformation. 262 00:20:22,700 --> 00:20:25,140 Not only in the hearts of men, but in the use of guns, 263 00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:27,099 gun control, and the Second Amendment. 264 00:20:27,539 --> 00:20:29,740 They are spiritual issues too, dear listener, 265 00:20:29,839 --> 00:20:32,359 and it's time to take up our spiritual weapons 266 00:20:32,359 --> 00:20:35,420 and fight a spiritual battle on this issue. 267 00:20:35,420 --> 00:20:40,180 Well, secondly, too, the issue of immigration, for example, 268 00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:42,619 it's not just a political issue. 269 00:20:42,859 --> 00:20:45,099 It is a spiritual issue as well. 270 00:20:45,319 --> 00:20:47,700 And we have spiritual issues at stake. 271 00:20:48,460 --> 00:20:51,339 The Bible tells us, the Old Testament tells us in particular, 272 00:20:52,140 --> 00:20:55,980 you shall not oppress a sojourner, Deuteronomy says. 273 00:20:56,240 --> 00:20:57,759 You know the heart of a sojourner, 274 00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:00,440 for you are sojourners in the land of Egypt. 275 00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:06,500 Oh, yes, Israel was exhorted indeed to show compassion 276 00:21:06,500 --> 00:21:08,900 for and understanding of the sojourner. 277 00:21:10,019 --> 00:21:12,880 Deuteronomy also tells us there shall be one law 278 00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:16,680 for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you, 279 00:21:16,799 --> 00:21:17,539 that is the immigrant. 280 00:21:18,079 --> 00:21:18,779 One law. 281 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:21,500 Israel was supposed to be a nation of laws, 282 00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:24,960 even as America was a nation of laws at one time. 283 00:21:25,079 --> 00:21:26,920 There was not to be a two-tiered system, 284 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:31,839 either two-tiered in the sense that it is the citizen 285 00:21:31,839 --> 00:21:36,420 who has one level of justice and the sojourner another lower level, 286 00:21:36,619 --> 00:21:40,839 or as it is today in some of these sanctuary cities 287 00:21:40,839 --> 00:21:44,119 and sanctuary states where the stranger and sojourner, 288 00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:46,599 the immigrant, has favorable laws, 289 00:21:46,759 --> 00:21:49,839 whereas the rest of us live under another set of laws. 290 00:21:50,259 --> 00:21:53,900 So there is supposed to be one law for the native 291 00:21:53,900 --> 00:21:56,279 and for the stranger who sojourns among you. 292 00:21:56,279 --> 00:22:00,180 Indeed, there is to be equality under the law for all. 293 00:22:00,660 --> 00:22:03,819 But there was also a corresponding reciprocal responsibility 294 00:22:03,819 --> 00:22:08,700 and a desire by the immigrant to obey that law 295 00:22:08,700 --> 00:22:11,700 and to embrace with love and full integrity 296 00:22:11,700 --> 00:22:15,359 the customs and ways of the land to which he sojourned. 297 00:22:15,559 --> 00:22:18,019 This was the corresponding response of the immigrant. 298 00:22:19,119 --> 00:22:21,240 For example, the Ten Commandments says, 299 00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:23,500 The seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. 300 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:25,640 On it you shall not do any work. 301 00:22:26,180 --> 00:22:30,500 You or your son or your daughter, your male servant or your female servant 302 00:22:30,500 --> 00:22:34,500 or your livestock or the sojourner who is within your gates, 303 00:22:34,519 --> 00:22:35,259 that is, the immigrant. 304 00:22:35,660 --> 00:22:39,640 They were to embrace with reciprocal responsibility 305 00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:43,339 the law and the love and integrity of the customs 306 00:22:43,339 --> 00:22:46,160 of the ways of the land to which they sojourned. 307 00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:50,279 It was true of other issues too, like circumcision. 308 00:22:50,579 --> 00:22:53,240 The sojourner was to be circumcised along with his family. 309 00:22:53,819 --> 00:22:55,059 Also the payment of wages. 310 00:22:55,160 --> 00:22:58,240 He was to receive equal wages and do equal work. 311 00:22:58,380 --> 00:22:59,160 All of these things. 312 00:22:59,880 --> 00:23:03,460 And Exhibit A for me is Ruth the Moabitess in the Bible. 313 00:23:03,940 --> 00:23:07,920 Ruth, who immigrated to Israel with her mother-in-law Naomi 314 00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:10,140 and her attitude as an immigrant. 315 00:23:10,539 --> 00:23:13,940 It should characterize every immigrant who comes to America too. 316 00:23:13,940 --> 00:23:19,099 She said, for example, when Naomi suggested that she return to Moab, 317 00:23:19,579 --> 00:23:20,099 she said, 318 00:23:20,380 --> 00:23:23,559 Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. 319 00:23:23,940 --> 00:23:25,539 For where you go, I will go. 320 00:23:25,759 --> 00:23:27,299 And where you lodge, I will lodge. 