The Minor Profits

[0:00] Not long ago, and that would have been in 1980, which would be about 40 years ago from the time he was speaking, and I'm quoting from the pen of Dr. James Montgomery Boyce, who for a number of years was the pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, a very historic church, and he followed there in the train of Dr. Donald Gray Barnhouse, outstanding Bible teacher, and Dr. Boyce was as well.

[0:36] He's with the Lord now. He passed away a number of years ago to a rare kind of cancer, but these are his comments that I'm going to be sharing with you for a few moments from the minor prophets, and he begins by quoting, saying, Not long ago, Dr. George Gallup, president of the American Institute of Public Opinion, delivered an address at Princeton Theological Seminary in which he asked a question, Is America's faith for real?

[1:09] He found many factors that might lead us to reply in the affirmative. 81% of Americans claim to be religious, which places them second only to Italians, whose rating is 83%.

[1:25] 95% of Americans believe in God. 71% believe in life after death. 84% believe in heaven.

[1:36] 67% believe in hell. 76% believe in hell.

[2:09] no religious affiliation. Most say that religion plays a very important role in their lives, one-fourth claim to lead a very Christian life. Yet, that is only one side of the story.

[2:25] Although four in five consider themselves to be religious, quote-unquote, only one in five says that religion is the most influential factor in his or her life. Most want religious education for their children, but religious faith ranks far below many other traits that parents would like to see developed in their offspring. Only one in eight says that he or she would consider sacrificing everything for religious beliefs or God. Gallup says, a glaring lack of knowledge of the Ten Commandments and about the basic facts of our religious heritage, a high level of credulity, a lack of spiritual discipline, and a continuing anti-intellectual strain in the religious life of most Americans. In a nation that considers itself religious, only one individual in eight claims that religion actually makes a significant difference in his or her life. And I would question his repeated use of the word religion, but I'm sure he's using it because he knows it's a term that people identify with. But the Bible uses the word religion, I think, one time in all of Scripture.

[4:00] And I believe it was Peter who used it in one of his epistles. But someone has said that religion religion is described as man's efforts to get to God, whereas Christianity is God's effort to get to man.

[4:22] And it's a big difference. We're talking about Zechariah and the time in which he lived, and be reminded that the time frame is, this is after the time they spent in Babylon into the 70-year captivity.

[4:44] This is referred to as the post-captivity period. The prophet Jeremiah and others had repeatedly warned the people of Judah that God was going to judge them for their idolatry, and he's going to use, of all people, a pagan heathen neighbor to do it. And of course, that was Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. And he invaded, they tore down the temple, broke down the walls and everything, carried the people off into captivity to Babylon, where they would remain for 70 years until the time came for them to return.

[5:19] And Zechariah is addressing the nation that has returned. Although, out of all of those Jews who went into Babylonian captivity in 586 BC, only about 20% of them returned to Israel. The remainder stayed there because, after all, having been situated and relocated, even in a foreign country where you begin to pick up the customs, you begin to learn the language, and people are marrying and having children and having grandchildren, and they really got quite settled in. So they just stayed there and only about 20% return.

[6:05] And they will be led by Zerubbabel, who will be the Jewish governor, and Nehemiah, who will be the wall builder to reestablish the fortifications that the Babylonians had earlier torn down.

[6:19] So Zechariah is addressing the crowd of Jews that have returned from captivity. Most of them are second and third generation, because the older generation died off in the land of Babylon.

[6:33] So what we have here, beginning in chapter 7 of Zechariah, is a description of what was taking place in this land.

[6:47] And the prophet Zechariah is calling these people to task for the principal vice of hypocrisy. Now one would think that these people would have learned their lesson from that captivity period, but you've got to understand something. The way human nature is, is that each generation has to learn for itself. Each generation can benefit from the previous generations, but cannot traffic in that entirely. So when the new generation comes on the scene, you've got to start the teaching all over again. As has been pointed out a number of times, it only takes one generation generation for the values that the present generation holds dear to be lost, to be forfeited.

