1 00:00:04,690 --> 00:00:10,109 Greetings, this is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church 2 00:00:10,109 --> 00:00:15,490 with a moment of truth where we challenge you to think through an important issue of life and 3 00:00:15,490 --> 00:00:23,010 faith. And today I want to ask you again, what is the doctrine of the lesser magistrate and why 4 00:00:23,010 --> 00:00:29,989 is it the key to biblical resistance to tyranny, even if it must employ force? And this is part 5 00:00:29,989 --> 00:00:36,969 two of that series. Christians generally have one of two responses to the challenge of tyranny 6 00:00:36,969 --> 00:00:44,229 when it comes upon them, and neither one is really adequate. Number one, Christians meekly 7 00:00:44,229 --> 00:00:50,770 submit like sheep, invoking Romans 13 verse 1 out of context. And that verse says, 8 00:00:50,969 --> 00:00:55,729 let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except 9 00:00:55,729 --> 00:01:02,530 from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Now, we can spend more time on that, 10 00:01:02,590 --> 00:01:09,930 but so often Christians meekly submit without thinking past the context. Or else, some Christians 11 00:01:09,930 --> 00:01:17,750 then are tempted as well to strike out in individual frustration, with violence perhaps, that makes no 12 00:01:17,750 --> 00:01:23,849 constructive change but only gives the gospel a bad taste in the mouth of every one. Well, 13 00:01:23,849 --> 00:01:31,209 the doctrine of the lesser magistrate is the golden mean in the struggle against tyranny, in that it 14 00:01:31,209 --> 00:01:39,090 both acknowledges the claims of legitimate government authority, but also refuses to submit to the 15 00:01:39,090 --> 00:01:46,530 illegitimate claims of tyranny. The doctrine of the lesser magistrate is a principle well understood 16 00:01:46,530 --> 00:01:52,730 and practiced in our history, including and especially by our founding fathers. But where is it today? 17 00:01:52,730 --> 00:01:59,510 Oh, hardly anyone has heard of it, even though no generation is more in need of it than ours 18 00:01:59,510 --> 00:02:07,170 today. And we began by looking at Reverend Matthew Trujella's book, The Doctrine of the Lesser 19 00:02:07,170 --> 00:02:14,430 Magistrates. We began unpacking that book, a very good book, very pertinent for today. And the title 20 00:02:14,430 --> 00:02:21,110 once again was The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrates. And the subtitle was A Proper Resistance 21 00:02:21,110 --> 00:02:28,210 to Tyranny and a Repudiation of Unlimited Obedience to Civil Government. That is the rather lengthy 22 00:02:28,210 --> 00:02:35,289 subtitle, but very appropriate. And Matthew Trujella has distilled essential elements of this historical 23 00:02:35,289 --> 00:02:42,009 teaching. And we covered the first three sections last week. And that first section was What is the 24 00:02:42,009 --> 00:02:48,550 Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrate? And we saw that he defines it as when the superior or higher 25 00:02:48,550 --> 00:02:55,370 civil authority makes unjust or immoral laws or decrees. The lesser, lower-ranking authority 26 00:02:55,370 --> 00:03:03,270 has both the right and the duty to refuse obedience to that superior authority. If necessary, the lesser 27 00:03:03,270 --> 00:03:11,689 authorities even have the right and obligation to actively resist the superior authority. That is 28 00:03:11,689 --> 00:03:18,330 Matthew Trujella's definition of what is the Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrate. We also covered a second 29 00:03:18,330 --> 00:03:24,889 principle, number two. And this was very important. It establishes biblical grounds. The second principle 30 00:03:24,889 --> 00:03:31,409 is the roots of the Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrate is rooted in the biblical doctrine of 31 00:03:31,409 --> 00:03:39,030 interposition. Interposition. And he defines interposition, once again, as when the superior or higher 32 00:03:39,030 --> 00:03:47,030 civil authority makes unjust or immoral laws or decrees, the lesser, lower-ranking authority has both the 33 00:03:47,030 --> 00:03:53,930 right