Clean Transcript

A Perfect Picture Of Tyranny

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

• The book of Isaiah chapter 36, and we're going to just read verse 5. Now we will come back and get the context; you will understand just in a little while why I'm just going to read verse 5. The title of the message is "A Perfect Picture of Tyranny." So look in Isaiah 36 and verse 5, and the scripture says: "I say, sayest thou, but they are but vain words: I have counsel and strength for war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?" When we're talking about tyranny, tyranny is the most despised word among free men and men that think in terms of freedom. We normally recognize tyranny when it comes in the form of despotism or totalitarianism. We can think of tyrants down through history, but we also must understand that tyranny is a shape-shifter in the fact that it can come in various forms and many different forms as well. It does not always come to us under the form of despotism. Tyranny can also be bureaucratic in nature.

  #1 | 0:11 to 1:29 | cleaned

• It is not always proceeding from a despotic ruler, but it may also come in the form of regulations and determinations from bureaucrats and their agencies that actually possess no real authority. It was Tacitus, who died in 117 A.D., who said, "The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws." Laws may be plentiful, but the regulations that apply the laws are horrendously multitudinous. Consequently, that is why today, usually nothing can be done immediately because of all the bureaucratic bumbling of the bureaucrats and all the red tape that someone has to go through.

  #2 | 1:30 to 2:20 | cleaned

• I just talked with one man just yesterday, and he was telling me it took him five days to get the power turned on at his place. Even the pole was already in the ground. Everything was there. It took him five days. So we're talking about tyranny. I want you to listen to a quote from Judge Andrew Napolitano. He said this: "All power in the federal government comes from the Constitution and from no other source."

  #3 | 2:20 to 2:51 | cleaned

• "Congress, however, has managed to extend its reach beyond the confines of the Constitution domestically by spending money in areas that it cannot regulate and purchasing compliance from the states by bribery." Here's the second one: "Does the Congress uphold the Constitution? Does the president? The answers are obvious. We have reposed the Constitution for safekeeping into the hands of those who ignore it. The consequences are death, debt, and the loss of personal liberty." Death, debt, and the loss of personal liberty.

  #4 | 2:52 to 3:33 | cleaned

• Democracy itself, by the way, is a form of tyranny. And how in the world can that be true since we normally equate freedom with democracy? And the answer is, in democracy, the majority rules over a minority. Why in the world should my rights and my liberties and my freedoms be determined by a majority? What right does anyone have to say, "We are the majority, and therefore you must do exactly what we agree upon"?

  #5 | 3:34 to 4:06 | cleaned

• Now, Ayn Rand, whom I do not recommend for any theological reasons—in fact, I think she was an out-and-out atheist, but she was spot on on a lot of things politically—and she said this: "Individual rights are not subject to a public vote. A majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority. The political function of rights is precisely to protect the minorities from the oppression by majorities, and the smallest minority on earth is an individual."

  #6 | 4:06 to 4:41 | cleaned

• And that certainly is true. So I'm positive that each person here understands that we live in a republic and not in a democracy. In fact, the truth of the matter is a republic is ruled by law, and a democracy is ruled by a mob. In fact, the word democracy comes from demos and kratos, which basically means "people power." I want to give you a quote by H.L. Mencken. Mencken died at the age of 75 in 1956. Here's what he said about democracy: "As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents more and more clearly the inner soul of the people."

  #7 | 4:42 to 5:34 | cleaned

• "On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron." Isn't that amazing? Of course, there have been a number of morons in the White House, but the one that is there now is indeed a moron. Modern-day politicians always talk about democracy. They talk about "our democracy." And the truth of the matter is, the founders of this nation were totally against a democracy.

  #8 | 5:35 to 6:11 | cleaned

• Everyone knows the story when some lady asks Benjamin Franklin after the Constitutional Convention, "What kind of government did you give us?" And his response was, "A republic, if you can keep it." But in 1787, Elbridge Gerry argued that democracy allowed self-interest and maliciousness, and especially malicious men, to mislead the masses of the people under the guise of patriotism. So you just stop and think about how many politicians claim to be patriots, and everything they do is absolutely the contrary, not only to the Word of God, but to the Constitution as well. So Elbridge Gerry said it like this: "The evils we experience flow from the excess of democracy. The people do not want virtue, but are the dupes of pretended patriots." John Adams said, "Remember, democracy never lasts long."

  #9 | 6:12 to 7:14 | cleaned

• "It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There is never a democracy that did not commit suicide." And James Madison, who is known as the father of the Constitution because he was secretary at the Constitutional Convention, he said this: "Where a majority are united by a common sentiment and have an opportunity, the rights of the minor party become insecure." He goes on: "Democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths." So it should be obvious that what we're seeing in America today is the outcome and the result of what you and I call a democracy.