321 00:23:27,660 --> 00:23:30,940 Your people shall be my people and your God my God. 322 00:23:31,619 --> 00:23:33,019 Where you die, I will die. 323 00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:34,440 And there I will be buried. 324 00:23:34,740 --> 00:23:38,200 May the Lord do so to me and more so also if anything but death parts me from you. 325 00:23:38,299 --> 00:23:38,700 Unquote. 326 00:23:38,940 --> 00:23:39,940 Oh, dear listener. 327 00:23:39,940 --> 00:23:46,059 This, the attitude of Ruth the Moabitess, should be the attitude of every immigrant who comes to America. 328 00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:49,539 These reasons, we must see the issue of immigration. 329 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:53,539 Whether it's legal or illegal, it is a spiritual issue, first and foremost. 330 00:23:54,519 --> 00:23:58,700 Dear listener, we are spiritual creatures as well as physical creatures. 331 00:23:58,700 --> 00:24:08,140 And every issue we see on the horizon in America has its spiritual component, a seen and unseen feature to it. 332 00:24:08,420 --> 00:24:14,640 It is up to you to speak with wisdom, to understand with wisdom all of these issues. 333 00:24:14,779 --> 00:24:17,500 Our first father, Adam, was formed from the dust of the ground. 334 00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:18,460 We're physical beings. 335 00:24:19,279 --> 00:24:23,440 And then the Lord God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and he became a living being. 336 00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:25,059 So we are also spiritual creatures. 337 00:24:25,180 --> 00:24:27,299 We straddle these two realms, dear listener. 338 00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:32,799 As Job says, it is the spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty that makes him understand. 339 00:24:33,740 --> 00:24:42,099 Oh, dear listener, you and I must pray in days to come, because that is a spiritual response to every one of these issues. 340 00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:48,059 We should be as much in prayer as we are in writing letters, as we are in organizing, as we are in lobbying, 341 00:24:48,059 --> 00:24:57,200 as we are in voting, as we are in trekking to the capitals of our states and our nation, indeed, to vote and to express ourselves. 342 00:24:57,420 --> 00:25:04,559 We should be praying as much as we do anything, because that is the effective means of grace in the realm of the Spirit, 343 00:25:04,599 --> 00:25:05,880 by which we change things. 344 00:25:06,079 --> 00:25:10,700 Pray, dear listener, because it is your spiritual responsibility and it is your spiritual power. 345 00:25:11,059 --> 00:25:16,619 We should also be laboring unapologetically in the spiritual realm for the spiritual good of our nation. 346 00:25:16,619 --> 00:25:22,960 Dear listener, make America spiritual again, if I can adopt the phrase. 347 00:25:23,299 --> 00:25:28,940 If indeed our president says we should make America great again, I say to you, we should make America spiritual again 348 00:25:28,940 --> 00:25:31,099 and win in this realm of the Spirit. 349 00:25:31,940 --> 00:25:36,299 Labor yourself to become more and more a spiritual person, more and more spiritually attuned. 350 00:25:36,700 --> 00:25:41,859 Sharpen your spiritual eyes of faith and embrace the tools that you have at hand. 351 00:25:41,859 --> 00:25:47,700 The Word of God, prayer, and indeed the armor of God, as the Apostle Paul outlines for us. 352 00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:51,640 And you should be more and more a spiritual creature in all of these things. 353 00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:59,420 Well, dear listener, this has been Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church exhorting you to these things. 354 00:25:59,859 --> 00:26:06,680 Now, New Geneva meets for holy worship on Sunday at 10 a.m. at 101 4th Street on the corner of 4th and Boulevard. 355 00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:08,740 And I exhort you to come visit us. 356 00:26:08,900 --> 00:26:15,240 It really is time to come out and just stop nodding in the dark, agreeing to things to which you give no support. 357 00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:19,440 It is time to come out of the shadows, take your place in a public church. 358 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:20,980 If it's not ours, another. 359 00:26:21,259 --> 00:26:22,079 But we need you. 360 00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:25,900 We exhort you to come and visit us, see who we are, check us out. 361 00:26:25,900 --> 00:26:34,119 And we meet for holy worship once again at 10 a.m. on Sunday at 101 4th Street on the corner of 4th and Boulevard. 362 00:26:34,119 --> 00:26:44,660 And you can give us some feedback by calling us, too, leaving a message, or maybe I'll answer directly at 208-523-0196. 363 00:26:44,900 --> 00:26:49,619 That's area code 208-523-0196. 364 00:26:49,619 --> 00:27:19,599 We'll see you next time.