and the duty to refuse obedience to that superior authority. If necessary, the lesser authorities 34 00:03:53,930 --> 00:04:03,849 have the right and obligation to actively resist that authority and interpose themselves between the 35 00:04:03,849 --> 00:04:12,509 tyranny and the people. The idea of interposing oneself between the tyranny and the people. And then the third 36 00:04:12,509 --> 00:04:19,110 principle we looked at, crucial to understanding the doctrine of the lesser magistrate, is that all authority 37 00:04:19,110 --> 00:04:27,509 is delegated authority. No person is an authority unto his or herself. This is crucial since all tyranny, at the end of 38 00:04:27,509 --> 00:04:35,350 the day, posits self as the ultimate authority. But the Bible teaches the opposite. There is no authority 39 00:04:35,350 --> 00:04:44,889 except from God, Paul tells us, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God, unquote. Consequently, even 40 00:04:44,889 --> 00:04:51,610 though a tyrant may acknowledge no higher authority than himself, he is not a law to himself, and he must be 41 00:04:51,610 --> 00:04:59,310 reminded of his subjection unto God. Well then, whose responsibility is that? That brings us to principle 42 00:04:59,310 --> 00:05:07,230 number four, which we want to expand upon here today. Principle number four from the book, The Doctrine 43 00:05:07,230 --> 00:05:14,230 of the Lesser Magistrates, A Proper Resistance to Tyranny and a Repudiation of Unlimited Obedience to Civil 44 00:05:14,230 --> 00:05:21,170 Government. That's the title of Matthew Trujillo's important book on this topic. And principle number four 45 00:05:21,170 --> 00:05:29,810 is that the lesser magistrate is bound by duty to resist tyranny. The lesser magistrate is bound by 46 00:05:29,810 --> 00:05:38,350 duty to resist tyranny. Trujillo defines duty as this. He says, duty is that which a person owes to 47 00:05:38,350 --> 00:05:46,430 another, or by which a person is bound to another, by any natural, moral, or lawful obligation to perform. 48 00:05:46,430 --> 00:05:55,209 Duty is an action required by one's position, or by moral or lawful considerations, unquote. The lesser 49 00:05:55,209 --> 00:06:01,290 magistrate is bound by duty to resist tyranny. The lesser magistrate is, by definition, endued with 50 00:06:01,290 --> 00:06:07,970 less power and authority than the greater magistrate. For example, a federal attorney general is entrusted 51 00:06:07,970 --> 00:06:14,290 with greater scope of power than a federal district attorney, or a state governor is more powerful than a 52 00:06:14,290 --> 00:06:20,610 lieutenant governor. But that the lesser magistrate is less powerful than a greater magistrate does not 53 00:06:20,610 --> 00:06:28,589 mean he is powerless to resist tyranny. No. In this regard, the lesser magistrate's duty is threefold. 54 00:06:29,089 --> 00:06:36,790 A, the lesser magistrates are to oppose and resist measures from the higher authority that contravene the 55 00:06:36,790 --> 00:06:45,029 law, or the word of God. B, the lesser magistrates are to protect the person, liberty, and property of 56 00:06:45,029 --> 00:06:51,250 those who reside in the jurisdiction from all unjust or immoral laws or actions from the higher 57 00:06:51,250 --> 00:06:57,990 authority. And C, the lesser magistrates are not to implement any measures of the higher authority 58 00:06:57,990 --> 00:07:05,110 that violate the Constitution, and if necessary, resist them. Oh, the lesser magistrate is bound by duty 59 00:07:05,110 --> 00:07:11,389 to resist tyranny, dear listener. And it must be clearly understood by all that there is no excuse 60 00:07:11,389 --> 00:07:18,949 for not resisting tyranny by the lesser magistrate. No. No excusing oneself by saying, I was only following 61 00:07:18,949 --> 00:07:27,230 orders, or I'm only doing my job. I don't have the authority to stop this. All kinds of excuses like 62 00:07:27,230 --> 00:07:35,089 this do not pass the smell test. No. Every man has a functioning conscience, and God requires 63 00:07:35,110 --> 00:07:42,110 us to serve it, not to sear it. Mark Twain puts it this way. Haley nails it. Mark Twain says, 64 00:07:42,389 --> 00:07:49,230 a man's first duty is to his own conscience and honor. The party and country come second to that, 65 00:07:49,389 --> 00:07:57,829 and never first. Oh, Mark Twain reflecting on a true statesman rather than just a mere politician. 