  #10 | 7:15 to 8:14 | cleaned

• Now, we actually have developed into a tyrannical form of government. No longer is government of the people, by the people, and for the people. And I want to show you from Isaiah chapter 36 what I'm going to call a perfect picture of tyranny. So, let me give you the background because we read verse 5. When you get to Isaiah chapter 36, Sennacherib has invaded Judah. He has invaded the southern kingdom.

  #11 | 8:15 to 8:47 | cleaned

• He has taken some of the defense or fortified cities. He's captured them. But prior to his coming to Judah, he's already conquered the northern kingdom. He's already conquered other kingdoms as well. And now he comes down thinking that Jerusalem is going to fall into his hands like an overripe fig. So if you'll look in verses 1 and 2 of Isaiah 36, let's read this: "Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the defenced cities of Judah, and took them. And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem unto king Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field."

  #12 | 8:48 to 9:41 | cleaned

• Now, I want you to observe a principle before we go any further. The principle that is enunciated in verses 1 and 2 is a principle that is applicable today, and all you have to do is simply look around and observe it, and you will see that it's true. The principle is that easy and opportunistic successes always encourage those who desire power and control to increase their efforts to subjugate others.

  #13 | 9:41 to 10:14 | cleaned

• He had already subjugated the northern kingdom. He had already subjugated other lands. He already won some of these defense cities, and now he's aiming for Jerusalem. He's now being encouraged to do this simply because of these successes. So what he does, he now sends his lieutenant, Rabshakeh, to King Hezekiah to defy not only King Hezekiah, but Jerusalem, and in essence also to defy the God of Israel and the God of Jerusalem.

  #14 | 10:15 to 10:45 | cleaned

• In fact, when you read through the book of Isaiah, as well as 2 Kings 18, you're going to find this, that God takes it personally when Rabshakeh blasphemes Him, and He counts it as from Sennacherib, because Sennacherib is the man who sent him. So, look if you would please at verse 4, and I want you to note the attitude of Rabshakeh. "And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah..." Them is the elders of the city. Hezekiah was not there. He sent the elders out there, and there on the wall they're talking, Rabshakeh. And so he says, "Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?" Now we're going to come back to that passage just momentarily, but I want you to note in verse 4, "And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah"—not to King Hezekiah, but to Hezekiah. But note what else he did say in verse 4: "Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria."

  #15 | 10:45 to 12:01 | cleaned

• So he leaves off the title of king for Hezekiah, and he adds it for the king of Assyria, and then he adds that he is the great king. So it was a matter of contempt to speak to a king by his first name without using the title of honor, "king." And so Rabshakeh is just simply showing the contempt that both he and Sennacherib had for Hezekiah and for Jerusalem and for the people that were there as well. So let me just point out an emphasis that I just said earlier.

  #16 | 12:02 to 12:38 | cleaned

• The principle that we saw in verse 4 and verses 1 and 2 is the fact that easy and opportunistic successes always encourage those who are seeking to dominate others, to empower themselves over others, to continue their efforts. So let me show you, if you will skip down to verse 18 in Isaiah 36. Look at this warning that is given again by Rabshakeh. Notice, he just refers to Hezekiah. He says, "Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, The LORD will deliver us." Now watch the question: "Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? And have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? Who are they among all the gods of these lands, that have delivered their land out of my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?" Wow. Look what he is saying.

  #17 | 12:39 to 13:44 | cleaned

• We have been successful over all of these countries, over all of these cities. No one has stopped us. And the truth of the matter is, the campaign of Sennacherib had been undoubtedly extremely successful, and these despised cities had fallen to him one right after the other. The lands had been conquered one right after the other, and he now expects Jerusalem to capitulate and Hezekiah to surrender because he has accomplished all of this, and he is indeed what he is calling the great king.

  #18 | 13:44 to 14:21 | cleaned

• At this particular point, I hope you can see his pride, his arrogance, and his confidence. Now, look if you would at verse 4 again. "And Rabshakeh said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?" The question, which I'm going to explain momentarily, but the question is in reality a reproach and a slam against King Hezekiah. And when I say it's a reproach and a slam against him, what Rabshakeh is saying is very simple. Look at all of our victories.

  #19 | 14:22 to 15:10 | cleaned

• There is absolutely no city, no land, no country, no one that has been able to stop us. What makes you think that you can defend this city against us? In other words, here's what he's saying: Are you insane? Why have you not already surrendered? Why have you not already submitted? Why have you not already come out and bowed before the great king? What is the confidence? What makes you think that you can win over the great king of Assyria? Wow. Well, this is exactly what he's posing in that particular verse.

