WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.399 I always question when I have a sermon near a 00:00:02.399 --> 00:00:06.540 holiday as to whether I should address the holiday 00:00:06.540 --> 00:00:13.460 or not address the holiday because people expect 00:00:13.460 --> 00:00:17.960 certain things at certain lessons. But with 250 00:00:17.960 --> 00:00:21.879 years for a celebration of our nation, I think 00:00:21.879 --> 00:00:24.420 it appropriate that we reflect on some of the 00:00:24.420 --> 00:00:26.719 things that have brought us to this point. That 00:00:26.719 --> 00:00:33.280 is. quite an amazing accomplishment. Why is it, 00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:36.460 you have to excuse me, I'm fighting off a little 00:00:36.460 --> 00:00:42.039 bit of something. Why is it that America has 00:00:42.039 --> 00:00:44.780 prospered the way that it has? There have been 00:00:44.780 --> 00:00:46.939 a lot of nations that have gone out and conquered 00:00:46.939 --> 00:00:52.119 and amassed wealth at the expense of others and 00:00:52.119 --> 00:00:55.060 that's not to say that it hasn't been done at 00:00:55.060 --> 00:01:00.000 any point in our history, but There's There's 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:06.159 no other nation that has built this level of 00:01:06.159 --> 00:01:11.739 prosperity for Pretty much everybody this system 00:01:11.739 --> 00:01:14.719 that we operate under is unlike any that history 00:01:14.719 --> 00:01:18.540 has ever seen We've borrowed different things 00:01:18.540 --> 00:01:20.680 from different places. We have learned from a 00:01:20.680 --> 00:01:22.920 lot of sources We have learned from a lot of 00:01:22.920 --> 00:01:25.900 mistakes that other nations and peoples have 00:01:25.900 --> 00:01:30.709 made Brought about the United States of America 00:01:30.709 --> 00:01:33.409 So I want to look at a few things this morning 00:01:33.409 --> 00:01:38.129 as far as our responsibility is free people It's 00:01:38.129 --> 00:01:41.090 no one thing that has brought us to this point 00:01:41.090 --> 00:01:45.709 and it is Paramount that we understand what it 00:01:45.709 --> 00:01:48.989 is that has made the United States of America 00:01:48.989 --> 00:01:56.200 in Deuteronomy chapter 1 if you would Turn there 00:01:56.200 --> 00:02:00.060 in your Bible's Deuteronomy chapter 1 12 through 00:02:00.060 --> 00:02:02.180 18. I don't like putting the long passages up 00:02:02.180 --> 00:02:05.000 on the PowerPoint It's always profitable for 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:13.539 us to turn together Fifth book in the Bible Moses 00:02:13.539 --> 00:02:16.080 second sermon these are the words that he is 00:02:16.080 --> 00:02:21.620 given Before the children of Israel go from they're 00:02:21.620 --> 00:02:24.759 wandering around in the wilderness and fighting 00:02:24.759 --> 00:02:27.379 with various things there, crossing the Jordan 00:02:27.379 --> 00:02:30.099 River and beginning to conquer the land of Canaan. 00:02:30.439 --> 00:02:33.419 Moses gets one more opportunity to speak to them. 00:02:34.060 --> 00:02:36.900 And he starts at the beginning and he runs through 00:02:36.900 --> 00:02:39.900 much of their wandering and through some of their 00:02:39.900 --> 00:02:43.300 history to remind them of where God brought them 00:02:43.300 --> 00:02:46.319 from and what he has promised to give them. In 00:02:46.319 --> 00:02:48.719 Deuteronomy chapter 1 beginning in verse 12, 00:02:49.180 --> 00:02:52.060 how can I make myself alone bear your cumberance 00:02:52.060 --> 00:02:55.740 and your burden and your strife? Take you wise 00:02:55.740 --> 00:02:59.620 men and understanding and known among your tribes, 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:02.219 and I will make them rulers over you. And ye 00:03:02.219 --> 00:03:03.979 answered me and said, The thing which thou hast 00:03:03.979 --> 00:03:06.599 spoken is good for us to do. So I took the chief 00:03:06.599 --> 00:03:09.479 of your tribes wise men and known and made them 00:03:09.479 --> 00:03:12.500 heads over you captains over thousands captains 00:03:12.500 --> 00:03:15.680 over hundreds and captains over fifties and captains 00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:18.780 over tens and Officers among your tribes and 00:03:18.780 --> 00:03:21.680 I charged your judges at that time saying here 00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:23.759 you the causes between your brethren and judge 00:03:23.759 --> 00:03:26.300 Righteously between every man and his brother 00:03:26.300 --> 00:03:29.699 and the stranger that is within him that is with 00:03:29.699 --> 00:03:32.639 him I'm sorry you shall not respect persons in 00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:35.639 judgment, but you shall hear the small Well as 00:03:35.639 --> 00:03:38.500 the great you shall not be afraid with the face 00:03:38.500 --> 00:03:42.039 of man for the judgment is God's and the cause 00:03:42.039 --> 00:03:45.240 That is too hard for you Bring it unto me and 00:03:45.240 --> 00:03:48.180 I will hear it and I commanded you at that time 00:03:48.180 --> 00:03:53.439 and all things which ye should do Moses basically 00:03:53.439 --> 00:04:00.300 sets up a government The nation of Israel heretofore 00:04:00.300 --> 00:04:04.900 has not been a nation They were a family group. 00:04:04.919 --> 00:04:08.740 They were a tribe Abraham left the place where 00:04:08.740 --> 00:04:12.259 he lived wandered around they became a small 00:04:12.259 --> 00:04:15.819 tribe even though they were great in number Abraham 00:04:15.819 --> 00:04:20.660 had 300 men that carried a sword They were his 00:04:20.660 --> 00:04:23.160 servants and when he went to rescue lot he took 00:04:23.160 --> 00:04:27.300 his own small army He hands it to Isaac Isaac 00:04:27.300 --> 00:04:31.439 hands it to Jacob and Esau Esau and Jacob multiplying 00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:35.920 their own rot They wind up in Egypt, but until 00:04:35.920 --> 00:04:38.160 Moses goes down there and brings them out. They're 00:04:38.160 --> 00:04:42.620 not a nation They've lived under God They've 00:04:42.620 --> 00:04:45.199 served him. They know about him to some extent, 00:04:45.199 --> 00:04:47.160 but God has to bring them out and remind them 00:04:47.160 --> 00:04:50.040 of a lot of things One of the things that he 00:04:50.040 --> 00:04:52.540 has to do in order for this nation to prosper 00:04:52.540 --> 00:04:55.810 is to set up a government And he says you need 00:04:55.810 --> 00:04:58.689 wise people you need smart people you need people 00:04:58.689 --> 00:05:02.750 that you know and trust you pick them out and 00:05:02.750 --> 00:05:04.930 We'll put them over these matters and we'll let 00:05:04.930 --> 00:05:07.269 them judge and we'll put the fear of God in them 00:05:07.269 --> 00:05:09.410 So that hopefully they put the fear of God in 00:05:09.410 --> 00:05:13.069 you and you can live and prosper in this nation 00:05:13.069 --> 00:05:18.329 Before I go much further in this though In preparation 00:05:18.329 --> 00:05:21.449 for the sermon I was looking back at a lot of 00:05:21.449 --> 00:05:23.699 the original writings and we're gonna I'm going 00:05:23.699 --> 00:05:26.279 to cite several things. We're trying to not spend 00:05:26.279 --> 00:05:29.420 too much time on that. But I found this quote 00:05:29.420 --> 00:05:34.000 interesting. This was from a collection of things 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:37.300 called the pulpit of the American Revolution. 