66 00:07:57,829 --> 00:08:05,009 Yes, true statesman. Mark Twain says, a man's first duty is to his own conscience and honor. 67 00:08:05,430 --> 00:08:12,509 The party and country come second to that, and never first. Oh, you will be held accountable, 68 00:08:12,990 --> 00:08:19,310 lesser magistrate, for your actions or your inaction. You have a duty to serve your God-given conscience, 69 00:08:19,470 --> 00:08:26,129 your constituents, and the Constitution you swore to uphold. Where is the voice of the lesser magistrate 70 00:08:26,129 --> 00:08:33,649 today? Where is his voice? It has been effectively silenced in our own day. Men fear for their career 71 00:08:33,649 --> 00:08:39,809 path if they resist those above them. Men fear that they will be shamed or canceled if they resist the 72 00:08:39,809 --> 00:08:48,049 latest woke trend. The vast sea of government officials and bureaucrats and hirelings have been 73 00:08:48,049 --> 00:08:54,490 bought and paid for. With the shackles come the shackles, don't they? And the horde of government 74 00:08:54,490 --> 00:09:01,769 zombies can be heard rattling around in their shackles today. As I asked one such government 75 00:09:01,769 --> 00:09:09,210 zombie in our congregation, what will you not do for a paycheck and a pension? It used to be that our 76 00:09:09,210 --> 00:09:16,690 forefathers did have a sense of duty that made them do hard things. George Washington said, do your duty, 77 00:09:16,690 --> 00:09:23,529 I'm sorry, no, Stonewall Jackson, one of my favorite characters in history, not very politically correct 78 00:09:23,529 --> 00:09:29,789 today. But General Stonewall Jackson said, do your duty and leave the rest to providence. That's my 79 00:09:29,789 --> 00:09:36,730 favorite saying on duty. Do your duty and leave the rest to providence. George Washington said, human 80 00:09:36,730 --> 00:09:46,309 happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected. And Rochelle E. Goodrich said, love grows and wanes, 81 00:09:46,309 --> 00:09:52,870 but honor, duty, and commitment. Those things are constant and stable. They define who you are. 82 00:09:53,149 --> 00:10:01,289 Honor, duty, and commitment define who you are, dear lesser magistrate. And it is time then for all 83 00:10:01,289 --> 00:10:09,029 magistrates to learn about and return to this ancient sense of duty and for the public to demand it of 84 00:10:09,029 --> 00:10:19,309 their magistrates to serve and then to have their conscience pricked towards duty when the public elects and 85 00:10:19,309 --> 00:10:25,830 appoints them. Well, fifthly, the fifth point here under the doctrine of the lesser magistrate is, number 86 00:10:25,830 --> 00:10:37,029 five, the objective standard for the law is God's law in the Bible. The objective standard for law is God's law in the 87 00:10:37,029 --> 00:10:44,789 Bible. Why, William Blackstone in his commentaries on law, William Blackstone, the English jurist in his 88 00:10:44,789 --> 00:10:52,029 commentaries on the law, says that the Bible is binding over all the globe and in all countries 89 00:10:52,029 --> 00:11:00,250 and at all times. No human laws are of any validity if contrary to this. And such of them as are valid 90 00:11:00,250 --> 00:11:07,470 derive all their force and authority immediately or immediately from this original. The doctrines thus 91 00:11:07,470 --> 00:11:14,669 delivered we call the revealed or divine law and they are found only in the holy scriptures. William 92 00:11:14,669 --> 00:11:21,269 Blackstone in his commentaries on the law. Unfortunately though, that point of view is no longer permissible, 93 00:11:21,470 --> 00:11:29,090 is it? Perhaps not even expressible in legal circles today. But its truth still stands. God has not 94 00:11:29,090 --> 00:11:36,629 changed and its standards have not changed either. Any society that refuses to keep God's law as the 95 00:11:36,629 --> 00:11:45,450 supreme standard and touchstone for its civil society will eventually founder upon the shoals of tyranny. 