  #20 | 15:10 to 15:52 | cleaned

• Now, I want you to see this, because actually what Rabshakeh is going to do, he's going to follow five themes that will demonstrate to Hezekiah that it's absolutely useless and worthless to fight against Sennacherib. And I'm going to tell you something up front. Of these five themes, all of them have been used against the American people. Every one of them. So, I want you to look, if you would, at verse 5. Here's the first one. He emphasizes the fact that Hezekiah cannot successfully resist or fight against Sennacherib. Look in verse 5.

  #21 | 15:52 to 16:43 | cleaned

• "I say, sayest thou, but they are but vain words." The word "vain" means that which is useless, fruitless, powerless, worthless. And then so it's worthless if you say, "I have counsel and strength for war." Now, "On whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?" That's in verse 5, but notice he said again in verse 5, "I know you said you have counsel and strength for war, but you don't. On whom do you trust?"

  #22 | 16:43 to 17:12 | cleaned

• What are you doing? You are going to fight against me. You are absolutely powerless, and you are worthless. You don't have the ability to fight against me. And there's no way that you can possibly win. Some of you remember that Joe Biden said a short while back, "If you want to fight against the government, you better have an F-15." You remember him saying that? Here's what he's saying: You can't fight against us. You can't win. It's worthless. It's stupid to fight against us. That's exactly what Sennacherib was telling Hezekiah: there's no way that you can fight.

  #23 | 17:13 to 17:53 | cleaned

• Why in the world are you rebelling against me? Why do you not submit to me and do what I ask? It's that simple.

  #24 | 17:53 to 18:00 | cleaned

• Now, notice, if you would please, in verse 6, here's a second theme. He says, "Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him." In other words, Hezekiah, if you're thinking that your allies are going to help you, and especially Egypt, you're mistaken. They're not going to help you. Look at the allies of the American people. Think about this. Think about all of the money, all the welfare, all the materials, all the goods that we've sent to other countries when they have had catastrophes and tragedies. And then ask how many of these countries have sent anything to us when we've had catastrophes and tragedies.

  #25 | 18:01 to 18:55 | cleaned

• And this is exactly what he's saying. You think Egypt's going to help you? Egypt's not going to help you. And if you lean upon Egypt, it's going to pierce your hand. It's going to go through your hand. You're going to come out hurt. So he's saying your allies are not going to help you. You can't fight against me. Your allies are not going to help you. Look in verse 7. Here's the third thing.

  #26 | 18:57 to 19:17 | cleaned

• He said, "But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?" Now, I want you to note, if you would, Sennacherib did not know that the destruction of the high places by Hezekiah was a destruction of idolatry. What Hezekiah did was in obedience to God. I want you to look in your Bibles, and you can mark it.

  #27 | 19:18 to 19:57 | cleaned

• We'll come back there to 2 Kings 18. 2 Kings 18. And look if you would please beginning there with verse 1. 2 Kings 18 and verse 1. Look at it. Here it is.

  #28 | 19:57 to 20:14 | cleaned

• "Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. Twenty and five years old was he when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Abi, the daughter of Zachariah. And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did."

  #29 | 20:16 to 20:41 | cleaned

• "He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. He trusted in the LORD God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him." So, Sennacherib certainly did not know the Word of God. He did not have the Word of God. And he thought that when Hezekiah was tearing down all of these altars, that he was just alienating God against him. In other words, God's going to be against you because look what you've done to His altars. They were not His altars. In other words, here it is: God's not going to help you.

  #30 | 20:42 to 21:38 | cleaned

• You're in this by yourself. Don't think God is going to help you. How many times have we heard something like that? How many times we've said and heard people say, "We'll have to do it ourselves." Well, this is exactly the argument that he's giving here.

  #31 | 21:40 to 21:57 | cleaned

• Now here's the fourth one. Look in verses 8 and 9.

  #32 | 21:57 to 21:59 | cleaned

• Now he mocks Hezekiah and he points out that Hezekiah does not have the manpower to fight against Sennacherib. Look in verses 8 and 9. He says, "Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them. How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?" Now look what he said. You're not able to fight. You're not able to resist. You certainly can't fight against this great army that we have assembled. In fact, to demonstrate that for you, if you will give me some pledges, if you will give me some hostages, I'll give you—ha!—2,000 horses.