[7:43] And we are in danger of that right now. So what he is addressing, what Zechariah is addressing, is a new kind of hypocrisy that has sprung up among these ancient people known as the Israelites, as they have returned to the land. And he's going to address the subject of hypocrisy.

[8:03] And I do not think there is such a thing as a person living anywhere, including Christians, including myself, that has not had brushes with hypocrisy. It is systemic to our old nature.

[8:21] And hypocrisy can best be defined by simply saying, you behave in a way contrary to what you say you believe. That's a pretty simple definition of hypocrisy. And that is a big objection that a lot of people have to our churches.

[8:41] And you've probably heard someone say, I wouldn't waste my time going to church. There's too many hypocrites there in the church. And my usual response to that is, you're right. And there's always room for one more.

[8:58] Because every one of us is tinged to one degree or another with some hypocrisy. There isn't a one of us that has ever lived the Christian life faithfully, consistently, without any contradiction.

[9:15] It's just not in us to do that. So we keep coming back to the standard that is set for us. And we invoke the principle of repentance, which is changing our mind and going to God in regard to our sin and receiving the forgiveness that is there.

[9:34] But it's a very real problem because we've got a lot of this going on in our nation right now. When people who are in respected positions of leadership and have been proclaiming the truth of the gospel and extolling the Christian life, still made of flesh and feet of clay, and when they fall, and we all know, we see it happening all around us from time to time, when they fall, the world can't wait to gloat.

[10:17] Aha! And you are a Christian. And you know what? They've got a point. It is embarrassing to our God.

[10:30] And this is one of the things that Zechariah is taking to task. Let me share this with you a little bit because Dr. Boyce has put it so well. If I could say it as well as he did, I would, but I can't.

[10:41] So I'll just give you what he's got here. This is in the midst of building the temple or rebuilding the temple. Actually, the temple that Solomon built has been ruined, just leveled.

[10:53] Now they're building a new temple. It is under construction. As of the time we are reading this, in Zechariah, the temple was about halfway finished.

[11:05] And the question comes up about fasting. The Bible doesn't say much about fasting. Well, let me just share this with you. Feasting or fasting?

[11:17] This matter of religious indifference fills the middle portion, chapters 7 and 8, of the book of Zechariah. By the time these words were written, approximately two years had passed since the prophet had received the visions of chapters 1 through 6, and we've already considered those.

[11:37] The temple was now halfway to completion. Seeing this, a delegation from the outlying town of Bethel had come to Jerusalem to ask the priests and prophets whether it was proper for them to continue a fast, marking the destruction of the temple that they and their fathers had been observing since the fall of Jerusalem 70 years before.

[12:08] The Mosaic law had established only one fast for Israel, the fast of the Day of Atonement. And even then, the fast was only a part of that day's observance.

[12:23] But since the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians, the Jews of the exile had been observing a series of fasts designed around significant moments in the siege of Jerusalem.

[12:36] On the 17th day of the fourth month, Thamos, which corresponds roughly to our month of July, they mourned the capture of the city.

[12:47] On the ninth day of the fifth month, Ab, which corresponds to our month of August, they remembered the burning of the city and the destruction of the beautiful temple by Nebuchadnezzar.

[13:00] On the third of the seventh month, Tishri, our month October, they commemorated the assassination of Gedaliah and massacre of the 80 men from Shechem, Shiloh and Samaria, as recorded in Jeremiah chapter 4.

[13:18] On the 10th day of the 10th month, Tebeth, January, they fasted in memory of the day Nebuchadnezzar began his siege of the embattled city. The fasts were appropriate during the exile as a device.

[13:33] Now, I think this is an important statement. I want you to pick up on this. The fasts were appropriate during the exile, 70 years, of the people's past, keeping the memory of the people's past alive.

[13:48] But now that the temple was on its way to being built, it was a valid question as to whether a fast marking the destruction of the temple was appropriate.

[14:00] Unfortunately, the people of Bethel had failed to see that in God's sight the matter was far more important than simply whether or not a traditional fast should be celebrated.

[14:13] This fast, and the others like it, had been perverted into what was by this time merely an empty and superstitious formalism, just as had happened earlier in Israel's history and has happened since in many religious communions.