96 00:11:46,029 --> 00:11:52,809 Since God does not change and his law does not change, we have therefore an objective standard by which 97 00:11:52,809 --> 00:12:00,070 to measure civil law and justice and tyranny. Perceptively, Matthew Truhella writes on this 98 00:12:00,070 --> 00:12:06,470 point, he says, if there is no objective standard to judge the purpose and limits of the state, then the 99 00:12:06,470 --> 00:12:12,769 state can do whatever it pleases because the people do not know differently. If a citizen does not know 100 00:12:12,769 --> 00:12:19,029 the purpose, functions, and limitations of the state, then the state can do whatever it wants to do because 101 00:12:19,029 --> 00:12:27,509 the citizenry don't realize anything improper is being done. Perceptively noted by Matthew Truhella 102 00:12:27,509 --> 00:12:35,409 in his book on the lesser magistrates. And nowhere is this more evident really than in the contemporary 103 00:12:35,409 --> 00:12:43,970 blurring of gender distinctions. For example, the objective biblical standard for gender is that there 104 00:12:43,970 --> 00:12:52,190 are two genders, male and female. Genesis chapter 5 verses 1 and 2 put it this way, when God created 105 00:12:52,190 --> 00:12:58,629 man, he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named 106 00:12:58,629 --> 00:13:08,190 them man when they were created, unquote. Male and female he created them. All subsequent civil law was based 107 00:13:08,190 --> 00:13:14,970 upon this distinction. Every legal form had a box for male or female. Every bathroom and locker room 108 00:13:14,970 --> 00:13:21,789 had rules separating male and female. Every marriage sanctioned by both church and civil authorities 109 00:13:21,789 --> 00:13:29,870 joined man and woman exclusively. And all cultural conventions, from dress codes to yes ma'am and yes 110 00:13:29,870 --> 00:13:37,029 sir, in our language, reflected this foundational biblical distinction. Male and female, he created 111 00:13:37,029 --> 00:13:43,490 them, and he blessed them, and named them man when they were created. Oh, dear listener, all of that 112 00:13:43,490 --> 00:13:49,269 has gone out the window today, and we find big male gorillas in women's locker rooms and competing in 113 00:13:49,269 --> 00:13:54,509 women's sports, and the numbers of genders being multiplied such that the cumbersome acronym for them 114 00:13:54,509 --> 00:14:04,190 has to have a plus sign after it, right? LGBTQ plus. And there are even civil penalties for misgendering 115 00:14:04,190 --> 00:14:10,389 some poor snowflake who gets offended at being called dude when he identifies himself as a woman or a 116 00:14:10,389 --> 00:14:17,950 unicorn or a kitten. And much of your tax dollar is being granted to parents who want to transition 117 00:14:17,950 --> 00:14:23,830 their children to other genders, or maybe for a teen confused about him or herself in puberty, 118 00:14:23,830 --> 00:14:31,210 undergoing surgeries. And meanwhile, the glue that holds society together, the family, is fracturing 119 00:14:31,210 --> 00:14:37,070 and collapsing. And I tend to think that's on purpose, too. Much of this gender confusion is meant 120 00:14:37,070 --> 00:14:44,629 to destroy and fracture the family. When there is no objective standard, that's the bottom line here, 121 00:14:44,870 --> 00:14:52,529 when there is no objective standard for civil society, all becomes subjective on the part of the state, 122 00:14:52,529 --> 00:14:59,769 and can therefore change at the whim of the state, can't it? If the state becomes the measure of truth 123 00:14:59,769 --> 00:15:06,710 and law, then what it says, even if it contradicts what it dictated before, becomes law. If one day, 124 00:15:06,809 --> 00:15:12,629 for example, it is good and just to challenge the integrity of an election, when it is a Democrat, 125 00:15:12,909 --> 00:15:19,769 we've seen this in the past, when there's a Democrat on the ballot who loses, then why? It's good and just 126 00:15:19,769 --> 00:15:26,710 to challenge the integrity of an election. We've seen this with the failed campaigns of Stacey Abrams 127 00:15:26,710 --> 00:15:33,429 or Al