  #33 | 22:01 to 22:58 | cleaned

• The horse was a modern tank in those days. I'll give you 2,000 horses if you can set riders upon them. What he's saying is this: you can't fight. You don't have the equipment. You don't have the manpower. You might as well give in. You might as well give up. You might as well give out. Because there's just absolutely no way that you can fight against us and win. Now I want you to—

  #34 | 22:59 to 23:26 | cleaned

• notice the fifth one in verse 10. Look at this. And then he says, "And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? The LORD said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it." So now Sennacherib is claiming divine authority to subjugate and destroy Jerusalem. So here's the question. Have you ever noticed how the wicked always claim divine authority for their wicked acts? Have you ever noticed how those that desire to act contrary to God and His law always claim authority for their actions, even though those actions are blatantly unbiblical? Witness Washington, D.C. Witness the Democrats. Witness our state capitals. Listen to their words and watch their actions.

  #35 | 23:26 to 24:32 | cleaned

• And you will see how they contradict each other. So let me say this again: out of these five arguments that Rabshakeh brings against Hezekiah and Jerusalem, these five arguments have been used against the Americans. We can't fight. We can't resist. We are helpless. And in fact, they claim divine authority. That is like the crazed Nancy Pelosi who said, "God is on our side." If you think that God is on the side of the abortionists, of the aborticide, of bribery, of theft, of lying, of murder, you're mistaken. God is not on the side of those who violate His law, and yet they're claiming divine right. And when Joe Biden said you need an F-15 to fight against the government, really?

  #36 | 24:32 to 25:27 | cleaned

• Now, the last I checked—I might be a little bit wrong on the exact figure—but there are 338 million people that live in America. You ever take a million or two? 338 million. I went online and I asked a simple question: How large is the United States military? Hmm. There are 1.3 million active military personnel—1,300,000. There are 800,000 reservists. So let's say 2 million. That's not even 1% of 338 million. Can you imagine 10%?

  #37 | 25:28 to 26:10 | cleaned

• And you remember there is a group—I don't know that much about them—but they're called the Three Percenters. You know why they're called the Three Percenters? Because during the American Revolution, the War for Independence, 3% of the Americans fought for liberty and freedom. 3% out of the total of Americans, 3% fought, and 3% outfought and defeated the greatest military power on earth at that particular time, which was England. I'm just simply pointing out the fact, you know, 2 million people against 10 million, 5 million, 3 million. I'm just simply pointing out the fact these are the arguments that not only have been used against Hezekiah, their arguments have been used against the American people.

  #38 | 26:30 to 27:30 | cleaned

• Now, I want you to go back, if you would, to verse 5, because I told you I wanted to show you a perfect picture of tyranny. And I want you to look at verse 5. Here it is: "I say, sayest thou, but they are but vain words: I have counsel and strength for war."

  #39 | 27:30 to 27:49 | cleaned

• "Now on whom dost thou trust"—watch this—"that thou rebellest against me?" So Sennacherib now is accusing Hezekiah of rebelling against him. I want you to consider something for a moment. I want you to think about this. Sennacherib was never given any authority over Hezekiah or over Jerusalem. He had no authority except that which he stole, except that which he usurped.

  #40 | 27:50 to 28:27 | cleaned

• Now you heard me say this before, I'm going to say it again. Rebellion can only be to lawful authority. If there is no lawful authority, it is not rebellion, it is resistance. Every individual has an absolute right to question authority. You better learn to exercise that right. Just because someone demands something of you does not mean that they have the authority to demand something of you. And those people who claim authority actually have no authority. If you do not learn to question authority, you're going to end up enslaved, indebted, and destroyed. I could go to Clay and say, "Clay, write me a check today for $10,000." What?

  #41 | 28:30 to 29:20 | cleaned

• Why should he do that? Well, Clay, I've got authority over you. Really? Where? If he did not question my authority, and he wrote me a check today for $10,000, guess what? I'll be back tomorrow. I want another check, and then I'll be back the day after. If he doesn't question my authority, if he doesn't find out I really don't have any authority, any right to demand that, I could destroy him very easily, very quickly.

  #42 | 29:21 to 29:49 | cleaned

• So the point of the matter is this. You have to not only learn to question authority, but you have to learn to resist and reject unlawful and illegitimate authority, that which has absolutely no basis, no foundation. So let me put it to you another way. Sennacherib did not have divine authority. God did not send him against Judah and Jerusalem. He did send him against the northern kingdom, but he did not send him against Judah and Jerusalem. Moreover, Sennacherib was not in the lineage of David. Moreover, Sennacherib never received a popular vote. No one in Jerusalem voted Hezekiah out as king and Sennacherib in as king. No one chose him to be the great king. All I'm trying to say is the authority that he was claiming was unlawful and illegitimate. And since he believed that he was the great king, he believed that everyone should submit to him. Hmm. That's like some preachers who believe they're the great preachers.

