In David's final words, he points his hearers back to the Law of Moses as it is recorded in Exodus chapter 18, detailing the requirements for men who would rule. This is the 53rd sermon in the series Kingdom, Dynasty, and Glory, an exposition on the second book of Samuel. Our all covenant reading coming from Exodus and chapter 18, Exodus and chapter 18, beginning in verse 13 to verse 27, the end of the chapter. by inspiration of God, the prophet writes. And it came to pass on the morrow that Moses sat to judge the people. And the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening. And when Moses' father-in-law saw all that he did to the people, he said, what is this thing that thou doest to the people? Why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto evening? And Moses said unto his father-in-law, Because the people come unto me to inquire of God. When they have a matter, they come unto me, and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God and His laws. And Moses his father-in-law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good. Thou wilt truly wear away both thou and this people that is with thee, for this thing is too heavy for thee, thou art not able to perform it thyself alone. Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee. Be thou for the people to Godward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God. And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt show them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do. Moreover, thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness, and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. and let them judge the people at all seasons, and it shall be that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge. So shall it be easier for thy people, and they shall bear the burden with thee. If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace. Moses hearkened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. And Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. And they judged the people at all seasons. The hard causes they brought unto Moses. But every small matter they judged themselves. And Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went his way into his own land. The Apostle Paul speaking about the duty of the civil magistrate. In Romans chapter 13, the first five verses, by the same Spirit, the Apostle Paul tells us this, Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers, for there is no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever, therefore, resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God, and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same. For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid. For he beareth not the sword in vain. For he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore, ye must need be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. Thus far as the reading of God's most holy and errant and finally authoritative word, the grass withers, the flower thereof fades away, but the word of God's dance forever and by his holy word is both the law and the gospel presented unto us again this day in the entirety of God's word. Now for centuries, the faithful church has admonished the people of God, along with the general public, to only elect rulers who are biblically qualified for the task of governing, whether it's in the civil realm or the ecclesiastical realm. At one time, within the mind of colonial America, only the men who were Christian men were considered fit for public office. The reason for this was painfully simple. They believed that only true Christian men could understand and then be able to promote liberty under God for the people. Only Christian men, they believed. Rightly so. Only Christian men would rule in the fear of God according to the commandments of God. In fact, during the era of the Founders, it was not only Christianity that was prominent in the minds of the people, it was largely Calvinistic Puritanism which played an essential role in the formation of both government and society. You tell people that today, and they'll say, what are you talking about? Calvinism? Puritanism? In the formation of the American Republic? Author David Hall observes, notice what he says. Calvinism, once a potent force, but now a pariah to many modernity's analysis, is the key to understanding the crux of colonial history. Not only did it dominate in New England, but it also was a kind of theological common denominator, which gave great consistency and coherence to the mid-Atlantic and southern colonies as well. Think about what he's saying here. Calvinism is the formation of colonialism. And the colonists understood that Christianity was to be the molding force of a societal order, especially Calvinistic Protestantism. Hall adds this, to engage with Calvin and his legacy is to wrestle with one of the rare moments in modern history when Christianity, now get this, when Christianity molded rather than accommodated itself to society. When Christianity molded society rather than accommodated itself to society. And this, of course, is not to imply that all the Framers were Calvinists. Certainly all the Framers were not Calvinists. And once again Hall, citing Thomas Jefferson, speaks of his sentiments as far as Christianity is concerned, but mostly his sentiments to resist tyranny and to promote