Gore or John Kerry in the past, then it was okay to challenge the integrity of an election. But 128 00:15:33,429 --> 00:15:40,230 then, if it's good, then the next day and illegal to challenge the integrity of an election when a 129 00:15:40,230 --> 00:15:46,149 Republican is on the ballot, and of course, this has happened recently with Kerry Lake in Arizona, 130 00:15:46,149 --> 00:15:52,490 a fraudulent election if ever there was one, and of course, the recent presidential election where Donald Trump 131 00:15:52,490 --> 00:16:01,309 had it stolen from underneath him. It is now illegal and unethical to challenge and unpatriotic to challenge 132 00:16:01,309 --> 00:16:09,009 the integrity of those elections. Well, if the state plays it this way, then so be it. It is the state 133 00:16:09,009 --> 00:16:17,370 that speaks and all must obey. In fact, it will be so conditioned, you will be so conditioned that you 134 00:16:17,370 --> 00:16:23,789 will come to accept whatever the state dictates as the truth and every measure promulgated by the state 135 00:16:23,789 --> 00:16:32,450 as law. This is already beginning to transpire, and the state is already conditioning us for this state 136 00:16:32,450 --> 00:16:39,549 of mind. When the lesser magistrate upholds, however, the objective standard of God's law and the 137 00:16:39,549 --> 00:16:46,470 Constitution, his disobedience to the higher magistrate is not subjective, because the lesser 138 00:16:46,470 --> 00:16:53,450 magistrate is upholding an objective standard by which all things may be tested. And, of course, 139 00:16:53,710 --> 00:17:00,809 it is supremely objective in that it appeals to the unchanging standards of God's law. 140 00:17:00,809 --> 00:17:07,289 We must return to this, the unchanging standards of God's law. And, consequently, 141 00:17:07,849 --> 00:17:17,390 the lesser magistrate can and must be supported by the people. Well, the sixth point that we want to 142 00:17:17,390 --> 00:17:23,589 make here under the doctrine of the lesser magistrate, the sixth point is there are intrinsic 143 00:17:23,589 --> 00:17:30,089 reasons why the resistance offered by the lesser magistrate is wise and proper. There are intrinsic 144 00:17:30,089 --> 00:17:37,130 reasons within the very nature of the lesser magistrate. There are intrinsic reasons why the 145 00:17:37,130 --> 00:17:43,950 resistance offered by the lesser magistrate is wise and proper. Lesser magistrates constitute lawful 146 00:17:43,950 --> 00:17:51,309 authority by virtue of their office, dear listener. And this stands in stark contrast to the actions of 147 00:17:51,309 --> 00:17:59,470 incoherent mobs, as we saw after the death of George Floyd, or stands in stark contrast to individual acts 148 00:17:59,470 --> 00:18:07,849 of terror. And the lesser magistrate stands in stark contrast to radical groups that are accountable to 149 00:18:07,849 --> 00:18:15,069 no one but themselves and their quaint creeds and manifestos. The resistance offered by the lesser 150 00:18:15,069 --> 00:18:23,589 magistrate, in contrast, is quite wise and proper. Wise and proper. And these reasons are intrinsic to 151 00:18:23,589 --> 00:18:30,349 their office as magistrates, and I articulate a few of them here for you. A, lawful magistrates already 152 00:18:30,349 --> 00:18:38,710 possess lawful God-given authority, which they may invoke. B, lesser magistrates have been supported by 153 00:18:38,710 --> 00:18:45,069 many in their successful bid to achieve office. Therefore, they have an established power base 154 00:18:45,069 --> 00:18:53,809 of popular support already in place. C, lesser magistrates have constitutional precedent and law 155 00:18:53,809 --> 00:19:01,109 on their side. There is some heritage and history to which they can appeal. D, lesser magistrates already 156 00:19:01,109 --> 00:19:09,990 have access to a public forum by which they may address grievances and articulate them for the general 157 00:19:09,990 --> 00:19:18,190 public. E, lesser magistrates are ideally positioned to teach, instruct, and guide citizens in times of 158 00:19:18,190 --> 00:19:24,829 growing tyranny. People respond to honorable, authoritative, and informed leadership, don't they? 