Introduction and Personal Anecdote

Weaver introduces the topic with Leviticus 19:32 and a personal story about speaking with Confederate veterans, emphasizing the wisdom of the aged.

Leviticus 19:32: "Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the Lord." You're going to see the significance of this verse in just a few moments, but I want to bring a message today which I've entitled "Jefferson Davis Revisited." Years ago, we had in our hometown a man by the name of General Bush. Actually, he was a private, but he was the last surviving Confederate veteran in Fitzgerald, Georgia. And of course, everyone, just out of respect, referred to him as General Bush. In fact, we have pictures of him in some of the old Confederate reunions. Sometime after Alice and I were married many years back, Granny Doris was having some surgery in Tifton, Georgia. She came through the surgery fine, and so Alice's father and I, and Alice, went out to dinner while she was in the recovery room.

And Pop and I got to talking about the War of Northern Aggression. And he said, "Now when I talked to those soldiers, they told me..." I said, "What? Would you repeat that?" He said, "Yes, when I talked to those soldiers." And it just dawned on me, here was someone—and Pop didn't die until he was 89—here was someone who hobnobbed and fraternized with innumerable Confederate soldiers who had survived well into the 1900s.

Jefferson Davis: A Christian Statesman

A brief biographical sketch of Jefferson Davis highlighting his character, accomplishments, and Christian faith, supported by a testimony from J. William Jones.

And I thought about everything that we could learn from the hoary heads, from the old men. This year is supposed to be the year of Jefferson Davis. In fact, this year we would be celebrating his 200th birthday. So Davis would have been 200 this year. He was born in Christian County, now Todd County, Kentucky, on June the 3rd, 1808. And he died in New Orleans, Louisiana, December the 5th, 1889. His father, Samuel Davis, not only served in the Georgia cavalry during the Revolution, but also Jefferson Davis came from good stock and he carried a worthy name. Jefferson Davis was the only president of the Confederacy.

And I can assure you that if he were alive, I would vote for him again today. You know, the current bumper sticker that you see from time to time says, "Don't blame me for the mess that we're in. I voted for Jeff Davis." I've got news for you folks. I'd much rather write in the name of Jefferson Davis than I had to vote for any of the living candidates today. In my estimation, a dead statesman is a whole lot more worthy than a living politician. Davis was not only a decorated war veteran, he was a statesman. He graduated from West Point in 1828. He married the daughter of Zachary Taylor in 1835, but shortly thereafter, she died of malaria. In 1845, Jeff Davis married Varina Howell, who was the daughter of a Mississippi aristocrat and plantation owner. He successfully ran for the House of Representatives, only to resign in 1846 to accompany his former father-in-law to Texas preparing for the Mexican-American War. He was a United States Senator. He was Secretary of War.

He was a man of wisdom. He was a man of common sense. But above all, he was a Christian. I want to just take a moment and read to you part of a testimony that J. William Jones gave of Jefferson Davis. J. William Jones was not only a preacher and a chaplain and an author and a theologian, but he was indeed alive during that period. He knew Jefferson Davis. He knew Robert E. Lee. He knew all of these men. And so after Davis had died, here is part of the testimony that J. William Jones gave concerning Jefferson Davis.

He said, and I'm quoting, "Those who were willing to sacrifice self for the cause, who were willing to bear trials for its success, who were willing to reap sorrow and poverty, that victory might be won, will ever cherish the name of Jefferson Davis, for to all such he was a glorious peer and a most worthy leader. I would be ashamed of my own unworthiness if I did not venerate Lee. I would scorn my own nature if I did not love Davis. I would question my own integrity and patriotism if I did not honor and admire them both. There are some who affect to praise Lee and condemn Davis, but of all such, Lee himself would be ashamed. No two leaders ever leaned on each other in such beautiful trust and absolute confidence. Hand in hand and heart to heart, they moved in front of the dire struggle of their people for independence, a noble pair of brothers. And if fidelity to right, endurance to trials, and sacrifice of self for others can win a place, can win title to a place with the good and the great hereafter, then Davis and Lee will meet where wars are not waged, and slanders are not heard, and as heart to heart, and as wing to wing they fly through the courts of heaven, admiring angels will say, 'What a noble pair of brothers.'"