liberty under God. Notice he clarifies, he says, Even though Jefferson never embraced Calvinistic theology, he formally adopted the motto of resistance to tyrants for his seal of correspondence. Because what was sown in Geneva grew in America, even if not all the framers were Calvinists. Think about that. And we're going to get to that in subsequent lectures. What was sown in Geneva, a resistance against all forms of tyranny, grew and prospered in America. Now, in order to follow the biblical pattern for just government, one had to follow the pattern of just rulers, which were clearly spelled out in Scripture. David's last words tell us that he was concerned about both the future of the kingdom of God and the entire generational history of mankind. And while he did not see himself as this quintessential example of what the perfect ruler should look like, the perfect Christ, or the perfect ruler himself, he did acknowledge the fundamental requirements of the man that should rule in the affairs of men and nations. And what David refers to in 2 Samuel chapter 23, however, is not the entire catalog of requirements. They were never meant to be. It was just simply a small snippet, a distillation of the entirety of the qualifications, which he pulls from Exodus chapter 18. David is pointing his ears to the more complete catalog by giving a small representation, a snippet of Exodus 18 in his last words. So in order to understand exactly what David meant, we'd have to go to Exodus chapter 15 to see the entire catalog. Now, taking part of Jethro's admonition to Moses from Exodus 18, David sets forth his counsel in a simplistic form. And the first requirement for the Christian ruler, note, is justice. Verse 3 of 2 Samuel 23, he that ruleth over men must be, notice, not shall be, not could be, not should be this or should be that, or maybe this or maybe that. He must be just. He must be a just man. This was a legal term referring to justice, law, and righteousness. It was referring to the court system. It was referring to jurisprudence and everything that mattered about fairness and justice and equity. R.J. Rushton, he comments on exactly what justice means when he says this, quote, justice means God's law. It was understood by Christians throughout the centuries. And it was the basis of their political action, the efforts of the church in the West, especially. to influence or command the state had as their purpose the rule of God's law in the state. Now notice what Moses is being told. He is not making laws. He is actually simply declaring the laws before the people of God, promoting the laws before the people of God, bringing their causes before the people of God, and then telling them what God says about righteousness and justice and truth. Jeremiah, as well, the prophet, emphasizes the importance of justice. In order to stabilize a nation, he emphasizes the importance of a just system of law. Notice what he says. Jeremiah, chapter 22, verse 13. Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness and his chambers by wrong. And that word wrong in the Hebrew is literally the word injustice. So what he's saying is, and who builds his chambers by injustice, that uses his neighbor's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work." Notice the indictment. Woe unto him! Wrath unto him! Judgment unto him! God's condemning power unto him! So both David and Jeremiah were both echoing the Law of Moses, which was detailed in Leviticus 19 as well, and then referred to in Deuteronomy 25. Note, Leviticus 19.15. ye shall do, this is part of the law, this is part of the Pentateuch, ye shall, and there's the word again, you shall, if you're in that position, you shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, thou shalt not respect the person of the poor nor honor the person of the mighty, but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor. In Deuteronomy chapter 25 verse 1, if there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment, that the judges may judge them, then they shall justify the righteous, because they are just men, and condemn the wicked. St. Augustine put it this way, what fragment of justice can there be in a man who is not subject to God? And if there is no justice in a man of this kind, then there is certainly no justice either in an assembly made up of such men. Think about the American Congress. If there's no justice in one man, can there be a justice in the assembly of a group of these kinds of men? He says no. He continues. As a result, there is lacking that mutual recognition of rights which makes a mere mob into a people, a people who is commonweal is a commonwealth. Careful scrutiny will show that there is no such good for those who live irreligiously as all do who serve not God but demons. I consider it sufficient to show that on the basis of the definition itself, a people devoid of justice is not such a people as can constitute a commonwealth. In other words, they're just a mob. It's not a commonwealth. There's no justice. It's not a situation where you can call it a commonwealth, which is something that is good for the people. It is going to destroy the people. This is why justice is so critical, because it is the glue that holds people and nations together. It holds a society together. It maintains its virtue. And once justice is perverted, Chaos creeps in and the people