Greetings. This is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church with a moment of truth where we challenge you to think through an important issue of life and faith. And today, what are the constitutional principles, numbers 22 and 23, of the 5,000-year leap? Oh, we have been examining the 28 principles that are articulated in the 5,000-year leap, which indeed explore our Constitution and its principles. One of the things I like about the 5,000-year leap is the thoroughness with which it is documented with citations from men like Washington and Adams and Hamilton, in addition to the background provided by many historians.

Go to the National Center for Constitutional Studies website, nccs.org. Buy their books. Send them a contribution. They do yeoman's work on behalf of educating Americans on what our founders really taught, not what those today maintain are part of the living, breathing document that is our modern Constitution. Well, now for constitutional principle number 22.

A free people should be governed by law and not by the whims of men. Oh, how we need this principle reinstated today. A free people should be governed by law and not by the whims of men. How basic this is, and especially was to America and her liberty, but how casually forgotten and dismissed in our own day, right? Sure, we hear many people piously in tone, we're a nation of laws, not of men, or as the progressives are fond of saying when it comes to Trump, no man is above the law.

Yeah, except you Democrats, except for Biden, for example, in the classified documents case, right? Trump is prosecuted, Biden is not. Or the Biden crime family has been using Ukraine, for example, for decades as a money laundering operation, as have many others. He has not been prosecuted for that, even though the evidence is abundant. Or Attorney General Merrick Garland, for example, selectively prosecuting libertarians and liberty-loving people, constitutionalists, especially the January 6th protesters, all of whom are in jail without good cause, without good reason, waging lawfare, in other words.

Oh, and then there's also just the general persecution of constitutionalists and conservatives by Democrats in the Biden administration. Where is America's outrage at these things? When do the American people say enough? Well, there are several reasons for this lack of outrage and action to cleanse American politics of immoral scourges like Biden and Garland, or even the FBI director, Ray, Christopher Ray, right? Or others in the top echelons of the Democrat Party, and not the least of which is a sheer ignorance the American people have of what this principle actually entails.

That is, a free people should be governed by law and not by the whims of men. History, civics, government, they're no longer taught in our schools, are they? So when someone declares the finality, we are a nation of laws and not of men, odds are they don't have a clue as to what this means. What then did our founders have in mind when they implied this principle to the formation of the Constitution? Well, Dr. Kleon Skousen notes succinctly, and I quote him, they defined law as a rule of action, which was intended to be as binding on the ruler as it was on the people.

It was designed to give society a stable frame of reference so the people could feel secure in making plans for the future, unquote. Very astute. All of this is a mere word on a page to someone who doesn't know the whims of a ruler in a society where the dictates of the ruler are law, and he and his special cronies are above the law. This has been the mean state of most of humanity throughout history, and most Americans don't see how swiftly the special privilege of living in a society and under a constitution where we are a nation of laws and not of men is swiftly evaporating.

The vast bulk of mankind has lived under demigods like Pharaoh who could give permission to Moses to take Israel out of Egypt at one moment and then force them to make bricks without straw on the next. The kind of Pharaoh who could let Israel go at the height of the Passover and send out his army to destroy them at the Red Sea in the next moment, right?

Most men have lived under men like the Herods, who considered themselves to be a law unto themselves, who could order the slaughter of all children under the age of two in Nazareth, and who could demand the beheading of John the Baptist without any objective law on the book or due process in the courts. In the Bible, with these men, plus others like Ahab in Israel, or Ahasuerus in Persia, or the Caesars of Rome, there was no such thing as a law as a rule of action, which was intended to be as binding on the ruler as it was on the people. No.

With these men, they were the law, and by definition, the people had to obey it, and they were above it by virtue of having made that law. These kings and princes and demigods lived as if they were immutable deity, and their pronouncements were as immutable as the laws of the Medes and the Persians, as the Bible puts it. With very few exceptions, this way of things persisted right up until the founding of the United States of America. Our founders had very fresh in their memories the history of the Stuart kings of England, who, to a man, felt themselves above the law and only had recourse to parliament when their backs were against the wall.

Most recent in their memory of the founders was their treatment at the hand of King George III, who Jefferson characterizes in the Declaration of Independence as a prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant and is unfit to be the ruler of a free people, unquote. This portion of the Declaration is a little read today, but it brings into contrast the very principle we are discussing today. Nowhere is there a better definition of a nation of men and not of law than the person and rule of King George.

For example, as Jefferson puts it in the Declaration, he has refused to assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. Well, here, King George considered himself above the good and wholesome laws of the colonies such that he could pick and choose those he would obey. Or, Jefferson says, he, that is King George, has forbidden governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained, unquote, while here King George either approved or disapproved of laws based upon his whim.

