Taking a STAND for FREEDOM | William J. Federer | Kirk Cameron on TBN

William J. Federer joins Kirk Cameron to discuss the unique origins of American freedoms as well as the need for Christians to take an active role in the country’s future. Don’t miss this informative interview here on Takeaways with Kirk Cameron on TBN!

Join Kirk Cameron to discuss pressing issues Christians are facing with compassionate, well-informed guests. Together we will find actionable takeaways that we can use today, this week, and this month to bring more of Heaven to Earth.

Whether we turn it around or not, the purpose is god wants to see what’s in your heart.
He wants to see what’s in people’s hearts, and and he’s putting us in this position where we’re gonna have to choose.
There’s something special about America, and it goes back to the covenant form of government that the pilgrims had.
And it’s interesting that covenant form of government came from the first part of the Bible, where for 400 years, they came out of Egypt, and there’s no king.
It’s called the Hebrew Republic. But then Yes. The priest stopped teaching the law.
Every man did what was right in their own eyes, turns into cast, and then they get king Saul.
Why is this story important? The kings of Europe looked to the bible for their authority, but they looked to the king Saul and on part of the bible.
Yeah. The founders of America looked to the pre King Saul period.
Millions of people, everybody taught the law accountable to God to follow.
So King Saul is the divider between America and England. Bill, I I think that
is so important because even friends that I know who are deeply committed to the Bible, um, they think of Israel, uh, in the Old Testament as purely as a theocracy.
And while there is a theocratic element, it wasn’t a pure theocracy in the sense that there wasn’t it wasn’t also a genuine, uh, honest to goodness republic.
And I’ve
been studying that, and, uh, it’s it’s it’s absolutely true that the pilgrims, the Puritans, were inspired by this ancient Hebrew Republic.
You know, Romans 13, that’s where everyone is subject to the governing authorities.
Romans 13 is understood differently in a monarchy versus a republic. In a monarchy subjects submit to the king.
In a Republic, the citizens are the king. That’s right. Right.
And so all the people that say, well, you just gotta submit to the government.
It’s like, you need to pick up and go over and live in China.
Say, when the when the government blows its trumpets bottle, it’s the statue.
In America, we, the citizen, are the king.
And in New England, they would have 1 building in each town called the meeting house.
That’s where the pastor would teach the bible, and that’s the way they would gather together and do their city business.
The word synagogue means meeting house.
That’s where the rabbi would teach the law, and that’s where they would do their city business.
Why build a separate building just to talk about a different topic?
And so when the revolution starts, the British send over a military governor who outlaws meeting houses, And, uh, he says, just obey government mandates.
And we’re like, no, nothing happens in America unless we give our consent. He’s like, no, you obey government mandates.
We’re like, no, nothing happens unless we give our consent. Turns into a revolutionary war, and we win.
And we’re a government from the consent of the governed.
So everybody needs to be involved, uh, in both the civil and in the church.
Yeah. And and that’s, uh, that’s where we get we the people.
This is a government of the people, for the people, by the people.
Um, uh, we’re we’re we’re we’re talking about a republic, not a monarchy where we bow to the dictates of a king.
So the word citizen is Greek, it means cocaine.
So in America, we’re in charge of our lives, and we’re in charge of the country, whereas in other countries, they just submit to the government.
We we we talk about this concept of, uh, government.
And isn’t it true, Bill, that when the Bible speaks of government, it’s not solely speaking about civil government, that there are other forms of government and maybe even more important forms of government, like self government and family government.
Where did we get this idea in America about self government?
It goes back to the, uh, book the law and then how the priests would teach the people to follow the law.
So you I tell people, imagine downloading a behavioral app on your iPhone, and it tells you where to turn like a GPS app, but it tells you how to act in real time.
And the the Levi priests were like the computer geeks that help you to download the app.
And then why would you follow it?
Well, you’re believing that God is watching you, and he wants you to be fair, and he’s gonna hold you accountable.
So you’re about to steal nobody’s around. Then you think God’s watching me. Right? He wants me to be fair.