  #43 | 29:49 to 31:00 | cleaned

• And they have the right to tell everybody, every other preacher what to preach and how to preach and what to do and what not to do. That's nothing but pride and arrogance and haughtiness. And that's what you have here in this.

  #44 | 31:02 to 31:15 | cleaned

• Now, I want you to note something. Sennacherib did not have authority, but he did have power. He had this great, vast, and mighty army behind him. So as I pointed out before, I may not have the authority to steal your money, but if I have a pistol to your head, I have the power to steal your money. There's a vast difference between authority and power, that is for sure. And what Sennacherib had was not authority, but he had power.

  #45 | 31:15 to 31:50 | cleaned

• Now I'm going to show you where Hezekiah messed up. Hezekiah messed up royally at the beginning. He tried to do something that should never have been done. He tried to buy off Sennacherib. He tried to appease Sennacherib. Let me tell you something. You cannot appease a tyrant. The more you give in to him, the more he demands. And the more you submit to him, the more submission that he wants and that he demands. And it's not just simple control that a tyrant wants. It is absolute, complete control that he wants. And he wants you to give him voluntary submission.

  #46 | 31:51 to 32:45 | cleaned

• Now, I want you to turn back in your Bibles to 2 Kings chapter 18. Watch this. 2 Kings 18. Remember Hezekiah was a godly king, and yet he did something here that is exceedingly ungodly. Watch this. 2 Kings chapter 18, and let's begin reading there with verse 11: "And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes: because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them." They refused to obey God.

  #47 | 32:46 to 33:36 | cleaned

• So God said, "I'll show you what the wicked servitude is really like." And so He sent Sennacherib. Now watch what happens. Verse 13: "Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them." So now, what follows happens right after Sennacherib takes these cities and before he comes and demands Jerusalem to surrender. So look what happens. Verse 14: "And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me."

  #48 | 33:36 to 34:17 | cleaned

• "That which thou puttest on me will I bear." In other words, I'm trying to buy you off. "And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold." So basically, the king of Assyria, Sennacherib, said, "I'll leave you alone for so much silver and so much gold." And of course, Hezekiah provided it. But I want you to see what he did.

  #49 | 34:19 to 34:44 | cleaned

• Look at it in verse 15: "And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD." What? Where did he get any authority to steal out of that temple? Where did he get any authority to take God's silver? Now watch it. "At the same time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria."

  #50 | 34:45 to 35:12 | cleaned

• He could give all of his money that he wanted. Verse 16: "At the same time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria. And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem."

  #51 | 35:12 to 35:35 | cleaned

• See, after he pays him, he sends the horsemen and the army. "And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller's field." So the point of the being is this: you cannot appease a tyrant. You can't buy him off. And Hezekiah stole from the temple in order to buy off Sennacherib.

  #52 | 35:35 to 36:01 | cleaned

• It was Hiram Mann who put it like this: "No man survives when freedom fails. The best men rot in filthy jails, and those who cry, 'Appease, appease,' are hanged by those they try to please." And that is true. You cannot appease a tyrant. Appeasement does not work, will not work, cannot work, and the only avenue that is open is resistance. Unhappily, most Americans have been propagandized, brainwashed, and broken to the extent that they cannot think for themselves. Public education, or better stated, government education, has succeeded in dumbing down Americans. We can't think.

  #53 | 36:03 to 37:03 | cleaned

• We no longer have a spirit to fight. We no longer have a spirit to resist. We refuse to study. We refuse to research. We refuse to learn. Most Americans believe everything that comes on the boob tube. They sit there and they soak that in, and they fall to the tyranny of the experts. For instance, we've heard men say, "Listen to me. I am science." Really? How about this: "Do as I say. I'm Dr. So-and-so. I have all these letters behind my name. Therefore you must do as I say. I'm an expert in this field." Wow. Dan Whelan said it like this—

  #54 | 37:05 to 37:54 | cleaned

• Hang on. He said, "The sad truth is that the human animal has been domesticated to the point where it actually fears liberty." The human animal has been domesticated to the point that it actually fears liberty. Why does the average American actually fear liberty? And the answer is because liberty brings with it responsibility, determination, and self-control. And these things are lacking in the average American today.

  #55 | 37:55 to 38:29 | cleaned

• We have no work ethic. We have no faith ethic. We have nothing. We've been handed everything on a silver platter, and that's how we want to continue. That's what we want even now. Ben Franklin said it like this: "A nation of well-informed men who've been taught to know and to prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins." The truth of the matter is, real, true American history is not even being taught in our schools. Let me give you a good illustration of how we've changed.