become enslaved, the nations are destroyed. Now according to the Word of God in Exodus 18, in addition to David's list, those that are qualified for public office must possess the following. Notice what God says in Exodus 18 verse 21. Moreover, thou shalt provide, notice again, thou shalt, this is your duty, Thou shalt provide out of all the people able men. In other words, they must be able. They must be able. These leaders must be men of physical, moral, and spiritual strength. Think about what we've got today. Spiritual, moral, physical strength? Some of our leaders can't walk up a flight of stairs without falling down. They must be resolute, well-trained in the things of God. in the things of God's law. They must be men of valor. They must be men of virtue. They must be men of biblical tenacity and biblical courage. The Reverend William Enwijkter comments, he says, quote, a man who is a coward will not fulfill his duty to uphold God's law if doing so would be unpopular with the people. The demands of being a magistrate requires men who have the skills, in other words, the ability, necessary to lead others. Secondly, they must be men that fear God. Notice Exodus 18.21. Moreover, thou shalt provide out of all the people able men such as fear God. They just don't need skill and ability. They need to fear God. The fear of God is the beginning of understanding. It's the beginning of wisdom. A man that does not fear the Lord cannot, and I say cannot, I do not say he may not, I say he cannot, possess these abilities which are entirely necessary for leadership. And I don't care what leadership that is, even if you're leading a Boy Scout troop. The fear of God produces men of humility and virtue. The man who reverences God and holy fear will never try to define or interpret the world around him by his own fallen ideas. He will use the word of God to define reality the way God has defined reality. And the fear of God as well produces a respect for how God interprets reality, which moves a man to rule according to God's interpretation of good and evil, law and lawlessness, justice and injustice. He's not going to say good is evil and evil is good. He's going to identify things according to how God identifies things, because he fears God. He reverences the Holy One of Israel. And the fear of God also checks man's pride and tends to limit any tendency to become overbearing or any tendency to become tyrannical or authoritative, because he fears God. And this is why Moses commanded in Deuteronomy 1.13, take you wise men and understanding and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you. You've got to know these people. You know, who fears God, you know, who's proud, you know, who is the one who really is holy, reverential to the Holy one. Men who rule must be at the highest caliber of personal integrity, humility, and skill. Humility and skill is essential. So men who rule must be of the highest caliber of personal integrity. They must be skilled. They must be able men. But they also must be known among their people. In other words, they need a reputation. And not just an outward reputation. The way you vet someone is you watch them in every aspect of their challenges of life. How a man performs under stress. how a man performs unto sorrow, how he performs in good times and bad times. You've got to know him in all the stages that God is bringing him in. You just can't say, well, I think that guy's a good guy. Well, I don't know. Even when you're being courted by a young man, as some of you young ladies will be courted by young men, or you men courting young ladies, you've got to know them in every situation before you say yes. known among your tribes. They must be chosen among those whom you know. The Puritans believe that every political office must be protected against the sinfulness of the political official, the one who is not a man who fears God. In other words, there should be no political professionals among the rules of the people. No political professionals in Puritan New England? Oh how have the mighty fallen. They believed that the official, the elected official, should be limited in their terms of service because the tendency of fallen man is to accumulate power and then, if not checked and limited, they will ultimately abuse that power. John Witte Jr., one of the greats in biblical law and jurisprudence, comments on the Puritan thought. He says, quote, political power must be distributed among self-checking executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Officials must be elected to limited terms of office. Laws must be clearly codified and discretion closely guarded. If officials abuse their office, they must be, and this is critical, If officials abuse their office, they must, and there's that word again, they must be disobeyed. If they persist in their abuse, he says, they must be removed, even if by revolutionary force. The New England divines added to this distillation of traditional Calvinist teachings, their own distinctive theory of covenant. They used the biblical idea of covenant in both theological and sociological terms. Think about this man. He's our contemporary. Brilliant man. A historian and a legalist. A man who knew the law of God and the law of man. And he said that the Calvinist idea, when a ruler abused their power, they had to be either disobeyed. And if they consisted