And then the Declaration also says, he, that is King George, has obstructed the administration of justice by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers, unquote. Here, King George felt himself above the judicial system of England and the colonies, sending his own judges instead of recognizing those appointed in the colonies. Well, any or all of these laws and practices could be changed at a whim, depending on the caprice of the ruler. One day the Stamp Act was in full force, the next it was not. One day an entire colonial charter was enforced, the next day it was replaced by another written in England.

One day Boston had seven revenue assessors, and the next it had 30 tax men sent to harass the people. One day George would abide by the legislation of the colonies, the next he would, as Jefferson puts it, suspend our legislatures and declare himself invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever, unquote.

There's a real paralyzing effect that uncertainty and arbitrary change has upon a people who will invest in real estate, for example, when we don't know, or what the next government bailout is coming from government for homeowners or banks, what corporation will invest in coal or oil exploration, if he's unsure he will be placed out or taxed out of existence by the recent cap and trade legislation, or the insistence on electric vehicles?

Oh, what bright medical student, for example, will struggle through medical school when everything from his specialty to his salary to his expense reimbursements are whimsically and arbitrarily changed from year to year by the federal government and the national health care system, right? Who will enlist in our armed services when they're all plagued by progressive right think? Oh, as Dr. Skousen puts it, he says, to be governed by the whims of men is to be subject to the ever-changing capriciousness of those in power. In such a society, nothing is dependable, no rights are secure. Things established are in a constant state of flux.

Nothing becomes fixed and predictable for the future. Oh, when that kind of reality exists, people become paralyzed by uncertainty and fear. Incentives for new advancements, for new inventions, for new techniques, the attempts for the difficult drill technique, maybe on the ocean floor, or work sacrificially put to put juniors through medical school, all of these things are undermined when they are uncertain. And we see this all the time, when children are parented by tyrannical and arbitrary mothers and fathers, don't we? We've all known such families, and the children grow up listless and unmotivated.

They're uncertain of themselves. They become afraid of their own shadow. Same happens to citizens under tyranny, who could not help but be cynical and pessimistic about the world, when, as a child, you can depend upon no fixed rule in the house, but the momentary rage and or good graces of an arbitrary father. The same goes for federal tyranny, dear listener. The same kind of mentality obtains in a society when a ruler or small band of rulers, like we have in our federal system, treats its citizens like children, pretending to care for them and provide for their needs at one moment, and arbitrarily taxing and legislating them infinitely.

The next moment, in order to pay for all the caring, who can depend upon what our president or congress will say next? Who can believe that what they say will cost so many billions of dollars will not actually cost trillions? They're liars. They do not care for you. Understand this.

Well, what is needed at every level of government is a return to principle number 22. A free people should be governed by law and not by the whims of men. Our founders drafted a written constitution providing for the orderly establishment of a government of laws. They did not provide for a king. They did not ordain a noble class with vested interests to lord it over the people.

They did not leave an imbalance of power among the branches so that a few men could dictate to the nation an arbitrary order of things. No, they established a rule of law, not of men, based upon a written objective constitution where even the rulers would be subject to the very same laws as the people. As John Locke put it, freedom of men under government is to have a standing rule to live by, common to everyone of that society, made by the legislative power. So, when men fail to worship the God of the Bible, they substitute something or someone else.

Not because they do so necessarily consciously as idolaters, but because our hearts and spirits are made and wired to worship. Just as everything looks like a nail to a hammer, so everything looks like a God to a soul created to worship. The one true God of the Bible, however, and the empty soul will fill itself with something or someone else. Therefore, it is no surprise to a Christian when godless men elevate other men to a God-like status and blindly trust their political leaders, the Supreme Court, maybe.

Do not be shocked, then, dear listener, at the two-tiered system that is before you today, but know that it is a far different one from that given us by our founding fathers. Additionally, though you should not be surprised by it, you should also not be satisfied with it. It is time to return in a clear, firm fashion to constitutional principle number 22. A free people should be governed by law and not by the whims of men. Well, principle 23 now is foundational to re-establishing principle number 22 and all of the rest.

And principle 23 is a free society cannot survive as a republic without a broad program of public education. Yes, a free society cannot survive as a republic without a broad program of public education. And once more, here we have a principle that's so basic to genuine liberty, but which has gotten lost in the shuffle of politics and ignorance over the generations since our founding. Constitutional liberty is complex enough that it requires a certain threshold of knowledge and sophistication that the illiterate man can never achieve and will therefore be in perpetual slavery.