00:05:38.180 --> 00:05:44.160 This particular sermon is from 1749. So it's 00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:48.050 been around for a minute. Jonathan Matthew. This, 00:05:48.089 --> 00:05:50.209 by the way, is so old that Matthew is spelled 00:05:50.209 --> 00:05:55.689 with a Y, M -A -Y -H -E -W. It is hoped that 00:05:55.689 --> 00:05:58.990 but few will think the subject of it, that is, 00:05:59.310 --> 00:06:02.170 this sermon that he is about to present, an improper 00:06:02.170 --> 00:06:06.149 one to be discoursed on in the pulpit under a 00:06:06.149 --> 00:06:08.250 notion that it is preaching politics instead 00:06:08.250 --> 00:06:11.509 of Christ. However, to remove all prejudices 00:06:11.509 --> 00:06:14.230 of this sort, I beg it may be remembered that 00:06:14.230 --> 00:06:17.110 all scripture is profitable for doctrine, for 00:06:17.110 --> 00:06:19.850 reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. 00:06:20.689 --> 00:06:23.170 Obedience to the civil magistrate is a Christian 00:06:23.170 --> 00:06:26.310 duty, and if so, why should not the nature and 00:06:26.310 --> 00:06:29.730 extent of it be considered in a Christian assembly? 00:06:31.069 --> 00:06:33.529 There were a lot of things that were discussed 00:06:33.529 --> 00:06:41.480 before this country was founded. so 250 years 00:06:41.480 --> 00:06:45.600 What does that mean? We're celebrating our 250th 00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:48.040 anniversary there were a lot of things that happened 00:06:48.040 --> 00:06:51.180 before and even after Independence Day on July 00:06:51.180 --> 00:06:59.160 4th the 1492 All the kids remember adults remember 00:06:59.160 --> 00:07:03.040 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue And when 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:05.500 they got to this island anew they found they 00:07:05.500 --> 00:07:08.920 weren't even number two I made that last part 00:07:08.920 --> 00:07:10.740 up in the shower this morning. I hope you enjoyed 00:07:10.740 --> 00:07:14.560 that. We weren't the first ones here. We weren't 00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:17.439 the fifth ones here. There are lots of people 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:20.319 groups from other parts of the world, various 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:23.220 parts of the world that have come into the Americas 00:07:23.220 --> 00:07:25.439 at various points. So what are we talking about? 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:30.560 Well, in 1775, in April of that year, the group 00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:33.000 that was here in the First Continental Congress 00:07:33.000 --> 00:07:36.360 actually declared war on Great Britain. It was 00:07:36.360 --> 00:07:39.600 considered a high act of treason punishable by 00:07:39.600 --> 00:07:45.319 death by seizure by Any means necessary to quell 00:07:45.319 --> 00:07:48.660 this rebellion that was going on across the pond 00:07:48.660 --> 00:07:52.040 Well, we fought that war and we did fairly well, 00:07:52.040 --> 00:07:58.079 which was amazing Because America wasn't a nation 00:07:58.079 --> 00:08:04.699 We were colonists We didn't have a military to 00:08:04.699 --> 00:08:09.589 speak of We didn't have ships hardly at all other 00:08:09.589 --> 00:08:11.990 than for merchandise We certainly did not have 00:08:11.990 --> 00:08:15.490 a Navy that didn't come until several years later 00:08:15.490 --> 00:08:19.709 How is it that these fledgling colonies were 00:08:19.709 --> 00:08:24.490 able to throw off? The most powerful nation in 00:08:24.490 --> 00:08:29.089 the world at that time It is by the hand of God 00:08:29.610 --> 00:08:33.429 And it is accounted that way time after time 00:08:33.429 --> 00:08:36.289 after time in the writings of the men that founded 00:08:36.289 --> 00:08:40.370 this country But on July 2nd in 1776 the Lee 00:08:40.370 --> 00:08:45.190 resolution also known as the resolution resolution 00:08:45.190 --> 00:08:49.750 for independence Was the formal assertion of 00:08:49.750 --> 00:08:52.370 the second Continental Congress, so they got 00:08:52.370 --> 00:08:54.590 together again, and they said hey, we're winning 00:08:54.590 --> 00:09:00.440 this thing We are free That was as far as it 00:09:00.440 --> 00:09:03.659 went for a while now previous to this There were 00:09:03.659 --> 00:09:05.860 five men that were selected Thomas Jefferson 00:09:05.860 --> 00:09:09.019 and Benjamin Franklin were two of them and they 00:09:09.019 --> 00:09:12.259 were commissioned with writing something that 00:09:12.259 --> 00:09:15.659 would state why it was that they were doing what 00:09:15.659 --> 00:09:19.980 they would do and this was presented and debated 00:09:19.980 --> 00:09:25.720 for several days and on July 4th the Declaration 00:09:25.720 --> 00:09:29.059 of Independence or the unanimous declaration 00:09:29.059 --> 00:09:33.779 of the 13 United States of America Was adopted 00:09:33.779 --> 00:09:37.460 and signed by all of the people that were there 00:09:37.460 --> 00:09:40.899 at that first Continental Congress and thus we 00:09:40.899 --> 00:09:46.899 have our independence we said We're not serving 00:09:46.899 --> 00:09:51.600 you and in this declaration There are many references 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:57.600 to God and 27 reasons why it was that this group 00:09:57.600 --> 00:10:00.700 of colonies decided to organize themselves as 00:10:00.700 --> 00:10:04.899 United States and throw off whatever it was that 00:10:04.899 --> 00:10:08.759 the crown wanted to. Among them was that King 00:10:08.759 --> 00:10:11.240 George III would come in and arrest whoever he 00:10:11.240 --> 00:10:12.940 wanted. He wouldn't try them here in the States. 00:10:13.120 --> 00:10:15.820 He would haul them back across the water to be 00:10:15.820 --> 00:10:17.720 tried in front of whoever it was that he chose. 00:10:19.019 --> 00:10:21.279 And so for that reason we have the right to be 00:10:21.279 --> 00:10:23.740 tried by a jury of our peers. That's what that 00:10:23.740 --> 00:10:25.740 means That means that you can't carry me off 00:10:25.740 --> 00:10:28.220 to somebody that doesn't like me in the first 00:10:28.220 --> 00:10:32.460 place to pass judgment on me It was property 00:10:32.460 --> 00:10:35.179 rights Because the king of England and anybody 00:10:35.179 --> 00:10:36.980 that he picked to come over here could go up 00:10:36.980 --> 00:10:39.059 to your place and take anything that they wanted 00:10:39.059 --> 00:10:41.360 They could take quarter in your residence. They 00:10:41.360 --> 00:10:43.360 could take your sons. They could take your stuff 00:10:43.360 --> 00:10:45.379 They could burn your house down and there was 00:10:45.379 --> 00:10:47.320 nothing that you could do about it because he 00:10:47.320 --> 00:10:50.600 was the king and he owned everything And these 00:10:50.600 --> 00:10:55.110 men having studied having read having copies 00:10:55.110 --> 00:10:58.250 of the Bible themselves, which was a new thing 00:10:58.250 --> 00:11:01.129 at the time. The printing press was invented 00:11:01.129 --> 00:11:04.690 in the early 1500s. The Bible was translated 00:11:04.690 --> 00:11:07.610 into a language that they could understand, English 00:11:07.610 --> 00:11:10.730 for them, German for others, those were the first 00:11:10.730 --> 00:11:13.710 two, so that they could then read the scriptures. 