  #56 | 38:29 to 39:19 | cleaned

• When Abraham Lincoln requested, required, the states to send him 75,000 men for three months so he could make war on the seven seceded cotton states, he sent to the state of Missouri. The governor of the state of Missouri was Claiborne Fox Jackson. And when he got the requisition from Abraham Lincoln, here's what Jackson wrote in return. He said, "Your requisition is illegal, unconstitutional, revolutionary, inhuman, and diabolical, and cannot be complied with."

  #57 | 39:21 to 40:08 | cleaned

• There were men at one time that knew truth and knew righteousness and knew principles. He said, "We're not sending you anybody. Everything you're doing is wicked and wrong." Just think, if you would, please, about how we have been scammed. Just think of the COVID debacle. Just think about this. What if when the WHO and the CDC said there is a pandemic, that the American people said, "Well, we understand the WHO is backed by cultural Marxists. And we understand that the CDC is not what it should be either. So here's what we're going to do."

  #58 | 40:13 to 41:04 | cleaned

• "We'll do our own research. We'll study for ourselves, and we'll come to the truth. We will base our actions upon the truth. And if our actions are not based upon truth, we will not comply. We will not take the jabs. We will not wear masks. We won't close our businesses. We will not cease going to the hospital to visit our loved ones and the nursing home to visit our loved ones. No, no, we're going to base our actions upon truth that we have researched and we know and we understand to be true. And until then, basically, you can kiss my foot because we're not going to do one thing that you say." Now, here's my question.

  #59 | 41:05 to 41:48 | cleaned

• What in the world could they do against all the people who refuse to obey? Absolutely nothing. Absolutely nothing. And I can assure you they would be, in essence, backing down.

  #60 | 41:48 to 42:01 | cleaned

• Now, I want you to listen. Aristotle was a philosopher. He said this years and years and years ago, and I'm quoting: "It is also in the interest of a tyrant to keep his people poor, so that they may not be able to afford the cost of protecting themselves by arms and be so occupied with their daily task that they have no time for rebellion." Now, I want you to think about this for a moment.

  #61 | 42:01 to 42:35 | cleaned

• I hope you're beginning to see why our economy must be destroyed. Now I understand that there are more arms in America than you can shake a stick at. I know that most Americans are armed, but the truth of the matter is most Americans do not have the ammo supply they need to keep up those arms. And the truth of the matter is this: when our economy is destroyed, you cannot afford to buy those arms, and especially when you understand inflation. Inflation is not the rise of prices. Inflation is the value of your money decreasing.

  #62 | 42:38 to 43:19 | cleaned

• Therefore it takes more and more to purchase one thing. And when you are trying to purchase something to defend yourself with, and it's thousands upon thousands of bucks, and you don't have those bucks. And when you understand that everything is so expensive and so exorbitant that now you're having to work almost 18 hours a day just to keep your head above water and keep food on your table, you don't have time to think about problems. You don't have time to think about resistance. You don't have time to think about "I'm being enslaved." All you're trying to do is just survive.

  #63 | 43:20 to 43:55 | cleaned

• I mentioned earlier when Alice and I were children and teenagers. Most wives stayed at home, kept houses, kept the homes. My mother never worked outside of the home. Most of the ladies that I knew when I was a child and teenager, they always just worked in the home, stayed in the home. Today, it takes both husband and wife and almost all the children too, working just to provide food.

  #64 | 43:59 to 44:29 | cleaned

• You've heard me say this, I laugh—it's not funny, funny—but when Alice and I got married 60 years ago, I would give her 10 bucks a week to buy groceries. And I'd kind of fuss at her if she didn't bring two or three of it back. She would buy meat, bread, milk, any and everything we needed for a week on six or seven bucks. You can't even walk out of the grocery store today with enough for a week under 250, 300 bucks.

  #65 | 44:32 to 45:00 | cleaned

• And then that's just bare minimum just about. I'm just simply saying you understand why the economy must be destroyed, because now your time is going to be spent just trying to exist, and what they're trying to do is drive us to despair and drive us into poverty to the extent that we will come to them and say, "Would you please help us? Would you please save us? All I want is a little peace." And they will say, "Yes, we will take care of you. You will own nothing and you will be happy." Yeah. I want to show you—I want you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 6. I want to show you the ultimate goal. You may think I'm insane, but no, I'm not. Here it is. I want you to look in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 at verses 19 and 20. 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verses 19 and 20. Look at this.

  #66 | 45:01 to 46:05 | cleaned

• The Apostle Paul says to these Corinthian Christians, "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." So here's my question. If you're a child of God, how much of you belongs to Him?