in their abuse of power, they had to be removed. Even if, even if by revolutionary force, you say that today and you're treasonous and it's being called treason by men who are treasonous thirdly. These men that rule must be committed to the truth of God's revelation. Moreover, Exodus 18.21, thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth. This means that those who rule must be honest men of piety. If one is of the truth, he will seek to follow the truth in every area of life, personally and professionally. Notice what John Calvin says, quote, no government can be happily established unless piety is the first concern. Holy kings are greatly praised in scripture because they restored the worship of God when it was corrupted or destroyed or took care of religion that under them it might flourish pure and unblemished. Men of truth, Witte again observes Quote, the Puritans thus advocated and adopted a variety of constitutional safeguards against autocracy and abuse within both church and state. Both church and state officials were to have as godly a character as possible, taking into account the fallen nature of man, modes of spirituality and morality for the community who swore oaths of allegiance. Notice their oath of allegiance was to God in the Bible. And usually in the history of the United States, no longer now, but that Bible, when an official would put their hand on the Bible was not a closed Bible. It was open and was open to Deuteronomy chapter 28. Obey and be blessed. Do this and be cursed. A ruler who loves the truth will defend the truth no matter what. and he'll defend the truth by acting justly. Rulers must therefore have a working knowledge of the truth. They must have a working knowledge of right from wrong, good from evil, what is just as opposed to what is unjust. And sometimes when you're making these decisions in some areas that seem gray, if you really think about it, there are no gray areas. It's either right or it's wrong. On the other hand, a ruler that does not love the truth will act only in his best interest, using at the expense of all, usually at the expense of all those that get in his or her way. And so, you want men of truth. Now notice what the prophet says here, Jeremiah, by the Spirit, declaring in chapter 22, verse 1 and following, Thus saith the Lord God, Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, that sitteth upon the throne of David, thou and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates. Thus saith the Lord, Execute ye judgment and righteousness and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place. Notice his admonition. Civil rulers who do not love the truth will be tempted to lie and perpetuate falsehoods as it suits them in order to keep their power. Let me say that again, because we are living in the midst. We are living in the midst of this. And I can tell you this, that if every pulpit in the United States of America was heralding these messages, there would be a theological, if nothing more, revolution, and things might change. Civil rulers who do not love the truth will always be tempted to lie. They will always be tempted to perpetuate falsehoods because it suits their agenda. And their agenda is to hold on to power no matter what. Liars and lovers of falsehoods are a scourge to the nation over which they preside. Number four, those that rule must also be men of honor by hating covetousness. which includes covetousness of money, power, position, or praise. Notice verse 21 again, Exodus 18. Moreover, thou shall provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness. The Reverend N. Weichter again comments, he says, a man who is raised to the position of civil magistrate must be one who seeks no unjust gain from his position. He must hate Parenthesis, not simply dislike, but hate, end parenthesis, the thought of using his office to enrich himself through violence, fraud, bribes, etc. That's all the American government has become. Professional politicians, that's all they do. He continues, a covetous magistrate must also hate covetousness in others. and not allow any citizen to use the power of civil government to seize the wealth of his neighbor through unjust legislation or confiscatory taxation. And there's one for you. Now, along with these qualifications, those that rule must have a working knowledge of both the duties as well as the limitations of government. And yet, with all this knowledge, Invariably, over and over, it seems that if this nation, which was originally born out of Western civilization's Calvinistic Christendom, owing much of its government to Calvin, Beza, and the Genevan experiment of the Reformation, we are still consistently faced with less than desirable choices, and in many cases, the choosing of the lesser of two evils, or even just the evil, because today you have churches promoting evil men fraudulent men, covetous men who hate the truth, promoting them for civil office. I just scratched my head. Whenever this scenario manifests itself, whenever we have the scenario that we are in today, one thing is certain and one thing should be without debate. God is judging the nation. and especially he's judging the church for its failure to call unjust leaders to account before God. The Reverend Joseph Moorcraft rightly observes, when God begins to judge a nation for its revolt against him, he