00:11:14.309 --> 00:11:16.629 And they're looking at the Bible for themselves. 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:19.919 And they're not letting the Church of England 00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:22.720 or the Roman Catholic Church tell them what it 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:24.440 is that the Bible says and what they need to 00:11:24.440 --> 00:11:26.460 do. They're reading it for themselves and they 00:11:26.460 --> 00:11:29.940 say, I have independence. I have rights from 00:11:29.940 --> 00:11:34.039 God. I am made in His image. I have the right 00:11:34.039 --> 00:11:36.980 to a relationship with Him. I have a right to 00:11:36.980 --> 00:11:41.139 the things that are mine. I have rights of my 00:11:41.139 --> 00:11:45.080 family to raise and conduct matters. Have the 00:11:45.080 --> 00:11:49.039 right to conduct business with other people We 00:11:49.039 --> 00:11:55.100 have rights My stuff is not your stuff And with 00:11:55.100 --> 00:11:57.340 all of the things that they went through over 00:11:57.340 --> 00:12:02.360 this period of some 300 years They took notes 00:12:02.360 --> 00:12:08.580 and they made rights But where did they come 00:12:08.580 --> 00:12:13.139 from we'll get to that On March 1st 1781, the 00:12:13.139 --> 00:12:16.220 Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union 00:12:16.220 --> 00:12:19.220 were adopted again by the Second Continental 00:12:19.220 --> 00:12:22.299 Congress. The Constitution that we live by is 00:12:22.299 --> 00:12:25.220 not 250 years old. It came a little bit later, 00:12:25.259 --> 00:12:29.700 March 4th 1789, the Constitution of the United 00:12:29.700 --> 00:12:31.460 States was made because there were problems with 00:12:31.460 --> 00:12:33.720 the Articles of the Confederation. It was great, 00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:35.679 but it had some issues. That was their first 00:12:35.679 --> 00:12:37.759 attempt and so they come back and they made a 00:12:37.759 --> 00:12:41.629 document that is one of the most consequential 00:12:41.629 --> 00:12:46.870 in history the Declaration of Independence if 00:12:46.870 --> 00:12:51.269 you have not read it at all or even this year 00:12:51.269 --> 00:12:54.590 I highly recommend that you go and you read the 00:12:54.590 --> 00:12:58.929 Declaration of Independence it is extremely well 00:12:58.929 --> 00:13:06.490 stated potent words that talk about God and our 00:13:06.490 --> 00:13:10.559 relationship with him and with each other What 00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:14.259 that should look like the relationship of government 00:13:14.259 --> 00:13:17.159 with the people that are under it Patrick Henry 00:13:17.159 --> 00:13:22.159 is an example of one that quoted and again Pick 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:26.240 your founding father Pick a writing pick a letter 00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:30.139 pick a sermon pick basically anything that you 00:13:30.139 --> 00:13:34.759 want from the 1700s and It's gonna have this 00:13:34.759 --> 00:13:39.450 feel of independence in it already There was 00:13:39.450 --> 00:13:41.669 something that the Bible did for this nation 00:13:41.669 --> 00:13:44.610 There was something that scriptures did for the 00:13:44.610 --> 00:13:48.169 people that lived here out from under Almost 00:13:48.169 --> 00:13:50.730 the rule of the king. It was close enough that 00:13:50.730 --> 00:13:53.509 they could taste it They had an understanding 00:13:53.509 --> 00:13:55.629 of what independence should be because again, 00:13:55.629 --> 00:13:58.769 they're reading the scriptures They're looking 00:13:58.769 --> 00:14:00.529 into the Bible and they're saying this is how 00:14:00.529 --> 00:14:02.110 I need to treat my neighbor. This is how the 00:14:02.110 --> 00:14:05.950 government should treat me This is how God thinks 00:14:05.950 --> 00:14:09.250 of me. This is what I have the right to do together 00:14:09.250 --> 00:14:12.490 with the people that are around me. And these 00:14:12.490 --> 00:14:17.210 things are ruminating and building. And an appreciation 00:14:17.210 --> 00:14:23.470 for the Bible is baked into every single household 00:14:23.470 --> 00:14:27.370 and society. That's why there was a church in 00:14:27.370 --> 00:14:29.889 every little town. That's why even if you didn't 00:14:29.889 --> 00:14:33.620 go to church, you knew. Somebody that did you 00:14:33.620 --> 00:14:36.240 you had respect maybe you went yourself from 00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:38.700 time to time just out of curiosity if nothing 00:14:38.700 --> 00:14:42.679 else But in appreciation for the scriptures and 00:14:42.679 --> 00:14:45.240 for worship not just for the scriptures themselves 00:14:45.240 --> 00:14:47.580 It's all over the place and appeal the arms into 00:14:47.580 --> 00:14:51.139 the God of hosts is all that has left us This 00:14:51.139 --> 00:14:54.690 is just before they go to war There's a just 00:14:54.690 --> 00:14:57.570 God who presides over the destinies of nations 00:14:57.570 --> 00:14:59.950 He's quoting scripture in the various things 00:14:59.950 --> 00:15:02.549 that he's talking about Benjamin Franklin the 00:15:02.549 --> 00:15:06.769 Constitutional Convention June 28 1787 again, 00:15:06.789 --> 00:15:09.649 they're coming up with they are debating over 00:15:09.649 --> 00:15:11.850 the language that should go into the Constitution 00:15:11.850 --> 00:15:16.809 which is Not as poetic as the Declaration of 00:15:16.809 --> 00:15:19.330 Independence. It's the way that government should 00:15:19.330 --> 00:15:24.059 look It's what they wanted to do because of their 00:15:24.059 --> 00:15:26.860 understanding of the scriptures. He says there 00:15:26.860 --> 00:15:30.399 this quote in this Situation of this assembly 00:15:30.399 --> 00:15:32.519 groping as it were in the dark a reference to 00:15:32.519 --> 00:15:35.360 scripture going on the father of lights Talking 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:39.940 about prayer the kind Providence the God that 00:15:39.940 --> 00:15:44.179 governs in the affairs of men Time after time 00:15:44.179 --> 00:15:49.070 as they would debate about what to do They recognized 00:15:49.070 --> 00:15:51.730 and reverence the authority that God had over 00:15:51.730 --> 00:15:56.629 them That he was the one That was moving the 00:15:56.629 --> 00:16:01.529 pieces George Washington Intend during this homage 00:16:01.529 --> 00:16:04.070 to the great author of every public and private 00:16:04.070 --> 00:16:07.529 good I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments 00:16:07.529 --> 00:16:10.490 not less than my own nor those of my fellow citizens 00:16:10.490 --> 00:16:14.220 at large less than either No people can be Bound 00:16:14.220 --> 00:16:17.659 to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand which 00:16:17.659 --> 00:16:20.639 conducts the affairs of men more than the people 00:16:20.639 --> 00:16:23.659 of the United States Every step by which they 00:16:23.659 --> 00:16:25.399 have advanced to the character of an independent 00:16:25.399 --> 00:16:29.179 nation seems to have been distinguished by some 00:16:29.179 --> 00:16:32.840 token of providential agency Everywhere they 00:16:32.840 --> 00:16:34.820 went everything that they did They said that 00:16:34.820 --> 00:16:37.779 the providence of God the hand of God the actions 00:16:37.779 --> 00:16:40.500 of God was guiding them and helping them along 00:16:40.909 --> 00:16:43.909 They had overcome such tremendous odds not just 00:16:43.909 --> 00:16:48.710 in the sheer survival But in throwing off Great 00:16:48.710 --> 00:16:51.669 Britain in organizing themselves, you know how 00:16:51.669 --> 00:16:56.370 hard it is To get the Eastern seaboard to agree 00:16:56.370 --> 00:17:00.870 That's what they did those first 13 colonies 00:17:00.870 --> 00:17:04.990 That was over there everybody that's on the Atlantic 00:17:04.990 --> 00:17:08.390 except for Florida was involved in this thing. 