On the other hand, constitutional liberty is understandable enough, on the other hand, that it can be learned by the simplest of common man who therefore is forearmed with such understanding to seize and hold onto his liberty. Oh, a literate man is more liable to be a free man because he reads and understands his Bible and his constitution. Our founding fathers understood this to their toenails and they proposed to a man a broad program of education throughout the new states. George Washington put it this way. He said, a primary object should be the education of our youth in the science of government.

In a republic, what species of knowledge can be equally important? He asked. Wow. Indeed, the republic created by Washington and his contemporaries depends on we the people for its continuance and accountability. It was the common citizen who voted and spoke his opinion in the town square and who wrote his congressman, ran for office for that matter.

How could he assemble peaceably or petition the government for redress of grievances if he could not read the first amendment or study and understand the issues for which he assembled and sought redress? How could the local merchant grow and prosper his business without interference from the federal government unless he could read and understand article one, section eight, paragraph three, which gives Congress power to regulate interstate commerce. But that is all. Are those provisions for taxation and exportation and revenue raising?

How could he, that citizen, protect himself in tyrannical criminal cases if he could not read and understand the fourth amendment that guarantees us security in our persons and possessions and protects us against warrantless searches and seizures? All of these hard-won liberties are meaningless unless a literate, informed citizenry guards them jealously. And to this end, our founders prescribed a thorough program of public education for every citizen. Massachusetts, for instance, required every community of 50 families or more to set up a free grammar school.

Every township of 100 families or more had to set up a secondary school to prepare students for college. John Adams said that the purpose of this was to, and I quote, have knowledge diffused generally through the whole body of the people. Unquote. This way, every merchant, mechanic, laborer, farmer, not just the wealthy and the privileged, could read and understand the issues of the day as well as his own constitutional freedoms. Dear listener, in an age which ignorance of our history and constitution reigns supreme, it is important to understand this principle.

Our founders sought universal education, not that we might get better jobs and be able to read a government unemployment benefits form and or the latest gender sensitivity memo from management. No, but rather universal education was proposed so that we might produce a literate, informed, and moral people. The French philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville noted in his famous book, Democracy in America, and I quote him, every citizen receives the elementary notions of human knowledge. He is taught the doctrines and evidences of his religion, the history of this country and the leading features of its constitution. Unquote.

No more Christianity, American history, and the principle of the constitution were the meat and potatoes of our early education in the new republic. How 180 degrees in the opposite direction has modern public education taken us in the last several generations. Religion is a horror, and the constitution is an impenetrable, obsolete document, according to progressives, that we just don't have the time for anymore. No, it is more important that little Johnny know how to put a condom on a cucumber in sex education class and learn the religious trinity of tolerance, diversity, and equality.

Dear listener, our public school teachers and administrators are not dumb. They could actually educate our children if this was their top priority, but it is not. After decades of studying this issue, I know this to my bones. If you want to know what the public school system's prime directive is, then you must examine the final product they turn out on the assembly line. And what is that final product?

Oh, it is a thoroughly secular, properly socialized, progressive. That's the final product, isn't it? And in producing this, our teachers and administrators have superbly been successful, haven't they? Oh, well, little Johnny may not be able to read his rap sheet or his diploma, but he gets one anyway. And he sneers at the flag rather than sheds a tear for those who gave their lives in defending it.

But little Tyrone can recite the lyrics to all of the foul rap music he listens to. Or little Janie may not be able to articulate a single purpose for husband and wife or monogamous marriage and family from the Bible, but she can instruct her boyfriend on how to put a condom on. And every STD she may have, she has in spelling bee and precisely articulate for you all lifestyles of gay marriage and trans lifestyles, right?

And little Johnny may graduate thinking that the Electoral College is a four-year school in Washington, D.C., and that the constitutional right to bear arms is every American's right to wear short sleeves, but he will ignorantly and adamantly parrot the progressive line that he has the constitutional right to free health care and college tuition and marry his gay partner, though there be not one scintilla of evidence for any of these rights so-called in the Constitution.

In short, all of the above characters, of which our nation produces plenty, are graduates of our public schools and thoroughly secular, properly socialized progressives and in good standing. They are well-educated in the holy trinity of diversity, equity, and inclusion, D-E-I, right? But they are utterly ignorant of what our founding fathers inculcated in those early generations, the doctrines and evidences of our religion, for example, the history of our country, and the leading features of its constitution.

Is it any wonder, then, that we are also at the same time producing a generation of subjects and slaves groomed for tyranny, groomed for tyranny, rather than a generation of citizens of a free republic? It's no secret that the first requirement of a tyrant to impose and maintain a tyranny is the stone-cold ignorance of his subjects. The tyrant kings of Israel depended upon the neglect and ignorance of the people for the covenant of Israel. Remember the discovery by Josiah in the temple after generations of being lost of the Bible, right? And they had needed this to impose generations of godless tyrannies.