removes effective leaders and replaces them with irresponsible and reckless ones who have no appreciation of the past and no commitment to the future under God. No commitment to the future. No regard for the past, unjust leaders. And all Reverend Moorcraft was doing was confirming Isaiah's observation when Isaiah says in Isaiah 3, 1-5, For behold, the Lord of hosts doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, the mighty man and the man of war, the judge and the prophet, and the prudent and the ancient, the captain of fifty and honorable men, and the counselor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator. And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them, and the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbor. The child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honorable." There we have it. In America's history, It was customary for ministers of the gospel to exhort their congregation as to biblical leadership so that they would be able to choose biblical political leaders. Biblical political decisions would be able to find out what was the right candidate here in this upcoming election. That was their job. That was the minister's job. It was to educate their congregation about the proposed policies. Were they just? Were they liberating policies? Were these policies that these certain candidates were espousing, were these policies in harmony with God's word? And if they were, we could support them. If they were not, we could not. Now taking cues from Calvin's Geneva, the colonial ministers understood their duty as it concerned the integrity of the culture. They understood that part of their calling was to ensure that the standard of God was upheld for those seeking public office, and those that were placed in authority had to be, by the minister, held to account. The pastors were to be engaged in the politics of the culture. They weren't sideliners. These were lions, because they were ecclesiastical magistrates, and they had the same authority in another sphere, of course, as the civil magistrate. The colonial preachers of America often preached, and I focus on that word often. They often preached on the duties of governance, and they took advantage of election days with powerful sermons, warning against electing men of questionable character. In Virginia, we have an election every year. Where's the outcry? Where's the involvement? Where are the warnings? And these election day sermons and political writings, this was the backbone of Puritan and colonial political life. But these sermons, wonderfully, were taken from many of the works of Calvin, Bays, and Knox, and so many others of the Reformation. You would think that every church library, if they even have a library, or if they even read anymore, would have these volumes, the political sermons of the colonial period. Now, between the years of 1760 and 1805, hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of election day sermons were given in the churches of a colonial America in order to ensure the integrity of freedom. So you think about this, hundreds of election day sermons given in the churches, not on political stumps, not in rallies, but in the churches. so that those people of the congregations would be informed in order to ensure not only integrity of the candidate, but the freedom of the nation. These people were concerned about freedom. These sermons were completely about integrity and truth and freedom, and they were complementing the many political tracts and pamphlets which were written by notable men of position in addition to other writings that were too scathing to have names attached to them. So these church leaders would be putting out political tracts. And so we find such titles as, quote, the importance of public virtue for a self-governing people and their importance of religion for public virtue by anonymous, probably a preacher. These political writings were penned by men like the Reverend Abraham Williams, Governor Stephen Hopkins, Statesman Richard Bland, Congressional Minister Daniel Shute, Reverend Nathan Emmons, Reverend Jeremiah Atwater, and a host of others. Now, Abraham Williams, the Reverend Abraham Williams, was regarded by some, even some among certain ministers, as the Grand Heretic Williams. because of his explosive lectures where he writes, quote, government comes from God and his ordinance. The kingdom is the Lord's, and he is the governor among the nations. The meaning is that God is the supreme governor and disposer of all things. His all-wise providence superintends all events, particularly those relating to mankind. And government is a divine constitution which must be agreeable to God. The end and design of civil society and government must be to secure the rights and the properties of its members and promote their welfare. Notice he's speaking about liberty. Or in the apostles' words, quote, that men may lead quiet and peaceful lives in godliness and honesty. In all governments, magistrates are God's ministers designed for good to the people. The end of their institution is to be instruments of divine providence, to secure and to promote the happiness of society, and to be terrors to the doers of evil, to prevent and punish unrighteousness and remedy the evil's occasion thereby, and to be a praise, a security, and a reward to them that do well. The end and