00:17:08.609 --> 00:17:13.190 Well, there's a couple others, but details. They 00:17:13.190 --> 00:17:15.089 all came together and they said, we're going 00:17:15.089 --> 00:17:17.910 to operate together under this thing. This is 00:17:17.910 --> 00:17:19.930 what we want. This is a government that we can 00:17:19.930 --> 00:17:23.609 operate under. The Declaration of Independence 00:17:23.609 --> 00:17:26.849 talks about the laws of nature and of nature's 00:17:26.849 --> 00:17:28.569 God. We hold these truths to be self -evident 00:17:28.569 --> 00:17:30.630 that all men are created equal, that they are 00:17:30.630 --> 00:17:34.309 endowed by their creator. They appeal to the 00:17:34.309 --> 00:17:37.029 supreme judge of the world as they make their 00:17:37.029 --> 00:17:39.190 cases of why they are declaring this independence 00:17:39.190 --> 00:17:41.910 With a firm reliance on the protection of divine 00:17:41.910 --> 00:17:46.309 providence Don't tell me that our founding fathers 00:17:46.309 --> 00:17:50.710 were deists By definition a deist is somebody 00:17:50.710 --> 00:17:52.569 that believes that there is something bigger 00:17:52.569 --> 00:17:55.809 than they are there are atheists that believe 00:17:55.809 --> 00:17:59.430 that They believe that this earth was seeded 00:17:59.430 --> 00:18:03.480 by aliens or by some other higher and more intelligent 00:18:03.480 --> 00:18:07.740 race of things. They were not deists by any stretch 00:18:07.740 --> 00:18:11.619 of the imagination. They believed firmly in the 00:18:11.619 --> 00:18:14.579 hand and the providence and the love of the God 00:18:14.579 --> 00:18:18.599 of this universe. They put it in the Constitution 00:18:18.599 --> 00:18:22.019 of the United States. Again, it's not this poem 00:18:22.019 --> 00:18:25.039 to the world. It is what they want the government 00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:28.589 to look like and all throughout. There are provisions 00:18:28.589 --> 00:18:32.329 for religion, for worship, acknowledgments to 00:18:32.329 --> 00:18:36.329 God. No bill shall be returned by the president 00:18:36.329 --> 00:18:42.190 within 10 days, Sundays accepted. Why? Why Sundays 00:18:42.190 --> 00:18:46.910 accepted? Because they all knew what was going 00:18:46.910 --> 00:18:51.089 on on Sundays. And it wasn't the business of 00:18:51.089 --> 00:18:55.890 making a country as important as that was. They 00:18:55.890 --> 00:18:58.490 did not convene on Sundays because they had something 00:18:58.490 --> 00:19:01.089 else that they were doing They were going to 00:19:01.089 --> 00:19:03.549 go and worship and study together. They were 00:19:03.549 --> 00:19:07.210 going to Do whatever it was that they did they 00:19:07.210 --> 00:19:09.369 did that on Sunday? And they made provisions 00:19:09.369 --> 00:19:12.529 for it in the way that they set up the government 00:19:12.529 --> 00:19:17.170 of this nation that they dreamed about The Bill 00:19:17.170 --> 00:19:22.390 of Rights the most important Some would say part 00:19:22.390 --> 00:19:25.769 of the Constitution after they make this Constitution 00:19:25.769 --> 00:19:28.109 This is what they want the government to do. 00:19:28.170 --> 00:19:30.869 This is what we want the government to not do 00:19:30.869 --> 00:19:37.670 this is what it can't do and Congress shall make 00:19:37.670 --> 00:19:40.329 no law respecting an establishment of religion 00:19:40.329 --> 00:19:43.329 or Prohibiting the free exercise thereof that 00:19:43.329 --> 00:19:45.130 means that they can't come in and tell us to 00:19:45.130 --> 00:19:50.569 not do it now there are Certain situations and 00:19:50.569 --> 00:19:53.150 periods of time where that's happened to one 00:19:53.150 --> 00:19:58.529 degree or another But it's not supposed to We 00:19:58.529 --> 00:20:01.789 have a document That we all supposedly agree 00:20:01.789 --> 00:20:05.069 to that says you can't tell me to not come here 00:20:05.069 --> 00:20:08.009 You can't tell me to not assemble with people 00:20:08.009 --> 00:20:11.130 out in the community and also I have a right 00:20:11.130 --> 00:20:14.630 if you're a government official to go and Peacefully 00:20:14.630 --> 00:20:17.490 make some grievance with you and let that be 00:20:17.490 --> 00:20:20.250 known Thomas Jefferson Said to be the one that 00:20:20.250 --> 00:20:24.210 came up with separation of church and state It 00:20:24.210 --> 00:20:28.809 did not mean that religion Cannot be understood 00:20:28.809 --> 00:20:31.970 by the government. He meant that the government 00:20:31.970 --> 00:20:36.109 can't tell you what to do as the King of England 00:20:36.109 --> 00:20:39.930 had done The Church of England broke off from 00:20:39.930 --> 00:20:43.329 the Roman Catholic Church Because King George 00:20:43.329 --> 00:20:45.309 didn't want to do what the Roman Catholic Church 00:20:45.309 --> 00:20:48.299 told him to do He said I'll go do my own thing 00:20:48.299 --> 00:20:50.480 and he made his own religion and he made that 00:20:50.480 --> 00:20:56.380 a law You had to be part of the Church of England 00:20:56.380 --> 00:21:00.680 And if you weren't it was punishable by death 00:21:00.680 --> 00:21:07.839 Now ironically States Would put in a particular 00:21:07.839 --> 00:21:09.839 religion. There was nothing that prohibited that 00:21:09.839 --> 00:21:13.490 in fact in some ways it was encouraged And again, 00:21:13.730 --> 00:21:15.589 ironically, there was a certain amount of religious 00:21:15.589 --> 00:21:19.130 persecution that went on. And so it wasn't perfect 00:21:19.130 --> 00:21:20.869 in its beginning. And again, we'll talk about 00:21:20.869 --> 00:21:23.849 that a little bit later. But Thomas Jefferson 00:21:23.849 --> 00:21:26.390 never said that you couldn't put church in the 00:21:26.390 --> 00:21:28.509 state. He said that the state can't tell you 00:21:28.509 --> 00:21:32.069 what to do in the church. Those two things are 00:21:32.069 --> 00:21:34.009 different institutions. And this is what Moses 00:21:34.009 --> 00:21:37.549 said. He said there's going to be laws. There 00:21:37.549 --> 00:21:39.529 needs to be a governing body, but they need to 00:21:39.529 --> 00:21:42.509 do it righteously. And they can't come in and 00:21:42.509 --> 00:21:45.950 tell you and your family what to do. There are 00:21:45.950 --> 00:21:49.809 limits. There are guidelines. The state constitution, 00:21:50.269 --> 00:21:53.230 45 of them have preambles. We have 50 states, 00:21:53.349 --> 00:21:56.230 45 of the state constitutions, which is required 00:21:56.230 --> 00:21:58.970 to be a state in the United States of America, 00:21:59.450 --> 00:22:05.450 make references to God. All 45 preambles of those 00:22:05.450 --> 00:22:07.990 that chose to have a preamble before their constitution 00:22:07.990 --> 00:22:13.140 made references to God. in some fashion or another. 