But it was especially in his private life and in his home that his Christian character shone most clearly. A diligent student of God's Word, a man of prayer, and a believer in prayer, a regular attendant on church services, fond of conversation on religious topics and of a consistent Christian walk, I had in my intimate personal intercourse with him the most abundant evidence that he took Christ as his personal Savior, that he rested in a childlike trust in the grand old doctrine of salvation by grace, justification by faith, and that he rejoiced in the sweet comforts and precious hope of the gospel. Grand old hero of mighty conflicts, ever true to God, to country, to duty. Thou hast fought thy last battle. Thou hast left behind a stainless name. Thou hast won thy last great victory. Thou hast joined Lee and Jackson and Stuart and host of men who wore the gray and were soldiers of the cross as well as soldiers of their country. Thou dost now rest from thy labors and wear thy fadeless crown.

Now let me just tell you, I am not going to give you a biographical sketch of Jefferson Davis today. What I want to convey to you is his passion, his conviction, his courage, and his fighting spirit. I want to convey the principles that he embraced. You know, Robert E. Lee said, "History is not about battles and generals, it is about principles." We have to understand as we look around in our day and time in 2008, listen carefully, that the exact same problems that we are facing today were exactly the same set of problems that our forefathers faced in 1861 through 1865. If you will study that time of history, you will find that the southern people were frustrated and oppressed because of high taxes, loss of personal rights, increased bureaucracy, governmental control, decline of states' rights, the usurpation of the federal government in Washington, D.C., and the threat of northern dominance. That's exactly where we are today. The same principles exist. In fact, Jefferson Davis said this: "The principle for which we contend is bound to reassert itself, though it be at another time in another form." So it is another time, it is another form, yet it is the same principle that we're fighting today. Do you realize there still abides in the bosom of most southern individuals a desire to be free? Wouldn't it be wonderful if you could just wake up one day and realize you are now being left alone by the government?

Parallels Between 1861 and 2008

Weaver draws direct parallels between the grievances of the South in 1861 and modern issues such as high taxes, loss of rights, and federal overreach.

Now let me just tell you, I am not going to give you a biographical sketch of Jefferson Davis today. What I want to convey to you is his passion, his conviction, his courage, and his fighting spirit. I want to convey the principles that he embraced. You know, Robert E. Lee said, "History is not about battles and generals, it is about principles." We have to understand as we look around in our day and time in 2008, listen carefully, that the exact same problems that we are facing today were exactly the same set of problems that our forefathers faced in 1861 through 1865. If you will study that time of history, you will find that the southern people were frustrated and oppressed because of high taxes, loss of personal rights, increased bureaucracy, governmental control, decline of states' rights, the usurpation of the federal government in Washington, D.C., and the threat of northern dominance. That's exactly where we are today. The same principles exist. In fact, Jefferson Davis said this: "The principle for which we contend is bound to reassert itself, though it be at another time in another form." So it is another time, it is another form, yet it is the same principle that we're fighting today. Do you realize there still abides in the bosom of most southern individuals a desire to be free? Wouldn't it be wonderful if you could just wake up one day and realize you are now being left alone by the government?

You have the right to live your life under God as you please. Wouldn't that be absolutely phenomenal? That you could awake and say, "Hey, there's no governmental interference, there's no governmental domination, there's no governmental confiscation. No, no, I've got real liberty and I've got real freedom." That's what Jefferson Davis spoke about and fought for. In fact, Jefferson Davis addressed the Mississippi legislature in 1881 and he said this, listen carefully: "The contest is not over. The strife is not ended. It is only entered upon a new and enlarged arena." The contest is not over, folks. The strife is not ended. Why is it that the contest is not over and the strife is not ended? Let me tell you why. Because principles do not die. Principles do not have funerals. They will not die and they cannot die. All of us have seen the bumper sticker