design of government is to secure men from all injustice, violence, and repine, that they may enjoy their rights and properties with all the advantages of society, along with the peaceable practice of godliness, that the unjust may be restrained, the ill effects of their wickedness be prevented, the secular welfare of all to be secured and promoted." Where are these people? Where are these men? Where is this language? in the realm of our American existence. You see, it was commonly understood that without God and His law-structuring society, through the leadership of godly magistrates, society would go into a graveyard spiral downward into oblivion under the judgment of God, resulting in the unrestraint of man's most horrible wickedness. And it was the ministers' task to warn the people of their duty in choosing only righteous men who feared God and who trembled at His word. Godly government Godly government meant godly liberty. It ensured peace and prosperity. It was the hope for the future generations. Once again, John Whitty Jr. comments, quote, a number of New England Puritans, most notably John Winthrop, 1588 to 1649, John Cotton, 1584-1652, Thomas Hooker, 1586-1669, Samuel Willard, 1640-1707, and The Mathers, Richard, Increase, and Cotton, 1596, 1669, 1639, 1723, and 1663, 1728. Notice, Puritans, colonialists, respectively, distilled prevailing, notice, they, all these men, distilled prevailing Calvinistic views of the person into a basic theory of authority and liberty, society, and politics. Drawing from Geneva. taking what the Genevans did and bringing it into colonial America. In his 1536 edition of the Institutes, Calvin encouraged the reformed clergymen to speak out, to speak out, especially whenever tyranny was evident among those civil rulers. They weren't worried about a sunrise service or a special Vesper for Christmas Eve. Well, all that is well, fine, and good. Speak out when there's tyranny afoot, when there's despotism afoot, when your children will go into bondage and slavery if you don't speak out. And he said to the ministers, get out into those pulpits, get into the street, get into the faces of the civil magistrates when you see tyranny. Notice what he said. I am far from forbidding these ministers to withstand, and in accordance with their duty, the fierce licentiousness of kings, that if they wink at kings who violently fall upon and assault the lowly common folk, I declare that their dissimulation involves nefarious profidity, for by it they dishonestly betray the freedom of the people of which they know they have been appointed protectors by God's ordinance. The ministers are to protect the people. We are shepherds. of the people, where he adds this observation. He says, Calvin was saying that the church leaders must preach and prophesy loudly, as it is their duty, against the injustice of tyranny and petition tyrannical magistrates to repent of their abuse, to return to their political duties, and to restore the political freedom of religious believers. Now it must be noted that simply because there was such a powerful focus upon the theopolitical nature of the nation, this did not mean that these ministers or the people that were under their ministry believed for a moment that politics was messianic. You can't save the world through politics, but you can regulate politics and governance by the word of God, which is what it was meant to do. But they did understand, like Calvin, that since a direct rule from God was no longer possible as a result of the fall, God did give the governance of nations to men who would respect him on the earth. So government was to bring order and liberty under God for the realm of the entire human existence. It was all about liberty. That's what we get when Christ saves us. We're liberated from the bondage of sin and death in the grave. Historian George Bancroft. said this, not a Christian man by any means, but he did say this, the fanatic for Calvinism. So if anybody asks you, are you a Calvinistic? You say, no, I'm a fanatic for Calvinism. I'm a fanatical Calvinist. Notice what he says. The fanatic for Calvinism was a fanatic for liberty and in the moral warfare for freedom, his creed, was his most faithful counselor and his never-failing support. Over time, however, sadly, these sermons, these writings and ideas lost their appeal from both ministers and congregational members alike, and that is when the culture began its decline. And as a result of this gross neglect of the clergy's godly duty and increasing apostasy and their accommodating of the wicked, These sermons are no longer entertained by the modern church. In fact, in some churches, these kinds of sermons are altogether outlawed. The establishment of a 501c3 status church is the shackle that leads to the shackle. While this practice is still found in some, this practice of preaching politically and warning the people about tyranny and oppression, while this practice is still found in some churches, perhaps in some far-reaching corners of America, among some of the existing faithful ministers and churches, their voice is seldom heard. And whenever it is heard, it is excused as fantasy and by the tyrannical state as treason. Now there are two fundamental sins. Well, there are many actually, which have undermined the church and her commission as councils and prophets in the area of politics and