00:22:13.880 --> 00:22:18.039 Donald Lutz in 1982 wrote an article. He did 00:22:18.039 --> 00:22:20.279 some fantastic research. He went back and looked 00:22:20.279 --> 00:22:22.819 at a lot of these documents. He looked at the 00:22:22.819 --> 00:22:25.180 writings. He looked at the letters. He looked 00:22:25.180 --> 00:22:29.900 at the notes. He looked at many, many different 00:22:29.900 --> 00:22:34.369 documents and his conclusion was that Historians 00:22:34.369 --> 00:22:36.710 are discovering that the Bible, perhaps even 00:22:36.710 --> 00:22:39.670 more than the Constitution, is our founding document. 00:22:39.869 --> 00:22:41.829 And that's because it's in everything that they 00:22:41.829 --> 00:22:46.109 wrote. They went back to Scripture for the God. 00:22:46.289 --> 00:22:50.410 George Washington said, of all the dispositions 00:22:50.410 --> 00:22:53.029 and habits which lead to political prosperity, 00:22:53.069 --> 00:22:56.789 and that's not being elected, that the polity 00:22:56.789 --> 00:22:59.670 would be the group of people that are under this 00:22:59.670 --> 00:23:02.490 particular thing. So, for the good of the people, 00:23:02.759 --> 00:23:06.160 Religion and morality are indispensable supports. 00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:08.980 Let it simply be asked. Where is the security 00:23:08.980 --> 00:23:14.119 for property for? reputation for life if the 00:23:14.119 --> 00:23:17.259 sense of religious obligation desert the oaths 00:23:17.259 --> 00:23:19.500 which are the instruments of Investigation in 00:23:19.500 --> 00:23:22.180 courts of justice you can lie to somebody you 00:23:22.180 --> 00:23:25.519 can lie about somebody you can take their property 00:23:25.519 --> 00:23:28.880 You can pay off a judge you can pay off a government 00:23:28.880 --> 00:23:35.980 official unless You have a God. Religion and 00:23:35.980 --> 00:23:40.019 morality are necessary supports for the operation 00:23:40.019 --> 00:23:47.680 of a free people. Slander or, oh wow, what's 00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:51.839 the legal word? If only I had a lawyer in the 00:23:51.839 --> 00:23:57.480 audience. There we go, that's one of them. Defamation 00:23:57.480 --> 00:24:02.069 of character. You don't get to just go and say 00:24:02.069 --> 00:24:04.329 whatever you want. You don't get to lie about 00:24:04.329 --> 00:24:07.750 a company You're not supposed to be able to do 00:24:07.750 --> 00:24:11.230 those things. Why? Because the Bible says that 00:24:11.230 --> 00:24:12.509 you should love your neighbor and you should 00:24:12.509 --> 00:24:16.369 respect his stuff. You shouldn't covet your neighbor's 00:24:16.369 --> 00:24:18.849 things You shouldn't covet your neighbor's wife. 00:24:18.849 --> 00:24:21.650 You shouldn't lie about him lying about your 00:24:21.650 --> 00:24:24.289 neighbor was a punishable offense under the law 00:24:24.289 --> 00:24:28.059 of Moses And guess what the men that founded 00:24:28.059 --> 00:24:29.680 this country they looked it up and they said 00:24:29.680 --> 00:24:32.579 hey This is how I should treat my neighbor and 00:24:32.579 --> 00:24:34.839 and we shouldn't be able to just lie about it 00:24:34.839 --> 00:24:38.380 because That was part of what the king did Bring 00:24:38.380 --> 00:24:40.740 me the man. I'll show you the problem. All right. 00:24:40.819 --> 00:24:43.619 No, I'll show you the So many things come into 00:24:43.619 --> 00:24:47.279 mind Bring me the man. I'll show you the crime 00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:50.799 It's kind of how it operated we're not gonna 00:24:50.799 --> 00:24:54.140 do that here we're gonna put that in the Constitution 00:24:55.450 --> 00:25:00.630 We don't operate that way. Continuing on, let 00:25:00.630 --> 00:25:03.170 us with caution indulge the supposition that 00:25:03.170 --> 00:25:06.230 morality can be maintained without religion. 00:25:06.910 --> 00:25:09.190 Whatever may be conceded to the influence of 00:25:09.190 --> 00:25:12.549 refined education on minds of peculiar structure, 00:25:13.029 --> 00:25:15.650 reason and experience both forbid us to expect 00:25:15.650 --> 00:25:18.750 that national morality can prevail in exclusion 00:25:18.750 --> 00:25:21.309 of religious principle. If you don't have the 00:25:21.309 --> 00:25:23.750 Bible, you don't have a standard. That's what 00:25:23.750 --> 00:25:27.250 he's saying. You can't make a country that's 00:25:27.250 --> 00:25:30.170 going to exist. You can't make a free people 00:25:30.170 --> 00:25:35.109 if they do not self govern That is where our 00:25:35.109 --> 00:25:39.009 Liberty comes from That's what this nation was 00:25:39.009 --> 00:25:42.829 founded on Was the belief that you are gonna 00:25:42.829 --> 00:25:47.869 go and serve God and I'm gonna go and serve God 00:25:47.869 --> 00:25:52.369 and we are gonna operate together freely Because 00:25:52.369 --> 00:25:56.609 we know how to operate Know how to treat you 00:25:56.609 --> 00:25:58.890 I know how to treat your business. I know how 00:25:58.890 --> 00:26:01.730 to treat my neighbor I know what the government 00:26:01.730 --> 00:26:04.529 should and shouldn't do And we're gonna do all 00:26:04.529 --> 00:26:06.589 this thing together. That's called a society 00:26:06.589 --> 00:26:11.230 For a society to properly function it has to 00:26:11.230 --> 00:26:15.150 have three things Three institutions that God 00:26:15.150 --> 00:26:19.910 made he made the home first He made government 00:26:19.910 --> 00:26:25.359 second and he made the church third You have 00:26:25.359 --> 00:26:27.440 to have those three institutions and they have 00:26:27.440 --> 00:26:29.400 to know what it is that they need to do in order 00:26:29.400 --> 00:26:33.200 for this to operate and that's what set up in 00:26:33.200 --> 00:26:36.180 This these two documents that we hold so highly 00:26:36.180 --> 00:26:39.900 and various other things They wrote about those 00:26:39.900 --> 00:26:42.579 institutions and how they should operate together 00:26:42.579 --> 00:26:44.740 Morality without scripture is a house with no 00:26:44.740 --> 00:26:49.000 foundation because man changes The thing that 00:26:49.000 --> 00:26:50.640 I think is right is different than the thing 00:26:50.640 --> 00:26:52.480 that you think is right and that's why I speak 00:26:52.480 --> 00:26:56.759 your truth is such an absurd thing It's either 00:26:56.759 --> 00:26:59.180 true or it's not true. It can't be true for you 00:26:59.180 --> 00:27:02.700 and not true for somebody else Now maybe you 00:27:02.700 --> 00:27:04.420 like it and this other person doesn't like it 00:27:04.420 --> 00:27:06.460 Maybe it's good for you and it's not so good 00:27:06.460 --> 00:27:08.380 for this other person. That's completely different 00:27:08.380 --> 00:27:10.660 You're not talking about the same thing, but 00:27:10.660 --> 00:27:14.359 it's either true or it isn't true If it isn't 00:27:14.359 --> 00:27:18.660 true and it is true at the same time Then there 00:27:18.660 --> 00:27:22.460 is no absolute truth Which is a self -defeating 00:27:22.460 --> 00:27:24.619 statement because the only thing that's true 00:27:24.619 --> 00:27:29.519 is that there is no truth But this is the insanity 00:27:29.519 --> 00:27:34.980 that you get When you try to say that man can 00:27:34.980 --> 00:27:40.480 be moral without God It is a self -defeating 00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:43.559 argument there must be a standard and that standard 00:27:43.559 --> 00:27:47.089 must be the Bible Where your society is gonna 00:27:47.089 --> 00:27:50.170 fall on its face every society that's never tried 00:27:50.170 --> 