with a picture of the old Confederate soldier there holding the flag and underneath it says, "Hell no, I ain't forgetting." And I think that bumper sticker is very appropriate today. It's not just the war and the rape and the pillage and the plunder that we're not forgetting. No, no. It's the principles for which the South stood and for which the South fought. We have biblical principles as well as constitutional principles and we need to revisit those principles. That's why I read in Leviticus 19:32, "Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, honor the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the Lord." There are things that we need to learn from the hoary heads that have taught us down through the ages. It's high time we learn to revisit the old paths. You remember Jeremiah 6:16 says, "Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, wherein is the good way, and walk therein, and you shall find rest for your souls." Now listen, God said, you ask for the old paths, you stand in those ways, and you walk therein, and you'll find rest for your souls.

The Old Paths and Biblical Principles

Using Jeremiah 6:16, Weaver urges a return to the old paths of righteousness and liberty, warning against rejecting them like apostate Israel.

That's why I read in Leviticus 19:32, "Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, honor the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the Lord." There are things that we need to learn from the hoary heads that have taught us down through the ages. It's high time we learn to revisit the old paths. You remember Jeremiah 6:16 says,

Now listen, God said, you ask for the old paths, you stand in those ways, and you walk therein, and you'll find rest for your souls. But you know what the Israelites said in answer to that?

We don't want the old ways. We don't want the right paths. So the question has to be asked, are we going to be like those apostate Israelites who refuse to walk in the old paths? Do you think that there can be any improvement upon the gospel that you just heard preached? Do you think there can be any improvement upon righteousness and liberty and freedom and character and common sense? Ask yourself. Are the principles of liberty and freedom and independence out of date?

We have become a society not only of governmentally dominated people and governmentally controlled, we have become a people who are governmentally supplied. We have become the welfare generation and we want the government to give us everything. It is so unbelievable how people have fallen for the welfare trap. And yet, President Davis has a few words for individuals who want government to take care of them from the cradle to the grave, from the womb to the tomb.

The Nature of Lawful Resistance

Weaver argues that breaking tyrannical laws is justified, citing the American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence as precedents for secession.

He said this: "Those who submit to such consequences without resistance are not worthy of the liberties and rights to which they were born and deserve to be made slaves. Such must be the verdict of mankind." He said, if you want the feds to take care of you, you deserve to be a slave. In the same vein, Jefferson Davis said, "Let not men ask what the law requires, but give whatever freedom demands." We have forgotten the demands of freedom and the fact that we're obligated to continue to fight for liberty and freedom. We have also forgotten, listen carefully, that oftentimes the law, quote unquote, can be contrary to liberty and freedom. Let me tell you what I'm talking about. Do you remember in 1776, the American colonists broke the law? They refused to pay the stamp tax. They refused to pay the tea tax. They threw the tea into the ocean. Now, what law were they breaking? Were they breaking the law of the land? Were they breaking God's law? Were they breaking constitutional law? I'm going to tell you the answer is no. They were breaking the law of a tyrant. They were breaking a usurped law because each of the colonies had their own constitution, had their own charters, and here Parliament came along making laws when none of the colonies were ever under Parliament. They had their own legislatures. And so the laws they broke were laws that were unconstitutional. They were usurped. They were laws of a tyrant. That is why the American colonists wrote the Declaration of Independence.

Let me read you just a paragraph: "That to secure these rights, the right to life, liberty, and property, that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it and institute a new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world." And then they begin to list some of these facts. "He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be attained. And when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend them. He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in their legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only."

Now, let me just tell you, you can take the secession doctrines of each state and you'll be amazed. In those secession documents, you will find basically the same language. I have just a page from the Georgia Declaration of Causes of Secession. It is basically six pages long. But it begins like this: "The people of Georgia, having dissolved their political connection with the government of the United States of America, present to their Confederates and the world the causes which have led to the separation. Past January the 29th, 1861. They, that is the federal government, they have endeavored to weaken our security, disturb our domestic peace and tranquility, and persistently refuse to comply with their express constitutional obligations to us in reference to that property and by use of their power in the federal government have striven to deprive us of an equal enjoyment of the common territories of the republic. The hostile policy of our Confederates have been pursued with every circumstance of aggravation, which could arouse the passions and excite the hatred of our people.