159 00:19:24,950 --> 00:19:31,029 I sure do. When done biblically and constitutionally, people will rally behind the lesser 160 00:19:31,029 --> 00:19:37,589 magistrates. F, lesser magistrates can strike terror into the hearts of tyrants. That we hope to do in 161 00:19:37,589 --> 00:19:44,029 the near future. Lesser magistrates can strike terror into the hearts of tyrants. Tyrants rely on being 162 00:19:44,029 --> 00:19:50,190 unopposed and unresisted, don't they? When they are exposed for who they are by honest magistrates 163 00:19:50,190 --> 00:19:57,289 acting out of integrity and service to their oath of office, they react in consternation and frustration, 164 00:19:57,289 --> 00:20:03,369 the tyrants do. The tyrant attempts to put the clamps of tyranny even tighter, perhaps exposing 165 00:20:03,369 --> 00:20:10,490 themselves for who they are. We see that happening in our own day. And G, lesser magistrates have the 166 00:20:10,490 --> 00:20:17,710 best chance of resolving injustice without upheaval and bloodshed. Very important. Lesser magistrates have 167 00:20:17,710 --> 00:20:25,930 the best chance of resolving injustice without upheaval and bloodshed. A tyrannical government is less anxious 168 00:20:25,930 --> 00:20:31,130 to push their oppression if they know that the opposition has the proper leadership and order 169 00:20:31,130 --> 00:20:38,009 of lesser magistrates. The odds for peaceful resolution of tyranny increase. They're not 170 00:20:38,009 --> 00:20:43,769 guaranteed, but they increase when the lesser magistrate stands firm. And then H, finally H, 171 00:20:44,250 --> 00:20:50,750 God's will is for a just and righteous government to order his creation. That is God's will, and he will 172 00:20:50,750 --> 00:20:56,430 be behind the lesser magistrate because that is his will. Oh, Deuteronomy tells us, for example, 173 00:20:56,430 --> 00:21:01,730 justice and only justice you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the Lord your 174 00:21:01,730 --> 00:21:08,730 God is giving you. God's kingdom and its principles, too, will eventually triumph. And I maintain will 175 00:21:08,730 --> 00:21:14,849 eventually triumph on this side of his return. Oh, the Bible tells us he will judge the people with 176 00:21:14,849 --> 00:21:21,349 righteousness and the poor with justice. Yes. So, even though the lesser magistrate may not see it 177 00:21:21,349 --> 00:21:28,630 in his own lifetime, his work for God's kingdom and the defeat of tyranny will bear fruit. That is God's 178 00:21:28,630 --> 00:21:35,049 promise because it is his will. Oh, God has established order and government, dear listener, that he might 179 00:21:35,049 --> 00:21:41,910 rule immediately through his servants, the magistrates. That's the point of Romans 13. Let every person be 180 00:21:41,910 --> 00:21:47,809 subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God. And those that exist 181 00:21:47,809 --> 00:21:55,089 have been instituted by God. That is, those magistrates, those governing authorities, their office 182 00:21:55,089 --> 00:22:03,650 has been created by him. Not everyone who manages to obtain offices is there by God's approval, perhaps 183 00:22:03,650 --> 00:22:10,170 in God's providence, but not necessarily by God's approval, because governing authorities indeed are 184 00:22:10,170 --> 00:22:17,529 established by God. And in order to keep the higher magistrate honest, that is true to God's 185 00:22:17,529 --> 00:22:23,289 principles, God has made provision through the doctrine of the lesser magistrate. And that's proven 186 00:22:23,289 --> 00:22:30,930 throughout the history of redemption. Dear listener, our solution to the ever-expanding clutch of tyranny 187 00:22:30,930 --> 00:22:38,089 around our throat is before us. We don't have to beg, pretty please, dear dictator, take your boot off our 188 00:22:38,089 --> 00:22:47,210 neck. No, those who resort to that modus operandi will only find the tyranny growing stronger. We don't 189 00:22:47,210 --> 00:22:55,410 either have to quietly, meekly submit to unlimited tyranny as so many Christians do today. There are so many 190 00:22:55,410 --> 00:23:02,670 Christian pastors out there who are Holocaust pastors