00:27:54.089 it Without God has fallen on its face and we've 00:27:54.089 --> 00:27:56.089 done it with God and we've been around for a 00:27:56.089 --> 00:28:00.930 while The further that we get from God the closer 00:28:00.930 --> 00:28:07.569 we get to face planning in this society Deuteronomy 00:28:07.569 --> 00:28:12.839 30 Verses 11 through 20 Had Colton read that 00:28:12.839 --> 00:28:14.960 this morning, and I appreciate that reading motives 00:28:14.960 --> 00:28:20.900 is presented to them Life and good and death 00:28:20.900 --> 00:28:25.940 and evil We read the beginning of it when he 00:28:25.940 --> 00:28:28.039 told him you came together you came out of this 00:28:28.039 --> 00:28:32.839 nation and I set up people for you and We went 00:28:32.839 --> 00:28:34.839 and we wandered and we did this thing together 00:28:34.839 --> 00:28:38.000 and we conquered And you're getting ready to 00:28:38.000 --> 00:28:43.200 go into this land And I've given you laws I've 00:28:43.200 --> 00:28:46.940 given you correction. I've given you blessing 00:28:46.940 --> 00:28:53.740 and protection I've presented you with life and 00:28:53.740 --> 00:28:58.859 good and with death and you and you get to pick 00:28:58.859 --> 00:29:02.539 He's standing before this nation. He says you 00:29:02.539 --> 00:29:06.210 get to pick Moses couldn't force them to do it. 00:29:06.210 --> 00:29:08.549 You can't force somebody to be moral. You can't 00:29:08.549 --> 00:29:10.970 force somebody to be good. You can't write enough 00:29:10.970 --> 00:29:15.470 laws to make a moral people. The reason that 00:29:15.470 --> 00:29:19.529 we have such a bloated government and so many 00:29:19.529 --> 00:29:22.089 laws is because through the years somebody did 00:29:22.089 --> 00:29:23.869 something they shouldn't have done and you've 00:29:23.869 --> 00:29:27.309 got to write a law about it. Some business did 00:29:27.309 --> 00:29:28.970 something that they shouldn't have done and you've 00:29:28.970 --> 00:29:32.730 got to write a law about it. Some group of people 00:29:32.730 --> 00:29:34.329 came in and did something that they shouldn't 00:29:34.329 --> 00:29:35.990 have done and you've got to write a law about 00:29:35.990 --> 00:29:40.190 it But if you self -govern and you treat your 00:29:40.190 --> 00:29:42.029 neighbor like you're supposed to you don't have 00:29:42.029 --> 00:29:44.190 all of these laws You don't have all of these 00:29:44.190 --> 00:29:49.009 regulations and difficulties and problems Moses 00:29:49.009 --> 00:29:52.589 said there I've given you good And if you want 00:29:52.589 --> 00:29:54.069 to choose the good it'll be good for you. It'll 00:29:54.069 --> 00:29:56.230 be good for your families. It'll be good for 00:29:56.230 --> 00:29:59.119 your crops It'll be good for the whole nation. 00:29:59.160 --> 00:30:02.359 It will be good for the entire world because 00:30:02.359 --> 00:30:05.460 of the blessings that I will pour out on you 00:30:05.460 --> 00:30:09.559 Those things will flow out and bless other nations 00:30:09.559 --> 00:30:12.500 because they will see the good and They will 00:30:12.500 --> 00:30:14.880 be influenced by it and they will receive blessings 00:30:14.880 --> 00:30:20.380 because of it Jeremiah 10 verse 23 the other 00:30:20.380 --> 00:30:22.680 thing that our founding fathers realized is that 00:30:22.680 --> 00:30:27.099 the way of man is not within him Whenever we 00:30:27.099 --> 00:30:30.299 choose our own way we fall flat Jeremiah 10 23 00:30:30.299 --> 00:30:32.400 Oh Lord I know that the way of man is not in 00:30:32.400 --> 00:30:34.700 himself It is not a man that walketh to direct 00:30:34.700 --> 00:30:37.920 his steps And so time after time even when they 00:30:37.920 --> 00:30:40.019 had discussions with each other they would quote 00:30:40.019 --> 00:30:44.359 scripture in their arguments against each other 00:30:44.359 --> 00:30:50.680 Educated people They didn't have as many distractions 00:30:50.680 --> 00:30:53.359 as we have which I find to be amazing because 00:30:53.359 --> 00:30:57.200 they had to survive I mean, I don't know about 00:30:57.200 --> 00:30:59.319 y 'all. I'm gonna go off topic here just a little 00:30:59.319 --> 00:31:00.900 bit for a second. I don't know how many times 00:31:00.900 --> 00:31:05.019 y 'all think about how much you don't have to 00:31:05.019 --> 00:31:13.619 fight to survive. My garden is like this wide 00:31:13.619 --> 00:31:16.380 and this long. I say mine, Sarah Beth has put 00:31:16.380 --> 00:31:19.380 blood, sweat, and tears in that thing and it's 00:31:19.380 --> 00:31:23.190 doing fairly well. And then we got another row 00:31:23.190 --> 00:31:25.589 of stuff. We got some volunteer things. You know 00:31:25.589 --> 00:31:29.630 what happens if all that dies? I go to the grocery 00:31:29.630 --> 00:31:36.750 store I We think about the things that they had 00:31:36.750 --> 00:31:40.769 to go through And still they had enough education 00:31:40.769 --> 00:31:44.730 to write the things like we've read about this 00:31:44.730 --> 00:31:50.789 morning To think deeply about a particular thing 00:31:52.400 --> 00:31:59.819 To realize that there is a God that governs To 00:31:59.819 --> 00:32:03.759 realize that they were within reach of Having 00:32:03.759 --> 00:32:06.900 something that possibly nobody else had ever 00:32:06.900 --> 00:32:10.539 had in the history of the world That they could 00:32:10.539 --> 00:32:17.460 do it and make it if they relied on God Again 00:32:17.460 --> 00:32:19.880 the three institutions that God made the homes 00:32:19.880 --> 00:32:22.400 in Genesis to that old chapter there talks about 00:32:22.400 --> 00:32:25.599 God making Everything days one through six. He 00:32:25.599 --> 00:32:27.519 makes man. He looks at man He says it's not good 00:32:27.519 --> 00:32:29.759 for you to be alone after man looked around at 00:32:29.759 --> 00:32:31.920 everything else and said hey, this is cool But 00:32:31.920 --> 00:32:34.259 you know, I'm still out here by myself. God said 00:32:34.259 --> 00:32:38.039 I'll fix that I'll make a help meet for you. 00:32:38.220 --> 00:32:40.980 I've got one more thing I want to do and it's 00:32:40.980 --> 00:32:44.039 gonna be awesome. You're gonna love it Adam And 00:32:44.039 --> 00:32:48.349 he did and the home was made institution number 00:32:48.349 --> 00:32:53.750 one it's critical you cannot have a society without 00:32:53.750 --> 00:32:58.450 a home it takes a village is only true to a point 00:32:58.450 --> 00:33:03.829 now no man is an island and it's really really 00:33:03.829 --> 00:33:06.150 hard to do everything by yourself not that it 00:33:06.150 --> 00:33:09.529 can't be done some people have but if you want 00:33:09.529 --> 00:33:15.460 a society that does take a village And that's 00:33:15.460 --> 00:33:17.619 profitable for people. It's good for people. 