Secession as a Right, Not Rebellion

Jefferson Davis's defense of secession is presented: the South sought independence, not to preserve slavery, and the North used force when reason failed.

They go on and on. And it is amazing. When you read these secession documents, it's like almost reading the Declaration of Independence. You see, George III labeled the American colonists as rebels, and his ilk referred to the war as the Great Rebellion. I've told you repeatedly that rebellion can only be against the lawful authority. Where there is no lawful authority, it's resistance. But listen to what Jeff Davis said when Lincoln and his ilk referred to it as the Great Rebellion. Jeff Davis said, "If it were indeed a rebellion in which we were engaged, we might find ample vindication for the course we have adopted in the scenes which are now being enacted in the United States.

Let me paraphrase that for you. Jeff Davis said, you want to say that we're in rebellion? Well, if you look around, Mr. Lincoln, you'll find out why we're in rebellion. You'll find out about your tyranny and your wickedness and your ungodliness. Further, Jefferson Davis goes on to say this: "When certain sovereign and independent states form a union, with limited powers for some general purpose, and any one or more of them in the progress of time suffer unjust and oppressive grievances for which there is no redress but in a withdrawal from the association, is such a withdrawal an insurrection? If so, then of what advantage is the compact of the union to the states? Within the union are impressions and grievances. The attempt to go out brings war and subjugation.

The ambitious and aggressive states obtain possessions of the central authority, which having grown strong in the lapse of time, asserts its entire sovereignty over the states." Listen to what he said. If we go out, you're saying we're rebellious and you begin a war of subjugation. If we stay in, the more powerful and dominant states dominate us anyhow. What difference does it make? In his inaugural address, President Davis said it was necessity and not choice that led to the secession of the southern states. It was indeed the true policy of the South, since it was an agricultural economy, that that policy was peace. And when the South seceded, according to Jefferson Davis, we kept the constituent parts but not the system of the federal government. Simply stated, what Davis is saying is this: We kept the Constitution because the Constitution of the United States is in reality embodied in the Confederate Constitution. In fact, the Confederate Constitution was designed to preserve the principles of the United States Constitution. President Davis said, "I love the Union and the Constitution. But I had rather leave the Union with the Constitution than to stay in the Union without the Constitution."

He further explained the situation when he said, "Our situation illustrates the American idea that government rests upon the consent of the governed and that it is the right of the people to alter or abolish them whenever they become destructive of the ends for which they are established." And he says this: "I worked day and night for 12 years to prevent the war, but I could not. The North was mad and blind and would not let us govern ourselves, so the war came." Wow. Did you hear what he said? They would not let us govern ourselves. He didn't say they would not let us keep our slaves. They would not let us govern ourselves. The war was not over slavery, it was over independence. And may I remind you, the South did not invade the North, the North invaded the South. Has it ever occurred to you that basically speaking, there are only two ways to resolve conflicts?

The first way is through reason. I mean, you know, I can try to reason with you and get you to do what I would like you to do. But now if you can see through my reasoning or if my reasoning is false, you could say, "Look, there are loopholes in that reasoning and your reasoning is wrong and I'm not going to do it." Well, if I can't reason you into doing what I want you to do, if I'm bigger than you are and stronger than you are, then I can force you. Do you realize that's why Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers for three months? The South was not buying the reasoning of the North. And so Lincoln said, "Look, since I can't reason with you, I will force you." Do you realize that is exactly the same that is happening today in this land? Our government, our present-day government, tries to issue laws and regulations and bureaucracies and all this kind of thing just to get us to do what they want us to do. But if we don't abide by their reasoning or by their regulations or their rules or their laws, then they use force. Now, don't just think that this is applied to individuals.