telling their people, just go to the trains, 191 00:23:02,670 --> 00:23:09,849 you're going to a better place, right? Yeah, going to the camps, metaphorically speaking. Oh, just go to 192 00:23:09,849 --> 00:23:16,710 the showers. Cleanliness is next to godliness. Going to the showers, metaphorically speaking. No, do not be 193 00:23:16,710 --> 00:23:24,509 a Holocaust pastor by telling your people to submit to unlimited tyranny. Out of a distorted understanding 194 00:23:24,509 --> 00:23:30,789 of Romans 13.1, let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there's no authority 195 00:23:30,789 --> 00:23:37,609 except from God and those that exist that have been instituted by God. That verse has been distorted and 196 00:23:37,609 --> 00:23:44,930 misused and taken out of context in order that Holocaust pastors might just go ahead and guide their 197 00:23:44,930 --> 00:23:52,470 people to the train stations and the showers. No, do not be a Holocaust pastor and lead your people thusly. And 198 00:23:52,470 --> 00:24:00,589 on the other side of the coin, neither do we have to strike out in impotent rage against tyranny, like isolated 199 00:24:00,589 --> 00:24:07,170 terrorists who blow up buildings and shoot individual leaders. No, we don't have to resort to random 200 00:24:07,170 --> 00:24:14,950 violence and terror. No, there is a responsible avenue to take towards defeating tyranny in a biblical 201 00:24:14,950 --> 00:24:22,309 fashion. And that avenue is the doctrine of the lesser magistrate. Now, we're not finished in more fully 202 00:24:22,309 --> 00:24:28,250 extrapolating what this means. This doctrine is important enough that we're going to spend more time 203 00:24:28,250 --> 00:24:36,529 on it. This doctrine of the lesser magistrate has been centuries in the making and it's fine tuning as 204 00:24:36,529 --> 00:24:43,390 well. Many fine women and men have gone before us, indeed inculcating the doctrine of the lesser 205 00:24:43,390 --> 00:24:51,089 magistrate. And we need to examine that it might bear fruit in our own day. Most Americans have no idea 206 00:24:51,089 --> 00:24:59,269 what it is or what it means. And to many, it matters not a wit. Oh, dear listener, the doctrine 207 00:24:59,269 --> 00:25:06,029 of the lesser magistrate means that we need to catch up. The situation means that we need to catch up to 208 00:25:06,029 --> 00:25:12,930 history and start making application. Those who are in positions of authority absolutely need to seize 209 00:25:12,930 --> 00:25:18,930 this doctrine, understand it, and run with it. And those of us who are the constituents of magistrates 210 00:25:18,930 --> 00:25:25,970 who seek to bravely resist the tyrannical magistrate of the state that we see in the United States of 211 00:25:25,970 --> 00:25:35,589 America now, we who seek to bravely resist must support those who resist in the lesser magistrate 212 00:25:35,589 --> 00:25:42,809 positions who do resist the tyrannical magistrate. And we must actively, vocally support those lesser 213 00:25:42,809 --> 00:25:47,910 magistrates, dear listener. Vote for them. Give financially to them. Campaign for their election and 214 00:25:47,910 --> 00:25:55,309 reelection. Dear listeners, support the enthusiastic, exhort the recalcitrant, and defeat the enemy. 215 00:25:55,690 --> 00:26:03,450 Oh, indeed, dear listener, there is a godly biblical response to tyranny, and it is the doctrine of the 216 00:26:03,450 --> 00:26:10,730 lesser magistrate. This is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church, and we invite you 217 00:26:10,730 --> 00:26:18,369 to join us for worship on Sunday morning. We meet for holy worship on Sunday at 10 a.m. at 101 4th Street 218 00:26:18,369 --> 00:26:24,569 on the corner of 4th and Boulevard. We invite you to cross our threshold. You'll find a warm and friendly 219 00:26:24,569 --> 00:26:32,029 response, and we hope that you'll find opportunity then to worship in spirit and in truth with us. 220 00:26:32,130 --> 00:26:38,210 We meet for holy worship on Sunday at 10 a.m. at 101 4th Street on the corner of 4th and Boulevard. 221 00:26:38,210 --> 00:26:49,609 Call us for more information or feedback at 208-523-0196. 208-523-0196.