  #67 | 46:08 to 46:30 | cleaned

• And the answer is everything you have. Do you realize if you have been bought with a price—come on, help me out—what does that mean? You are a what? Slave. And the truth is everybody's a slave. We're either a slave to Jesus Christ or we're a slave to sin or slave to man. Everybody's a slave. And as Christians, we recognize that we're the bondslaves of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul loved to call himself "Paul, an apostle, a servant"—which means doulos, a bondslave of Jesus Christ. He loved to call himself a bondslave of Jesus Christ.

  #68 | 46:31 to 47:06 | cleaned

• And you see, the point I'm trying to make is this. When you understand the global reset, when you understand Davos, when you understand the new world order, yes, they will redeem you. Yes, they will purchase you for your reverence and for your worship. You will belong to them. You will own nothing and you will be happy. Because they will take care of you. Long as you worship them and serve them and be a good little obedient slave. That's a fact. Now I want to show you something. I want you to go back to Isaiah 36. If you think I'm making this up, you're mistaken. So if you'll go back to Isaiah chapter 36, I want you to look at verses 16 and 17. Watch this. Isaiah 36, verses 16 and 17. So Rabshakeh is still talking, and he says, "Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present"—that is, make a covenant with me by a present—"and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern; until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards." Now—

  #69 | 47:06 to 48:37 | cleaned

• look what he said. Make an agreement with me, submit to me, covenant with me, give me a present, come out, and I will take you away to a land like your own, and you will eat every one of his own vine—that's a grape—and every one of his own fig tree, and you'll drink water out of your own cisterns.

  #70 | 48:37 to 48:58 | cleaned

• Now, what I want you to know is this offer that Sennacherib has made is absolutely blasphemous. You can find the same offer in 2 Kings 18 in verse 31. Why am I saying that this offer is absolutely blasphemous? Well, if you read your Bible, you will understand, because if you will turn in your Bibles to 1 Kings chapter 4, you're going to find something happened under the reign of King Solomon. May I remind you that Solomon and his reign was a type of Jesus Christ and His reign. Okay, hang on. I want you to look at this. 1 Kings chapter 4, and notice if you would please verses 24 and 25. So we're reading about Solomon, and here's what he said: "For he"—that is Solomon—"had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side the river: and he had peace on all sides round about him. And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon."

  #71 | 48:59 to 50:24 | cleaned

• So when you get to this passage, the picture of everyone living under his own vine and under his own fig tree is a picture then that denotes a happy, safe, quiet, full, and peaceable enjoyment of all the blessings of God. It was not necessary to live in fortified cities. It was not necessary to live in cities with walls. Why? Because there was peace in the land. No one was offending anyone. No one was murdering. No one was stealing. Everything was peaceful and safe and comfort, the security, their protection.

  #72 | 50:26 to 51:06 | cleaned

• All of this was from the Lord. Solomon's reign pictured that of Jesus Christ. I'm not making that up either. If you would turn in your Bibles to the book of Micah, the minor prophet Micah. If you would look, Micah is right after the book of Jonah—Jonah, Micah—and look in Micah chapter 4. It's right before the book of Nahum. But look in Micah chapter 4, and let's begin reading there with verse 1. Watch this: "But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains"—that's His kingdom—"and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem."

  #73 | 51:06 to 52:06 | cleaned

• "And we will walk in his ways: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks."

  #74 | 52:06 to 52:28 | cleaned

• "Nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it." Wow. This is why I said it's blasphemous when Sennacherib said, "You come to me. You make a covenant with me. You agree with me. You submit to me. I'll take care of you, and you can dwell under your own vine, under your own fig tree. I'll give you peace. I'll give you protection." In other words, the rule of man is trying to replace the rule of God and do what God and God alone can do. Now listen to me.

  #75 | 52:29 to 53:21 | cleaned

• The ultimate goal of a tyrant is worship. In order to have it, he must subdue, he must subjugate, he must dominate, he must prove that he is a god by his power. "You will obey me or else. I'll demonstrate I'm God. If you don't bow to me, I will slap you down." Let me tell you something: tyranny is idolatry, because tyranny seeks to dethrone God and overthrow Him, and in practical application it does so because it denies Him and disobeys Him. So tyranny is indeed a form of idolatry. Now here's a perfect picture of idolatry where people claim authority when they have absolutely none, make demands of other people when they have absolutely no right to make those demands.

  #76 | 53:22 to 54:21 | cleaned

• Let me give you some applications. The first one is this. Do you realize that most Americans have forgotten a basic truth? And that is this basic truth in our nation: under our Constitution, we're the rulers. The politicians are the servants. And you look around today at the American people who are begging and beseeching Washington or the state capitol for something. No. No. We should be demanding. We should be commanding.