Modern Federal Coercion and the Loss of Fighting Spirit

Weaver compares modern federal mandates and funding threats to 19th-century economic blackmail, lamenting the loss of the forefathers' fighting spirit.

It applies equally to the states. I suppose that everyone in this room has heard about mandates from the federal government, even unfunded mandates. What does that mean? It means the federal government issues a mandate and it tells the state, "You will do this and you will pay for it." Do you realize Jefferson Davis in his days, Congress basically blackmailed the states with their own monies? In other words, if you wanted internal improvements in your state, then you must literally pay the piper and dance to his tune. You must support the northern states. You must dig their canals. You must protect their manufacturing. You must provide high tariffs for their goods. You must basically redistribute the wealth from the south to the north.

I find it absolutely amazing that one of the threats that exists today from Washington, D.C. to the states is this: If you don't do what we say, if you do not do what we ask, we will cut off your federal funding. Would to God that I could be a state governor for one day. And you know what my response would be? Fine. You keep your money to yourself. By the way, we will keep our money in the state. We will not send you any money. And since we will not send you any money, we won't need your money. We'll have sufficient for our own state, and you won't have to steal from other states to give to us.

We have forgotten, "Thou shalt not steal" applies not only to individuals, but to governments as well. But the problem we have in this day and time is we've lost the fighting spirit of our forefathers. Jefferson Davis never lost that fighting spirit. In his first days around the new Capitol, he spent those first days reviewing troops and making speeches. He exhorted his men with these words, he said, that they were to remember the dignity of the contest and to smite the smiter with manly arms as our fathers did before us.

So what is he saying? You fight the way our forefathers fought for independence. And then he declared his own willingness to lay down his civil office and take command of the army should the extremity of the cause ever warrant such an action. Can you believe that? Here is the president saying, "I want you to smite the smiter with manly arms, I want you to remember the spirit of our forefathers, and I'll tell you, if push comes to shove, if necessity is laid upon me, I will resign the office of president, I will take up the sword of a soldier, and I personally will lead you in battle." I would most hardly rejoice to see any of our modern day politicians say and do the same. I've often said one of the best ways to head off war was to make it an irrevocable law that those who initiated the war, those who voted for the war, had to be first on the battlefield with their families. Our bureaucrats are willing to send our children to die, but they're not willing to send their children to die.

When I'm talking about a fighting spirit, I'm referring to a spirit of resistance to wickedness, to tyranny, to despotism, and to any and everything that is wicked and wrong and contrary to that which is right and holy. Have you ever wondered what has happened to America? How in the world can we be so apathetic and so lethargic as a people? How can we be so dumb? So stupid.

The Necessity of a Virtuous People

Quoting Davis, Weaver stresses that a just cause must be sustained by a virtuous people; the problem today is a lack of holiness and righteousness.

How could we be so uncaring? Let me tell you, Jefferson Davis had the answer to those questions. Here's what Jefferson Davis said: "Obstacles may retard, but they cannot long prevent the progress of a movement sanctified by its justice and sustained by a virtuous people." Now listen to what he said. Obstacles may retard. In other words, there's going to be things that will come up to hinder us. But those obstacles cannot long prevent the progress of a movement sanctified by its justice and sustained by a virtuous people.

Now, whether President Davis knew it or not, he was quoting a principle from Deuteronomy chapter 20. Because God in a war, not only declares the necessity for a holy or righteous cause, He also declares the necessity for a holy and righteous people. And what Jefferson Davis is saying, look, that this movement not only has to be sanctified by justice, it has to be sustained by a virtuous and holy people. Now you say, "Wait a minute, Brother Weaver, that's a pretty big jump, isn't it? To jump from justice to holiness." No, no. It's not a big jump. Because you must understand that the Hebrew word for justice and the Hebrew word for righteousness are one and the same word. If something is right, it is just. If something is just, then it is right. If it is righteous, it is just. If it is righteous, it is holy. Justice and righteousness are exactly the same thing.