00:33:17.920 --> 00:33:20.980 It's good to live in a society It's good to have 00:33:20.980 --> 00:33:23.660 other people that you can depend on other people 00:33:23.660 --> 00:33:28.279 that can help you out But to have that You have 00:33:28.279 --> 00:33:31.440 to have a home It needs to be led by the father 00:33:31.440 --> 00:33:34.460 He's the one that has the responsibility of teaching 00:33:34.460 --> 00:33:36.720 his children of protecting his wife of following 00:33:36.720 --> 00:33:39.660 God of doing what he's supposed to be doing The 00:33:39.660 --> 00:33:42.700 wife is to help me the children are to Come up 00:33:42.700 --> 00:33:45.279 to obey to prepare themselves to be the men and 00:33:45.279 --> 00:33:47.220 women that are going to carry on society and 00:33:47.220 --> 00:33:51.220 have homes The reason that there is such a tremendous 00:33:51.220 --> 00:33:53.440 attack on the home today is because it is one 00:33:53.440 --> 00:33:56.640 of the three necessary pillars for a society 00:33:56.640 --> 00:34:01.380 that follows God and If you can knock any one 00:34:01.380 --> 00:34:03.579 of the three legs of this stool out from under 00:34:03.579 --> 00:34:07.319 it it's gonna fall down And people that want 00:34:07.319 --> 00:34:09.559 to build something in their own image are gonna 00:34:09.559 --> 00:34:14.300 attack the home Because it's necessary the government 00:34:14.300 --> 00:34:18.880 in Romans 13 a lot of that chapter talks about 00:34:18.880 --> 00:34:21.940 What we are to do how are we are to? Reverence 00:34:21.940 --> 00:34:24.480 the government says the powers that be are ordained 00:34:24.480 --> 00:34:27.480 of God not that he puts every leader in power 00:34:27.480 --> 00:34:32.659 But that government is of God. He did it with 00:34:32.659 --> 00:34:36.659 the children of Israel It is necessary that someone 00:34:36.659 --> 00:34:38.760 bears the sword. That's not the place of the 00:34:38.760 --> 00:34:41.670 church to bear the sword That's how we got the 00:34:41.670 --> 00:34:44.989 dark ages It's not the place of the family or 00:34:44.989 --> 00:34:47.570 the home to bear the sword because that's how 00:34:47.570 --> 00:34:51.090 you get the Hatfields and McCoys It is the role 00:34:51.090 --> 00:34:55.849 of government to bear the sword You select a 00:34:55.849 --> 00:34:58.150 group that makes righteous judgments that come 00:34:58.150 --> 00:35:01.429 before God in their own personal lives and then 00:35:01.429 --> 00:35:04.969 come before God in their judgments and make righteous 00:35:04.969 --> 00:35:10.349 judgments and Say this was wrong And this is 00:35:10.349 --> 00:35:14.289 why and this is what's going to happen That's 00:35:14.289 --> 00:35:18.010 the role of government. It's necessary for a 00:35:18.010 --> 00:35:26.070 society the church Pretty much everywhere Acts 00:35:26.070 --> 00:35:28.309 2 is the founding of the New Testament Church 00:35:28.750 --> 00:35:31.389 First Corinthians 10 talks about the church that 00:35:31.389 --> 00:35:33.190 was in the wilderness talking about the children 00:35:33.190 --> 00:35:36.010 of Israel Moses leading the church through the 00:35:36.010 --> 00:35:38.449 wilderness It's the group of God's people that 00:35:38.449 --> 00:35:41.989 follow him that operate together that I'd hear 00:35:41.989 --> 00:35:47.710 and maintain and make a devotion to the will 00:35:47.710 --> 00:35:51.809 and Word of God Those are the three things that 00:35:51.809 --> 00:35:56.599 you have to have you take any one of those Out 00:35:56.599 --> 00:35:59.280 of a society and it's gonna be an ugly place 00:35:59.280 --> 00:36:01.260 not that it won't function not that you won't 00:36:01.260 --> 00:36:04.900 have children and and Pets and crops and you 00:36:04.900 --> 00:36:07.239 know businesses and whatever else. It's not that 00:36:07.239 --> 00:36:11.280 it it just decays into sand It's that it will 00:36:11.280 --> 00:36:15.039 not prosper in the way that God intended for 00:36:15.039 --> 00:36:20.780 us to prosper These things are necessary there 00:36:20.780 --> 00:36:26.920 must be a guidebook There must be a rule and 00:36:26.920 --> 00:36:30.579 if the Bible is not that rule it's some man's 00:36:30.579 --> 00:36:34.039 rule and It's gonna look like whatever he wants 00:36:34.039 --> 00:36:37.599 it to look like It is not going to be the benefit 00:36:37.599 --> 00:36:41.300 that God wants God defines all of these roles 00:36:41.300 --> 00:36:45.820 I've given lessons on each one of these and That 00:36:45.820 --> 00:36:50.269 it still doesn't do them justice To talk about 00:36:50.269 --> 00:36:53.449 the roles and guidelines for government for the 00:36:53.449 --> 00:36:57.190 home for church and the people that founded this 00:36:57.190 --> 00:37:04.429 country devoted decades to this idea Pull pits 00:37:04.429 --> 00:37:08.789 discussions assemblies as we read about We're 00:37:08.789 --> 00:37:12.150 dedicated to this idea of bringing ourselves 00:37:12.150 --> 00:37:18.219 in line with what God wanted for a society Now 00:37:18.219 --> 00:37:20.860 a lot of people put hope and trust in various 00:37:20.860 --> 00:37:24.639 things and if we're not careful then we we uphold 00:37:24.639 --> 00:37:28.159 the Constitution and we say that our Liberty 00:37:28.159 --> 00:37:31.099 comes from the Constitution or maybe it comes 00:37:31.099 --> 00:37:35.019 from our system of Enterprise from capitalism 00:37:35.019 --> 00:37:38.159 now Capitalism is the most productive system 00:37:38.159 --> 00:37:40.880 that you can have if government controls everything 00:37:40.880 --> 00:37:44.480 they are notorious for doing it terribly Because 00:37:44.480 --> 00:37:46.800 typically you're not involved in the processes 00:37:46.800 --> 00:37:49.320 that go on from day to day if it crashes You 00:37:49.320 --> 00:37:51.400 don't care you go get another business and you 00:37:51.400 --> 00:37:53.500 hope that it does better. It's not yours But 00:37:53.500 --> 00:37:57.039 if it's your business if it's your thing that 00:37:57.039 --> 00:38:00.360 you're doing you're highly involved and highly 00:38:00.360 --> 00:38:07.139 dedicated to its success Capitalism It promotes 00:38:07.139 --> 00:38:13.010 wealth and we have tremendous unimaginable wealth 00:38:13.010 --> 00:38:17.750 in this nation Especially compared to others 00:38:17.750 --> 00:38:23.010 in recent history in distant history The closest 00:38:23.010 --> 00:38:24.989 that you might be able to come is the Babylonian 00:38:24.989 --> 00:38:27.869 Empire when Nebuchadnezzar made a 90 -foot statue 00:38:27.869 --> 00:38:34.510 out of gold Anybody ever heard of Fort Knox We 00:38:34.510 --> 00:38:37.349 had so much gold we had a big holes in the ground 00:38:37.349 --> 00:38:44.150 And put it in gigantic Caverns That doesn't happen 00:38:44.150 --> 00:38:51.150 so much anymore and my point is Just the amount 00:38:51.150 --> 00:38:56.130 of stuff of creature comforts You know how interesting 00:38:56.130 --> 00:38:57.750 it is to go into your house and push a button 00:38:57.750 --> 00:39:02.309 like this because you're hot or you're cold You 00:39:02.309 --> 00:39:08.329 know that ain't been around forever Mark tells 00:39:08.329 --> 00:39:12.500 the story of him asking his mother to tell him 00:39:12.500 --> 00:39:18.019 about when she was a kid and One of the best 00:39:18.019 --> 00:39:23.940 lines is Well, then the lights came on and nothing 00:39:23.940 --> 00:39:27.980 else was ever the same You know how interesting 00:39:27.980 --> 00:39:32.039 it is to go like this And lights come on how 00:39:32.039 --> 00:39:34.900 many times do you go like this when the power's 00:39:34.900 --> 00:39:37.380 off to try to get the light to come on in the 00:39:37.380 --> 00:39:41.380 closet? There's a lot of things that we get used 00:39:41.380 --> 00:39:45.500 to There's a lot of creature comforts that we 00:39:45.500 --> 00:39:49.579 have a lot of things we have access to Music 00:39:49.579 --> 00:39:54.440 entertainment Anytime anywhere as much as you 00:39:54.440 --> 00:40:04.639 want for 30 to 60 bucks a month It's astounding 00:40:04.639 --> 00:40:06.800 at the things we've been able to do but capitalism 00:40:06.800 --> 00:40:10.119 isn't the answer That's not where liberty comes 