[14:34] The reply of God was to move the people away from mere formalism toward seeking God. People can content themselves with some kind of a thought about having a connection with God if they've got some kind of foldy roll, some kind of ritual, some kind of practice that they can go through that allows them to pat themselves on the back that they did it and that God surely is keeping score and that ought to be worth a few points.

[15:12] And in so many instances, it's nothing but religious formalism, tradition, that is virtually worthless.

[15:23] I'd like you to turn to Isaiah chapter 55 and then we'll come back to Zechariah. Isaiah chapter 55 because he deals with the same kind of issue only it is many generations earlier than what Zechariah is talking about.

[15:38] But as I pointed out to you, every generation has its own problems and its own foibles. And it is Isaiah 55, which by the way was written about 700 years before Christ was born.

[15:57] And we've just got to jump in here. Let's see. I'm sorry.

[16:08] That's not what I want. I want Isaiah 58. Isaiah 58. It has to do with the observances of fasts. Isaiah says, Cry loudly.

[16:20] Do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet and declare to my people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins.

[16:30] And this is in keeping with what we pointed out last week about the responsibility of the prophet is to deliver information from God. And very often, it is not good news.

[16:44] Very often, it is warning and threat. But that is also balanced by there being prophetic blessings that are promised for the future.

[16:55] And these same prophets are charged with the responsibility of delivering the good news, not just the bad news. But both are essential. And he is talking here to the people who are engaging in fasting.

[17:09] And he says, Yet, verse 2, They seek me day by day and delight to know my ways as a nation that has done righteousness and has not forsaken the ordinance of their God.

[17:25] They ask me for just decisions. They delight in the nearness of God. Why have we fasted and thou dost not see? Now, what Isaiah is saying here is simply this.

[17:40] Okay, so we're going to fast and we're going to concentrate and focus upon spiritual things and the person and the character of God. And to marshal all of our resources, all of our mental powers and spiritual powers, we are going to deprive ourselves of food so that we can focus entirely on spiritual food.

[18:06] And the implication is, and what Isaiah is talking about here, they expect God to reward them for that and they want to know, hey, God, where's the payoff?

[18:19] We've been fasting, we've been doing religious things, but you haven't come through. What's going on? And that's the meaning of this statement here when it says, verse 3, why have we fasted and thou dost not see?

[18:35] In other words, have we gone without food for nothing? The idea is, they went without food in order to get something. And you know, a lot of people, a lot of people calculate their giving that way.

[18:51] And it works. I don't know if you've noticed, well, you've probably noticed because you can't, you probably can't help but notice. There are numbers of faith healers on television, I call them the name it, glam it, blab it, grab it crowd, you know.

[19:08] They're materialists and that's all they preach all the time. And everything is, God wants you healthy and wealthy and prosperous and all the rest of this nonsense. And if you will sow your seed of faith and send us your best offering, see if God will not open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing for you, blah, blah, blah, blah.

[19:33] And you know, that kind of thinking can appeal to a lot of people, especially if they are financially desperate and they are gullible and they're looking for some kind of quick income and you'd be amazed at how it works.

[19:48] And the idea is these people, back in Isaiah's day, fasting, they were going without, doing without, they were doing without in order to get.

[20:00] And a lot of people, a lot of people in the Christian community gauge their giving with the intent of receiving.

[20:14] They don't give to be giving, they give to be getting. And there is a huge difference. And this is why, this is why Paul says in writing to the Corinthians that God loves a cheerful giver.

[20:29] one who gives not grudgingly or of necessity. If you give grudgingly, it means when you write out the check to the church or to some Christian organization, you're saying to yourself, man, I'd really rather use this money for thus and so.

[20:50] But, I'm under this obligation and I, it's, I, as a Christian, I committed Christians, I have to give.

[21:01] So I'm going to write out this check and drop it in the offering plate. That's, that's giving out of necessity. And God wants you to give freely. He wants you, if you cannot give without wanting to give, don't give.