Listen, if you would, to Webster's 1828 Dictionary as to the definition of virtuous. Here it is: morally good, acting in conformity to the moral law, practicing the moral duties and abstaining from vice as a virtuous man, being in conformity to the moral or divine law as a virtuous action or virtuous life. Now, what did Davis say? Davis said, we must have a movement that is just. And it must be sustained by virtuous people. That is, it must be sustained by people who are holy and are living in agreement with the law of God.

Now, I don't know about you, but I tend to believe that liberty, freedom, and the right of self-government, limited government as ordained by God, self-defense—I believe that these are righteous and holy causes. But not only must the cause be just, it must be sustained by a virtuous people. The problem is not with the movement. The problem is with the people in the movement. We are hindering it because of our lack of virtue, our lack of holiness, our lack of righteousness. If you'll visit the water tower here in Waycross, Georgia, you'll see one of my favorite characters drawn on that water tower: Pogo Possum. One of Pogo Possum's favorite sayings was this: "We have met the enemy and he is us." We have met the enemy and he is us. That's the truth, folks.

The Constitution as a Flaunting Lie

Weaver uses Davis's words to show that the Constitution and Declaration are now ignored, leading to an empire rather than a republic.

Now let me ask you a question. Maybe it'll help you think through this. Very simple question. You answer it. Is the Constitution of the United States today honored and obeyed by the powers that be, or is it ignored, dishonored, and for all practical purposes trashed by those who took an oath to uphold it? What's the answer? Trashed. What did Lincoln do to the Constitution? Trash it, violate it over and over and over. I want you to listen very carefully to this. President Davis explained the answer. You want to know why our inalienable rights are lost. You want to know why Congress, why the judicial system, why the executive office ignores the Ninth and Tenth Amendments. You want to know why the Declaration of Independence has been trashed. Let Mr. Davis answer those questions for you. Here's what he said: "Whichever of them," talking about the northern states and the northern Congress, "whichever of them denies it," that is the principles ordained in the Constitution, "whichever of them denies it and seeks to retire," that is the states, "is declared to be guilty of insurrection and its citizens are stigmatized as rebels as if they

revolted against a master and a war of subjugation has begun. If this action is once tolerated, where will it end? Where is the constitutional liberty? What strength is there in bills of right? In limitation of power? What new hope for mankind is to be found in written constitutions? What remedy which did not exist under kings or emperors? If the doctrines thus announced by the government of the United States are conceded and then look through either end of the political telescope, one sees only an empire and the once famous Declaration of Independence trodden in the dust as a glittering generality and the compact of the Constitution, the Union, denounced as a flaunting lie."

Now, listen to what he said. If you look through either end of the political telescope, he said, if the federal government under Abraham Lincoln, if those radical Republicans have their way, then what is going to end up in this country is an empire, not a republic, not a constitutional republic, but an empire. And the Declaration of Independence will be trodden in the dust as a glittering generality and the compact of the Union, the Constitution, will be announced as a flaunting lie. President Davis told us what the outcome would be if we ever lost our cause, our courage, our character, and our Christianity. What has the Declaration of Independence become today? A glittering generality. It's something pretty. It's something that you go to look at encased in glass. You can see it. You can't touch it. And nobody pays any attention to it. What about the Constitution? It becomes a flaunting lie.

We are not a constitutional republic. Nobody pays any attention to it, especially our leaders. And you know what we're taught? Listen carefully. We're taught that the issues for which the South fought are now dead issues. Let me repeat something I said earlier. Principles do not die. Principles do not have funerals. The principles for which the South fought in 1861, for which our forefathers fought in 1776—if they were true in 1776, they're true in 1861, and they're also true in 2008.