The tyrant kings of England depended upon the neglect and ignorance of the people for the unwritten liberties of their ancient Anglo-Saxon forebearers. And they needed this to impose generations of monarchical tyrannies. Even Adolf Hitler depended upon the ignorance and neglect of the German people for the Teutonic legacy of representative tribal republicanism. They depended on this ignorance to impose a one-man godlike dictatorship.

And today, ambitious progressives and conservatives alike, that is, all of those who would substitute our constitutional republic for a big government alternative, all they depend upon the ignorance and neglect of the American people for our constitution to impose a growing tyranny. George Orwell, in his prophetic book, 1984, had as one of the three-party tenets of Big Brother this gem. Ignorance is strength. Ignorance is strength. Was ignorance strength for the people?

No, of course not. Not for the people. For the people and their liberties, ignorance was a weakness. Ignorance was a strength for Big Brother, because only by keeping the people in a constant state of ignorance of history and freedom could he maintain his hold on them. Can you see the true insight that Orwell had into human nature?

The American education establishment has as one of its chief goals of the people in the past several generations, the submerging of the knowledge of our constitution and its principles. Our public schools have dropped history, civics, and government courses as requirements for graduation. The complete opposites of what we have articulated for you here over the last few months are inculcated in our public schools' opposites. I am certain that when it comes to the constitution and its principles, our present crop of politicians would agree with Big Brother that ignorance is strength.

Make no mistake about this, dear listener, the kids of our founder's generation were better educated than most of today's progressive thought fodder, right? John Adams says, a native of America who cannot read and write is as rare as a comet or an earthquake. It has been observed that we are all of us lawyers, divines, politicians, and philosophers, unquote. Oh, but the founders wanted succeeding generations steeped in religion and history and the constitution for more focused reasons than being mere dilettantes of knowledge and good conversationalists at cocktail parties. No.

For example, number one, our founders expected every citizen to be an informed participant in the republic. Yes, ignorance is not a strength in a free republic, but it's a bane. No. Our founders knew that if the gift of our constitution was to endure, it would do so with the labors of an informed citizenry. Yes, the common man in America, Alexis de Tocqueville says, will inform you of what his rights are and by what means he exercises them.

You will find that he is well acquainted with the rules of the administration and that he is familiar with the mechanisms of the laws. The American learns to know the laws by participating in the act of legislation, and he takes lessons in the forms of government, by governing. The great work of society is ever going on before his eyes and, as it were, under his hands. Oh, unquote. De Tocqueville speaking about Americans.

Well, our founders also expected every citizen to scrutinize their leaders for every blemish of tyranny, too. Oh, eternal vigilance being the price of liberty. Only an educated citizenry could be expected to know the difference between tyranny and liberty and see the signs of encroaching cancer of the one bountiful flourishing over the other, right? As Adams says, they have a right, an indisputable, unalienable, indefeasible, divine right to that most dreaded and envied kind of knowledge. I mean, of the characters and conduct of their rulers, unquote.

Oh, and then thirdly, our founders saw the inextricable interdependence of religious education with constitutional education. Oh, yes. The basic principles of Christianity were taught, along with reading, writing, and arithmetic, so that behavior in the world would be coupled with knowledge of that same world, both of which were seen to be from the God of the Bible. De Tocqueville says again, and I quote, it cannot be doubted that in the United States, the instruction of the people powerfully contributes to the support of the democratic republic.

And such must always be the case, I believe, where the instruction which enlightens the understanding is not separated from the moral education, unquote. Oh, dear listener, don't be cowed. Don't be cowed or compromised on this in our present culture, where ignorance is strength for the modern progressive. Our heritage of a Christian constitutional republic is strong and true and a matter of public record, which record the modern progressive socialist is trying to expunge as swiftly as possible. Do not let them do so, dear listener.

Become informed on the text of the Constitution yourself. Teach it to your children, where the public school is afraid to do, lest you become awakened and active. Most of all, read and study the text of the Constitution of eternity. That is the Bible. It is the book of life for the kingdom of God and His Son, Jesus Christ.

In it, you will find a charter for the chief citizenship out of the city of heaven. For the new birth you find in Jesus Christ, there is true liberty, the liberty from death and sin. As Jesus Himself said, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. Yes, then and only then will we be free indeed. This has been Pastor David Bass at New Geneva with the Moment of Truth.

New Geneva Meets for Holy Worship at 10 a.m. at Sunday at 101 4th Street on the corner of 4th and Boulevard. Call us for more information or feedback at 208-523-0196. 208-523-0196.