[21:21] Because it doesn't count with heaven. It has to be given joyfully. It has to be given without grudging. And that's a big item because most of us, let's face it, we're only human and we all have needs and we all have obligations and we all have bills to pay, et cetera.

[21:41] So all of these things come into play and, and it's, it's entirely possible to give generously but to do it with a wrong motive.

[21:53] And my advice to anybody who's going to do that is don't give. Keep it. Do something else with it. If you cannot give with the right attitude, don't give. So, why have we fasted and you do not see?

[22:08] Why have we humbled ourselves and thou dost not notice? Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire and drive hard all your workers. Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist.

[22:23] You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high. Is it a fast like this which I choose a day for a man to humble himself? Is it for bowing one's head like a reed and for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed?

[22:40] Will you call this a fast even an acceptable day to the Lord? Is this not the fast which I chose? And here Isaiah is saying, you want to know what kind of a fast God wants you to fast with?

[22:58] Alright, here it is. To loosen the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke.

[23:10] Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into the house when you see the naked to cover him and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light will break out like the dawn and your recovery will speedily spring forth and your righteousness will go before you.

[23:27] The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, then you will call and the Lord will answer. You will cry and he will say, here I am. If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, and if you give yourself to the hungry, satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom will become like midday and the Lord will continually guide you and satisfy your desire in scorched places and give strength to your bones, and you will be like a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters do not fail, and those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins, you will raise up the age-old foundations, you will be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of the streets in which to dwell.

[24:16] If because of the Sabbath you turn your foot from doing your own pleasure on my holy day and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord, honorable, and shall honor it.

[24:28] See, what this is all about is attitude. It's all about attitude. You can go through motions outwardly and make a show like the Pharisees and the scribes did. When they would go to put their money in the treasury, they would make sure that people were watching and everybody would want to know, oh, here comes Mr., here comes a local Pharisee, Mr. Gotbuck's, and he's got a heavy change purse with him that's probably laden with gold coins, and everybody stands there to watch and to see as he puts his coins in.

[25:00] And Jesus said about all of that to his disciples, he said, take heed how you give. It's interesting. He didn't say take heed what you give.

[25:13] Take heed how you give. Some gave out of their plenty, but this poor woman, he said, with the widow's might, gave out of her poverty.

[25:26] The difference between the two was attitude, desire, and the poor woman had it with her meager portion.

[25:40] Come back now, if you would, please, to Zechariah. Zechariah chapter 6, or 7, I'm sorry. And verse 4, then the word of the Lord came, the word of the Lord of hosts came to me saying, say to all the people of the land and to the priest, when you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month these 70 years, was it actually for me that you fasted?

[26:09] And when you eat and drink, do you not eat for yourselves and do you not drink for yourselves? Are not these the words which the Lord proclaimed by the former prophets when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous with its cities around it and the Negev and the foothills were inhabited?

[26:26] Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah saying, Thus has the Lord of hosts said, dispense dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother and do not oppress the widow or the orphan the stranger or the poor and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another and these people were thinking that their fasting could somehow compensate for all of this neglect.

[26:57] Well, it won't and it doesn't because God's not unaware of what you're doing. He knows. He reads the heart. And verse 11 says, But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing and they made their hearts like flint.

[27:19] This means they, another way you could say this, made their hearts like flint, you could say they dug in their heels would not be moved so that they could not hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by his prophet through the former prophets.

[27:33] Therefore, the great wrath came from the Lord of hosts and it came about that just as he called and they would not listen so they called and I would not listen says the Lord of hosts but I scattered them.

[27:51] I scattered them with a storm wind among all the nations whom they have not known. Thus, the land is desolated behind them so that no one went back and forth for they made the pleasant land desolate.

[28:10] Wow. Speaking about the fasting thing, come back if you would please to Matthew's Gospel chapter 6.

[28:24] Not too far away from where we are. Matthew chapter 6 and then we will open this for some Q&A. And we will not take time to read what is commonly referred to as the Lord's Prayer or the model prayer that begins in verse 9.

[28:47] But I want you to look down at verse 16 and Jesus says and whenever you fast do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do.