We are still fighting the war. We're still fighting for truth, for liberty, for freedom. You say, "Are you still fighting the war?" Of course I am, and I hope you are too. And I trust many more will help us, because principles do not die. It's time to revisit Jefferson Davis. It's time to come back and say, "Let's see what he had to say. Let's see if it's applicable." Listen to what he did say. Jefferson Davis said, "Our cause was so just, so sacred, that had I known all that has come to pass, had I known all that was to be inflicted upon me"—and he was in prison for a number of years, three I think—"had I known all that was to be inflicted upon me,

Conclusion: Revisiting Davis and Reclaiming Principles

Weaver concludes that the principles of the South are not dead issues; we must regain manhood, courage, and Christianity to restore the nation.

We are not a constitutional republic. Nobody pays any attention to it, especially our leaders. And you know what we're taught? Listen carefully. We're taught that the issues for which the South fought are now dead issues. Let me repeat something I said earlier. Principles do not die. Principles do not have funerals. The principles for which the South fought in 1861, for which our forefathers fought in 1776—if they were true in 1776, they're true in 1861, and they're also true in 2008.

We are still fighting the war. We're still fighting for truth, for liberty, for freedom. You say, "Are you still fighting the war?" Of course I am, and I hope you are too. And I trust many more will help us, because principles do not die. It's time to revisit Jefferson Davis. It's time to come back and say, "Let's see what he had to say. Let's see if it's applicable." Listen to what he did say. Jefferson Davis said, "Our cause was so just, so sacred, that had I known all that has come to pass, had I known all that was to be inflicted upon me"—and he was in prison for a number of years, three I think—"had I known all that was to be inflicted upon me,

all that my country was to suffer, and all that our posterity was to endure, I would do it all over again." What did he say? Our cause was so just, so sacred. Had I known everything that was going to happen to me, and happen to the South, I would have done it all over again, exactly as I did it before. Why? He had no other choice. He had to stand for principle and truth. Earlier, Davis had written to a fellow Southerner and he said this: "Nothing fills me with deeper sadness than to see a Southern man apologizing for the defense we made of our inheritance and denying the great truths on which all of our institutions were founded. To be crushed by superior force, to be robbed and insulted were great misfortunes, but these could be born while there still remained manhood to assert the truth and a proud consciousness in the rectitude of our course. When I find myself reviled by southern papers as one renewing dead issues, the pain is not caused by the attack upon myself, but by its desecration of the memories of our fathers and those and their descendants who staked in defense of their rights, their lives, their property, and their sacred honor.

To deny the justice of their cause, to apologize for its defense, and to denounce it as a dead issue, is to take the last of their stakes, that for which they were willing to surrender the other." In other words, you take the props out from under our forefathers when you begin to apologize. Let me say it again, the South did not believe themselves to be right in 1861 to 1865. They were right! And it's still right today.

The problem is, we've lost our manhood. We've lost our courage. We've lost our character. We've lost our Christianity. We don't understand what it means to quit you like men and be strong. We don't understand what it means to fight the good fight of faith. But I'll tell you one thing we do know. We do know to forsake the old paths. We do know to go our way and fail to listen to God. We do know to not listen to the hoary heads and not rise up for the old men who have some truth and some understanding and some knowledge. We know how to do wrong. But we don't know how to do right. And I'm going to tell you, if we ever get out of the mess that we're in in this country, we're going to have to come back to the same principles that our forefathers held, to the same foundation on which they stood, and develop the same conduct and the same courage.

Do you realize I hear men all the time say, "Ah, Stonewall Jackson. Robert E. Lee, Jeb Stuart, oh, great men, great, yes!" But what made them great? It was their Christianity. They believed the Word of God and they stood on it. If we ever get back our history and our heritage and our culture and our country, it's going to be obedience to the Word of God. Let's pray.

Father, we do ask You, in the name of Jesus Christ, that You would indeed build us up in the most holy faith. Thank You, Father, for the message that went before on the plain, clear exposition of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Lord, it is not only You who saves us, but Lord, it is You who must revive us. It's not only the Lord You who shines in our hearts, it's You who strengthens our hearts. and gives us courage to stand for Thy Word and Thy truth. We ask Thee, Father, to help us to be biblical and godly. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Amen.