00:40:10.119 --> 00:40:12.860 from that's not where freedom comes from it's 00:40:12.860 --> 00:40:15.820 not where prosperity comes from What about from 00:40:15.820 --> 00:40:18.360 the political system when we have our Constitution 00:40:18.360 --> 00:40:22.800 and it's an amazing document? And we have all 00:40:22.800 --> 00:40:24.699 these different ways that we go about operating 00:40:24.699 --> 00:40:26.420 under this Constitution the way that we do things 00:40:26.420 --> 00:40:28.039 now is not the way that we've done things in 00:40:28.039 --> 00:40:31.820 the past It's close similar. We've changed it 00:40:31.820 --> 00:40:33.840 a little bit as we've gone down. You know what 00:40:33.840 --> 00:40:36.739 that's not where liberty comes from It's not 00:40:36.739 --> 00:40:39.340 where prosperity comes from It's not where freedom 00:40:39.340 --> 00:40:43.360 comes from. What about from the righteous war 00:40:43.360 --> 00:40:48.159 that we fought? We threw off the Britons. We 00:40:48.159 --> 00:40:52.039 freed other nations. Other oppressors have come 00:40:52.039 --> 00:40:53.820 in. The Germans tried to take over the world 00:40:53.820 --> 00:40:55.760 with the Japanese. We went out and we fought 00:40:55.760 --> 00:40:59.880 it. It's called World War II. One of the ugliest 00:40:59.880 --> 00:41:04.960 things that's ever happened on this planet. Terrible. 00:41:06.829 --> 00:41:10.949 It's not where liberty comes from. It's not where 00:41:10.949 --> 00:41:15.050 freedom and prosperity come from. They come from 00:41:15.050 --> 00:41:22.150 one place. Only one. You can have vestiges of 00:41:22.150 --> 00:41:24.809 these things. You can have little bits and pieces, 00:41:26.289 --> 00:41:28.289 depending on how you operate your life and where 00:41:28.289 --> 00:41:32.429 you are. But life, liberty, and the pursuit of 00:41:32.429 --> 00:41:37.989 happiness come from the God above. That's it 00:41:37.989 --> 00:41:41.349 Blessings that we have are because we're made 00:41:41.349 --> 00:41:43.309 in his image and because he doesn't just throw 00:41:43.309 --> 00:41:48.429 us into the pit right now God cares for us, and 00:41:48.429 --> 00:41:50.769 he blesses us. It's raining right now. What do 00:41:50.769 --> 00:41:53.690 we do about the rain? Now there may be some people 00:41:53.690 --> 00:41:57.070 here like hey I flew a seed cloud over or I ionize 00:41:57.070 --> 00:41:59.510 the atmosphere to try to make it rain I want 00:41:59.510 --> 00:42:03.309 to tell you that's not what makes it rain You 00:42:03.309 --> 00:42:07.980 can't make it rain You can influence the conditions 00:42:07.980 --> 00:42:11.079 that are around you and we do that in various 00:42:11.079 --> 00:42:15.900 ways We can't make it rain. We can't make the 00:42:15.900 --> 00:42:21.420 Sun come up or go down The blessings that we 00:42:21.420 --> 00:42:26.980 enjoy are because of God Because of the pattern 00:42:26.980 --> 00:42:29.840 that he made because of this creation that we 00:42:29.840 --> 00:42:33.400 dwell in It operates the way that it does because 00:42:33.400 --> 00:42:36.969 God has the character that he does He is a loving 00:42:36.969 --> 00:42:42.809 and perfect God, and we are not. And this creation 00:42:42.809 --> 00:42:48.489 has fallen, and it continues to be defiled and 00:42:48.489 --> 00:42:52.449 destroyed and wrecked by the choices of the people 00:42:52.449 --> 00:42:59.610 that dwell here. But peace, prosperity, life, 00:43:00.570 --> 00:43:07.269 family, friends, that's from God. You're not 00:43:07.269 --> 00:43:10.469 gonna find it anywhere else You're not gonna 00:43:10.469 --> 00:43:15.789 find the things the best things You won't find 00:43:15.789 --> 00:43:22.789 the best things anywhere else You want good friendships 00:43:22.789 --> 00:43:30.449 I Have some really good friendships Went out 00:43:30.449 --> 00:43:32.389 jumped out of a plane with a couple of friends 00:43:32.389 --> 00:43:36.650 yesterday I jumped twice They each went once. 00:43:39.909 --> 00:43:43.750 I've got some friends that I've cried with. I've 00:43:43.750 --> 00:43:45.949 got some friends that I try to go and help out. 00:43:48.349 --> 00:43:50.170 I've got some friends that come to my rescue 00:43:50.170 --> 00:43:57.590 on more than one occasion. And the friends that 00:43:57.590 --> 00:43:59.449 I have, the best friends, those that are going 00:43:59.449 --> 00:44:01.590 to come and do those things with me, they're 00:44:01.590 --> 00:44:06.500 in the church. They operate by the rules and 00:44:06.500 --> 00:44:10.760 regulations and love of God They care for me 00:44:10.760 --> 00:44:15.400 because God loves them The family that I was 00:44:15.400 --> 00:44:25.579 raised in They love God Made me a balanced mostly 00:44:25.579 --> 00:44:31.840 person Made me who I am the country that I live 00:44:31.840 --> 00:44:37.900 in It's amazing I've been to other places not 00:44:37.900 --> 00:44:43.500 me I've been to a few I've seen a few There's 00:44:43.500 --> 00:44:48.940 no place like here There is no place like America 00:44:48.940 --> 00:44:54.840 You go anywhere And it ain't like it is here 00:44:54.840 --> 00:45:01.039 The world has come with FIFA You know what they're 00:45:01.039 --> 00:45:08.050 experiencing the awesomeness of America Because 00:45:08.050 --> 00:45:13.929 there's no place like it and that's because a 00:45:13.929 --> 00:45:18.530 Group of men a couple hundred years ago Decided 00:45:18.530 --> 00:45:22.869 that they were gonna make a nation based on God 00:45:22.869 --> 00:45:27.809 And if we decide that we no longer need God we're 00:45:27.809 --> 00:45:31.860 not gonna have the nation that we have It'll 00:45:31.860 --> 00:45:34.699 be something else, but it won't be the America 00:45:34.699 --> 00:45:40.039 that was founded We got to get back to scriptures 00:45:40.039 --> 00:45:45.099 We're supposed to live it in our lives It is 00:45:45.099 --> 00:45:48.599 incumbent on Christians to live the Christian 00:45:48.599 --> 00:45:55.260 life We as individuals are the church We as individuals 00:45:55.260 --> 00:45:58.500 uphold that standard we as individuals are the 00:45:58.500 --> 00:46:00.860 government officials. We are the people in the 00:46:00.860 --> 00:46:03.489 home We are the people in the church. We have 00:46:03.489 --> 00:46:06.230 our individual roles and responsibilities, but 00:46:06.230 --> 00:46:08.449 those things play out in the decisions that we 00:46:08.449 --> 00:46:10.889 make and the way that we conduct ourselves, our 00:46:10.889 --> 00:46:16.389 business, our family. And if we don't do it, 00:46:16.389 --> 00:46:24.489 it won't be done. God's children, we have a responsibility 00:46:24.489 --> 00:46:29.949 to everything that we see because we know the 00:46:29.949 --> 00:46:34.000 standard. It is our responsibility to familiarize 00:46:34.000 --> 00:46:38.920 ourselves, to live within that standard. Because 00:46:38.920 --> 00:46:40.480 when we do that, we'll go out and we'll make 00:46:40.480 --> 00:46:43.940 Christians. And we'll make better families and 00:46:43.940 --> 00:46:48.440 better homes and better countries. It is incumbent 00:46:48.440 --> 00:46:54.079 on us. We have to do it. If you want to be part 00:46:54.079 --> 00:46:56.579 of it and you're not, if you want to know more 00:46:56.579 --> 00:46:58.719 about it, if you want to come with this group 00:46:58.719 --> 00:47:00.960 of friends that I've been talking to and about, 00:47:02.219 --> 00:47:04.619 Make your need known come forward sit on the 00:47:04.619 --> 00:47:05.699 front row while we stand