[29:03] Now this whole fasting thing like was pointed out earlier there was only one day out of the whole year that the nation of Israel had a prescribed fast that God actually instituted the fast and told him to fast.

[29:20] And that was on the Day of Atonement and that was in October it was Yom Kippur and it was the day when the priest would go into the Holy of Holies and spread the blood on the mercy seat and so on.

[29:32] That was one time out of the whole year. Other times when someone would fast they could do so out of great desire to focus to concentrate on spiritual things or it might be a fast that was driven by grief or by sorrow because there are things that can come into our lives negatively that overwhelm us to the extent that we just have no appetite at all.

[30:10] We have no interest in eating anything. Food has no appeal to us. It's a kind of an involuntary fast. And then there is the fast that is very deliberate where someone is with the right motive and that's everything.

[30:25] That's everything fellows. If we don't have the if the motive isn't right it doesn't make any difference what the deed is. God is not impressed. And when when we undertake a genuine fast because of an intent to focus and to concentrate and to put out all of the distractions of the world and anything and everything that would come into our minds that's a special kind of fast and the Bible doesn't require that.

[31:00] I do remember that sometimes when really serious things were to be undertaken they would enter into a period of fast. Remember when Paul and Barnabas were going to be sent out from Antioch in Syria on their very first missionary journey and they called the elders of the assembly together and they had a time of fasting and prayer and they laid hands on them not that they imparted some kind of mysterious power to them by laying on hands but in laying on hands it was a mark of identifying with those people and you were getting on board with them and what it was they were going to be doing it was your way of demonstrating that you were behind them and the people would fast under a certain circumstance like that and it could have great spiritual benefit.

[31:56] That's an entirely different kind of thing and we don't know much about that today. Let's face it we're more into feasting than we are fasting and I'm not saying that there's something special about it or that it's something that everybody ought to do but it is a biblical concept yet it is not one that is commanded of the Lord except for the Jew on that one particular day.

[32:20] So what we're talking about here in Matthew chapter 6 and verse 16 is whenever you fast Jesus is talking to the crowd here whenever you fast do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do for they neglect their appearance in order to be seen fasting by men.

[32:49] Truly I say to you they have their reward in full and what is their reward? It's the recognition that people give them when they walk by and Jesus is saying same principle here in the chapter of the same chapter in verse 7 he says when you are praying do not use meaningless repetitions as the Gentiles do for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words and there was a way in which you could fast so that you could actually paint the face.

[33:26] Now I don't know how that was done or to what extent but what it was was was an outward signal to everybody that you were fasting and some of these would put on this paraphernalia whatever it was go and stand on a busy street corner in Jerusalem with their heads bowed mumbling a prayer that they would repeat over and over and over and as people would walk by of course they would notice you couldn't help but notice and nobody would interrupt him nobody would say anything because the man was praying and two hours later after people had done their business in the agora in the marketplace they would walk by again and the guy's still there and he's still got his fasting face on and he's still praying and he's mumbling and the idea is people are to look at such and one and say my what a holy holy man why he's been standing out here in the heat of the day praying like this he was out here wasn't wasn't he praying when we came by the first time yeah it's the same guy my I wish I had that kind of faith and

[34:40] Jesus says the man's got his reward it's the recognition that he wants from others and they are giving it and it makes him look so good it is amazing guys how much we do with the intent that people will notice and give us credit for it and how many times do we see pictures in the paper where somebody's giving a five thousand dollar check to so and so and they're standing there for the camera you know for the picture to be taken looking like oh wait this is my better profile this is to be seen of men and Jesus says when you fast don't go through all that paraphernalia the fasting is between you and the Lord it's not between you to put on display for other people so that they can honor and admire you and yet that's the way the human ego feeds on itself and it's a kind of spiritual thing that the Lord simply roundly condemns time and again they have their reward in full when you fast anoint your head wash your face so that men may not be seen fasting by men but your father who is in secret and your father who sees in secret he will repay you wow what a principle and this is exactly the kind of attitude and thing that