governments. And what is so sad is that these sins and practices have not found their encouragement from the secular world only, but rather they have originated and maintained, for the most part, within the community of the church itself. The first sin, in other words, the first reason why there has been a departure from the scriptures as the only rule for faith in life, is the secular anti-Christian education and schooling system, the acceptance and adoption of state run schooling by professing Christians have indoctrinated, wickedly indoctrinated the last several generations into the idea that the state is God and that the parents are idiots and that religion is no place in the political and legal world. To give a covenant child to the state for the molding of their character by secularized indoctrination cloaked in the language of education is a sin and needs to be repented of. Once a population is educated by an establishment which is anti-God, anti-creation, anti-morality, and anti-everything that is good and right and truthful, the result will eventually be seen in the culture. And that's what we have. We have a crazy world. And yet we have Christians arguing That their children could be in the school or that it can be even reformed. You cannot reform the education system of the state. Because once the truth is indoctrinated in this fashion, the culture becomes a culture of chaos and death. And that's what we have now. But what we have now, in addition, is the peddling within the schooling of pornography. What we have now in the schooling system is the encouragement of transgenderism, binary identification, and an LGBTQ+, XYZ, and you name it, whatever it is, acceptance. And if you don't get them out now, nothing's going to get you to get them out. It might have been under wraps before, but now it's both face in your face. The second sin? The doctrine of pietism, dispensationalism, and the two kingdom mentality, that rapturism and Zionism together all have destroyed the power of the church from protecting the culture from reprobate men, secular assault, and dominion. You see what's happening is while they think now today in the modern church, Jesus is coming any day. So we just got to wait. Let's hide out. Hunker down. And these doctrines finally repeal in man's desire to be irresponsible. Look at the, look at the community around us. Look at our young people. Where's the responsibility of young people, even some of the adults? Wicked men desire nothing more than to be removed from any responsibility that may be uncomfortable or challenging. So because they don't want to get into the fray, they don't want to be challenged by the wicked because they're afraid of the wicked because they have no fear of God, they invent doctrines which will comfort them and placate them. which ensure the church's neutrality, which only makes them a slave to the state. There is no such thing as neutrality. Neutrality is a myth. And so while they wait for the rapture, the world crumbles around them, and their entire legacy, their entire generational legacy evaporates under the tyranny of the state and the impotence of the church, because the church has become impotent. Now, the next several questions are really what is at our crossroads. These are the weightier questions that we must face. What is to be done? What is to be done now? What's the plan which, if faithfully executed, can and will bring this nation to its proper place of biblical leadership should God bless the efforts of His people? I don't know if God's going to bless the efforts of His people, but we cannot stop doing what we've been called to do. Now we'll consider many of these questions in subsequent sermons, but first permit me to set forth some basics, some basic principles as a foundation. 2 Samuel 23.3 gives the rulers model, but this model is not just for the civil ruler. This is a principle model for all who are in the position of rule and all who would be in any authority whatsoever. Even if you are a single person, you still have rule over yourself and everything else that you do. So it's a comprehensive principle for everyone. Therefore, It is to be applied to church leaders, educators, bureaucrats, single people, and all other leadership positions in the various institutions which exist among men and nations. Okay, so let's ask a few questions. Who are the just men? Who are just men? What makes a man just? What makes a man just? What makes a man holy? What makes a man good? Now these are Christian men who are Christian in word and in deed. But they're Christian men in word and deed, consistently in word and deed, in doctrine and conduct, in all seasons of life. No matter what God throws at them, they're going to be consistent in word and in deed. Secondly, they are men with a Christ-centered world and life view. They understand how to navigate the things of the world, the idiosyncrasies of the world. the minutia of the world. They know how to navigate the world because they have a concrete world and life view. Number three, they believe in confronting the culture with biblical truths. And they actively pursue that confrontation. They're not escapists. They're not pragmatists. They understand the situations and as hard and as complex as those situations may seem, they're not afraid to find real answers from scripture because they know that the