  #77 | 54:23 to 55:07 | cleaned

• And if they do not respond, they should be fired immediately, dispossessed of their office and dispossessed of their monetary retirement as well, because they are basically traitors. They've betrayed the Constitution. They've betrayed their constituency. Wow. In other words, we must have an objective standard. It must be the Word of God or at the very minimum, it must be the Constitution. And the truth of the matter is there is no objective standard. You remember the Democratic rep from Florida by the name of Alcee Hastings? You remember that?

  #78 | 55:09 to 55:49 | cleaned

• When he was asked, "What are the rules in Congress?" he said—and I quote—"We don't have any rules. We make them up as we go." Yeah. John Adams, one of our nation's founders, said it like this: "Rulers are no more than trustees for the people. And if the trust is insidiously betrayed or wantonly trifled away, the people have a right to revoke the authority and to constitute abler and better trustees." And that's a fact. And that's where we have failed in so many areas. Here's the second application.

  #79 | 55:50 to 56:38 | cleaned

• We must cease trusting government. Government is not God. And we place ourselves under a curse when we trust in man. Jeremiah 17:5: "Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm." What we must do is trust in the Lord and learn to fulfill our responsibilities, our obligations, to the best we can for God's honor and God's glory, and trust in Him and His divine providence to supply our needs and to work everything out. We need to do everything that we can do to be independent of government. We should be self-sufficient.

  #80 | 56:40 to 57:26 | cleaned

• We should have our own garden. We should have our own non-hybrid seeds. We should have our own animals. We should know how to treat our own medical conditions. That doesn't mean we have to be doctors. But you know, there are books like "Where There Is No Doctor," "Where There Is No Dentist." There are all kinds of other books written by doctors showing you how to survive in the wilderness, how to take care of yourself.

  #81 | 57:28 to 57:51 | cleaned

• All I'm saying is, if you do not trust in God and fulfill your own responsibility, inevitably, invariably, there's going to be someone to come around and say, "I want you to make a covenant with me. You submit to me and I'll take care of you, but you've got to do what I'm telling you to do. You've got to obey me." We're either going to be the slaves of the Lord Jesus Christ, or we're going to be the slaves of man. It's just that simple.

  #82 | 57:51 to 58:17 | cleaned

• Now, Patrick Henry said it like this: "Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined." So when you give up your spirit of resistance, when you give up your fighting abilities, when you give up your determination to remain free, you've already capitulated and bowed. You cannot give in, you cannot give up, you cannot give out. If you want to remain free, if you want to have true liberty, the only way you can have that is where the Spirit of the Lord is, there's liberty. Our Lord said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free."

  #83 | 58:18 to 59:24 | cleaned

• Freedom is found in obedience to God and His Word. And without that, there is no true freedom. So when you think about tyranny, don't think about a despot sitting on the throne somewhere hammering down with some type of scepter saying, "You will do this." No, no, no, no. It doesn't take that. It just takes someone who's telling you what to do, who has no authority to tell you, and you unquestioningly obey and submit.

  #84 | 59:25 to 1:00:00 | cleaned

• And look how that has happened in all of our lives. We must learn to question authority. I wish there had been a chapter where Hezekiah said to Sennacherib, "Who are you? Do I know you? Who are you to give me orders?" Well, let me finish the story. Hezekiah did pray to the Lord. And the Lord said, "I will defend Jerusalem." What happened to Sennacherib? Well, this great mighty fighting force he had, God came one night and slew 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. And Sennacherib went back shamefaced. And while he was worshiping his fallen god, his idol, his two sons came and murdered him and fled to the land of Armenia.

  #85 | 1:00:01 to 1:01:17 | cleaned

• The truth of the matter is this: every tyrant will sooner or later meet his demise. And usually it will be at the hand of God. And it will be in such a way that everyone will know that God had His hand in it. It does not pay to be a tyrant. Tyranny is just simply trying to rule over someone without the authority to do so. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee this day.

  #86 | 1:01:20 to 1:01:55 | cleaned

• We thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your truth. And we ask, Lord, that You would indeed teach us. Help us, Lord. May we recognize tyranny by recognizing Thy sovereignty and Thy truth and Thy Word. We ask, Lord, that You would teach us. We ask, Lord, that You would guide us and direct us. We ask, Lord, that You would indeed keep us free, that we may serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear. Give us, Lord, Your grace and Your mercy, we ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, whose name we pray. Amen. Amen.

  #87 | 1:01:55 to 1:02:28 | cleaned

• ♪

  #88 | 1:02:44 to 1:03:09 | cleaned

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T22:47:00Z