[36:10] Zechariah is describing and dealing with here as he relates to these people who are rebuilding Jerusalem rebuilding the temple Nehemiah is busy building the wall and this is going to bring us to a conclusion with chapter 7 and it all deals with the attitude that was taking place of the people have you other comments or questions we'll open it up now if we may for anything you would like to share anybody yeah Don when you were talking about fasting I read a lot of history and so forth on the west and in every tribe a young warrior would go to the mountain by himself and just not eat and drink until the spirit moved him somewhere along the line it was the type of fasting that they went through so even though they weren't Christian or anything else they fasted so people probably fasted without having the religious connection oh I'm sure I'm sure and at the base of most of it was an effort to dismiss all peripheral worldly attractions and invitations so as to focus and concentrate on just one thing yeah Joe and there is truth and there's been many studies done that fasting actually makes you stronger physically you wouldn't think so but depriving yourself of food for a short time your body is no longer digesting food and working to do that fasting can make you do things that you couldn't do before it makes you think better too there's been studies of this fasting just gives you this energy and this strength to do things that you could never do before

[37:56] I have heard that and I've heard others testify of it honestly I can't give a personal testimony about it because you could tell I haven't missed a great many meals so I can't say that I have any real beneficial experience from fasting but I've talked with enough people over the years who have and from a purely therapeutic standpoint I think in connection with what Joe said I think that's been demonstrated medically that there can be real benefit physically to your body to your organs and to your digestive system and everything else and anybody that wants to do it just needs to needs to take into consideration certain things you need to have decent health to start with you don't want to be compromised in your health and do that and even if you are fasting you need to make sure you stay very well hydrated that's very important and yeah yeah your body eliminates it's a lot of toxins and waste products that it doesn't have time to work on because you're putting new ones in it all the time so it gets rid of a lot of toxins and bad things in your body okay this is a voice of experience speaking yes don't think on history I keep thinking when I read these about the Jews coming back sometimes I think it's because

[39:17] Nibaret knew he wanted to put a buffer between himself and Egypt a wall between him and Egypt in other words it was a military thing as well as oh yeah yeah absolutely absolutely any other comments or questions anybody John Adams John Adams our second president and Roger touched on it I can't quote it exactly but I can give you the gist of it that our constitution is drafted only for a nation of moral people moral religious people and it will not fit any other and we're dealing with some of that right now we're dealing with some of that right now and you know the thing that is so valuable the thing that is so valuable about our constitution is that it sets forth principles of government and it really was never designed by our founding fathers to set forth the rights of the government in power it was designed to set forth the rights of the people and the intention was guys to limit the power of government and if you understand where these founding fathers were coming from it makes great sense where they were where were they coming from they were coming from England and they were under the oppressive power and authority of England and all they were saying was we want to make sure that this document that we are drafting will not allow a government of that kind to come into power here in this nation so that we have to repeat this thing all over again it was designed to set forth the freedom the liberty the rights of the people and to limit the government the role of government but somehow that tends to get turned on its ear yes wasn't it a big to do between

[41:45] Hamilton and Jefferson and those because Hamilton wanted that big government control so they even the constitution was a little bit of a compromise yeah you're right you're right you're right very loosely yeah and you know and most of us most of us don't know that these men had some real knock-down drag-out fights in drafting the Constitution actually when they met for that constitutional convention it wasn't to establish the Constitution at all that wasn't in their mind at all what they met for and their objective was to revise the articles of Confederation yeah when they weren't working but that was drawn up earlier and when they were put into practice it came to the attention of a number of our founding fathers this isn't working this is not workable we're not going to be able we we can't function with this so they came together with the intent of revising reworking the articles of