scripture has real answers and they're not afraid to find them out. Number four, another way, according to Reverend Gary Huffman, is that civil rulers know their history. and therefore have a context for Christ's plan and purpose. Why do you think that I spend so much time from this podium, from this pulpit, why do you think that I spend so much time telling you about the history of your forefathers? And I don't mean Washington, Jefferson, and Adams. I mean, Calvin and Beza, Panay and Farrell, and all of those Bullinger and Beza, Butzer, just so many men that we don't know who these men are. They're your fathers. There's my father and your father. They're the fathers of America, actually the great grandfathers of America. Because history means something. If we lose our history, we lose our future. The fifth point is true leaders have their homes in order. They're husbands and fathers of integrity, not overbearing, not tyrannical, not pietistic, not pharisaical, but patient, kind, loving. They're faithful to their wives and loving to their children. Number six is we have already determined they are men of integrity. They're not selfish. They're not prideful or contentious. They give, they give, they sacrifice, they sacrifice. They want good. As Christ sacrificed for them, they understand that their sacrifice is nothing compared to what Christ gave. So they give themselves. They're not prideful. They're not selfish. They know how to conduct themselves graciously with others, even when there's contention. No, once again, Jethro's first plan of action. The first thing that Jethro advised is whomsoever rules, he must be for the people Godward, not for themselves. Rulers are not to rule for themselves. In other words, he must have the people's best interest in mind, which can only be accomplished by honoring God and His law word. Notice verse 19. Wow. You mean the rulers should have our best interest in view? Well, that's a novel thing. To have the people's best interest in view means that the rulers are to desire for God to bless the people because that would be in the best interest. Rulers should be encouraging a godly nation. They should be encouraging the people of their nation or the community to obey God's will because they would know that to obey God's will brings blessings from the divine. Jethro is telling Moses that God abides by his covenant stipulations of causistry, obey and be blessed, rebel and be cursed. And Jethro's recommendation of Exodus 18 is God's commandment to both the church and to every nation, which exists on the face of the planet earth. We should fear for those idiots, for those reprobate, vicious protagonists of wickedness and evil. in Davos and in other nations that want to destroy mankind and blaspheme God with every word out of their mouths. We should fight against them by preaching the truth because the truth will prevail. God had promised Israel, which is also a covenant promise to us, the New Testament Israel, that if we obey God, he will make us a great and prosperous nation. And I believe that The power of a nation does not reside in Washington. The power of the nation does not reside on Capitol hill or in the white house or at the Supreme court. The power of a nation resides from the pulpits. The pulpits can change a nation. What has happened is the nation, their secularism has changed the pulpits. And that is unacceptable, totally unacceptable. Because if we would follow the plan of God, we would then be the envy of every other nation. If only we would adopt God's divine principles of government, law, and jurisprudence. That means choosing righteousness, God-fearing men in the local offices, and in the state house, Washington to the various civil and ecclesiastical offices of society. Now in the months before Lee surrendered at Appomattox in 1863, which providentially and interestingly is where we have our church. I remember many years ago, a God-fearing man, political man who understood that you had to bring God's word into the political realm. He had run for the presidency. He was a man of great integrity and faith, a man, Howard Phillips. He asked me once in an interview, what made you choose Appomattox? And I couldn't answer the question. I didn't know. Perhaps I know now to turn around this nation from this little pulpit and from people like you and people that hear us and will hear us. that it might be a godly nation. But notice, in the months before Lee surrendered Appomattox in 1863, the Reverend Joseph Stile, a Georgia soldier of the 53rd Regiment of the Confederate Army, in an appeal to the Confederate states, wrote a treatise called National Rectitude, The Only True Basis of National Prosperity. And this is what he wrote. In arranging the evidence of our grand national duty. It becomes us to remember that God is the one great witness of earth. National rectitude therefore demands national consecration to the which his kingdom is established by the word of God. Man has but two possible objects of supreme pursuit. Two, only two. God or the world. The very first work of life is to choose between them. We will continue to flesh out more of the theopolitical truths of God's word and the foundations of American liberty against tyrannical rulers when we continue in our exposition of 2 Samuel. And this we shall do, God helping us, unto the praise of the glory of his grace. Amen.