[42:58] Confederation and ended up scrapping the whole thing and started anew and we hold these truths to be self-evident that's the way they started and and it well that's that's the Declaration of Independence but as Joe Biden would say you know the thing yeah yeah yeah during that whole period in the states states rights yeah the federal government yeah they were working yeah set forth the Constitution set forth the responsibility of the federal government and one was taxation people had the country had to have the power to tax people you had they had to have that and the second thing was to provide for the national defense and had the ability to raise an army and for the manufacture of currency and these things were essential and it just listed just a few of these and then then it made this significant statement and it said every other area not covered by these shall reside in the power of the states and the people and that's where the basis of states rights came in yeah the states follow the same philosophy passing it on down to local jurisdiction that's right local home rule that's right became the that's the way if if if the counties didn't know what are you the townships if townships could handle everything in the township everything would be great you wouldn't have to have a county government yeah townships took care of things you know but they didn't so then you had a county government that had to take care of things that they did but then the state takes care of things that the counties don't do yeah see if counties would take care of their problems and and the people and governing the people fine everything was wonderful down here you wouldn't have to have a state patrol police the sheriff could take care of it but it doesn't keeps going up until there's a problem at the lower level you know then higher higher it goes up exactly and this is this is our government is an ongoing experiment it always has been you know and that's why we have built-in possibilities of change and and the statement has been made that there's nothing sacred about the Constitution that's true it's not a sacred document it is a document of logic and of reason and it is a document that enabled our founding fathers to take into consideration the basic fallenness of humanity and address that by the way they drafted their laws and as I pointed out before this was the very basis for their government that would be comprised of three elements legislative that makes and drafts the laws the executive that enforces the laws and carries the laws out and the judiciary that provides the courts and the legal aspects of it and all of these are needed and you do not best total power in any one of them but each one is a check and a balance on the other two that's the way it was designed and the reason it was was because our founding fathers understood something about human nature you cannot put too much power and authority in the control of one individual because the potential to abuse it is too great and they recognize that so bottom line is this and I've I've always believed this and I believe it even more now and that is in our fallenness as a humanity

[47:05] we are simply unable and I emphasize that word we are unable to enact a government that will dispense justice and righteousness consistently on an ongoing basis it just isn't in us we don't have that ability but the problem is there are a lot of people who think we do and you would be surprised how many people think they talk about communism and socialism and we say well every place it has been tried it's failed it's never worked and they they'll grudgingly admit that yes it's true it's failed but do you know why it failed the right people were not in charge and if you just put the right people in charge we'll make it work vote for us and well that's that's the end of my politics anybody else have anything to share you know that theory of uh state rights carried clear up until the civil war yeah after the civil war was lost that it now becomes the federal government down that's true and that's that's a you know that's that's a real mixed bag because you're you're absolutely right uh don the the civil war a lot of people think that the civil war was fought principally over slavery but that's not true no it's just that slavery slavery was the most obvious got the most press evoked the most emotion and set forth the greatest injustice because it was easy to see injustice in slavery but the states rights thing was simply this that if a state if the state in its sovereignty wanted to have and support slavery it could and the other states could not prevent it that's states rights and what lincoln and others determined was that that aspect of states rights needed to be overridden and it was and there's still a big debate going on as to whether or not that should have happened and uh uh i like i don't know of anything more inhumane or more gross than enslaving another human being and and treating them like cattle i like to point out that the battle of gettysburg those 15 000 confederates lined up to charge the union lines how many of them were slaveholders yeah not a handful yeah probably then were state rights probably yeah it was that was that was that was the big item and lincoln's lincoln's big thing in fact lincoln's only thing the slavery was secondary and his first foremost objective was the preservation of the union more than anything else and i don't know if you realize or not but by the way if you want a great read get the book nothing like it in the world uh it was written by uh what's his name who what's his name yeah what's his name uh steven steven uh steven ambrose steven ambrose he's written a number of military things but he wrote this and it's on the transcontinental railroad fabulous read you want a book that is really great nothing like it in the world is the title of it and steven ambrose wrote it and the transcontinental railroad came about primarily primarily because it

[51:06] was pushed by lincoln and the reason he was behind it so much was because california was threatening to secede from the union and he desperately wanted to keep california in the union and his thinking was to connect the east and the west with that railroad would go a long ways toward doing that and of course it had that effect but that is a fabulous read i really recommend that book anything else before we dismiss i'm already over my time hey guys thanks for being here this morning i appreciate your presence and uh look forward to seeing you next week good lord willing and the creek don't rise