He’s gonna hold me account. Maybe I should hesitate stealing, and it creates something in your head called the conscience.
If everybody in the country believes this, you can maintain complete order with no police.
But if you get rid of the law and get rid of the fear of God, all you have is human selfishness, and it’s gonna turn into chaos.
And that’s what happened with ancient Israel. The priest stopped teaching the law.
Eli, the high priest, had his own sons who were sleeping with women in the tent of meeting, and and then another poor, uh, concubine gets raped to death.
And by the time you’re grossed out, you read the line.
Every man did that which was right in their own eyes.
And so they stopped teaching the law, and it turned into the government usurping power again.
So, uh, America’s an anomaly where we take the power of the king, and we give it to the people.
But in times of crises, people are letting the rubber band snap back into the hands of a king. This
is this is absolutely fascinating.
Um, we we talk about, uh, we sing God bless America.
We we we we we pray God bless America, and God has blessed America. Hasn’t he?
I mean, America is not the wicked evil nation that some would have us think that it is, although we have certainly strayed from the biblical principles that we were founded on.
But can you tell us 1 or 2 stories of how God has miraculously blessed this country we live in?
Right. Well, we are the country with the most individual freedom and opportunity, and the, uh, from the time of the revolutionary war, we have, uh, had God intervene with with my my wife and I wrote a book called miracles in American history, where Washington’s wanting to escape and a fog comes in and allows him to move his army out.
And the British are chasing, uh, the, uh, American general Daniel Morgan, and 3 rivers rise in 10 days to stop them.
And and then the civil war and World War 1 and 2, and, um, but there there’s 1 piece of the puzzle that I think is important to understand.
It’s that the Calvinist Puritans had founded New England.
They, uh, had a plan for us to rule ourselves without a king.
It’s a great plan, but after a century, it was just a plan, and it got academic.
And some even said, well, God’s got it so planned out.
He already knows who’s gonna be in heaven, so don’t even bother preaching the gospel.
And they’ve and David Braynard got expelled from Yale because he said his professor was as spiritual as a chair.
And the Yale students were reprimanded because they went into New Haven, the town, and they were presenting the gospel to strangers on the street, and that was considered disrespectful.
You’re only supposed to preach if you’re wearing a black robe and you’re licensed. Right?
And so a movement starts called the new lights. Puritans are now called old lights.
And the new lights said it’s more than a plan, you have to have personal experience with Jesus.
And when you do, your life will change, and you won’t do worldly things anymore, like go to bars and brothels and government.
Like, wait, what was that last thing? Yeah. Government is filled full of worldly people.
If you’re really Christian, you’re not gonna be involved. And then where did this come from?
Well, Martin Luther starts the reformation 15/17 because he had a a personal experience, the just shall live by faith.
So personal, he was willing to stand up to the most powerful guy in the world, the king of Spain, and say, unless you can prove me wrong from scripture, here I stand, so help me god.
It was personal to Martin Luther, but some German princes want a break from Rome.
They said, this is my chance. Kingdom of mine, I just decided you’re all Lutherans. And they say, okay. Great.
We’re Lutheran. What do we believe?
So for the people in the kingdom, it’s not the same personal experience Martin Luther had.
It’s just a new state doctrine. So this revival movement starts called pietism.
Says being a Christian is more than doctrine.
Even if it’s good doctrine, you have to have an experience with Jesus.
And when you have this experience, your life will change.
You won’t do worldly things like bars and brothels and government.
And so it turned into the German concept of the 2 kingdoms, the kingdom of the government, the kingdom of the church, the 2 don’t touch.
And 4 centuries of that teaching allowed Hitler to seize power, put Jews on train cars, and they’re going right past the churches, crying out for help.
And the church’s response was, well, that’s the government doing that. And we’re the church.
We can’t get involved in government stuff because we’re holy, so let’s just sing praise songs to Jesus louder.
It’s like, can anybody see there’s something wrong with this picture? Wow.
And and so the the idea is, uh, you can the Puritans in the 16 100 is called old lights.
They thought you could do 2 things. Right? You can be a spouse, and you can be a parent.
2 completely different roles, but 1 person could do them.
You can be involved in church stuff, and you can be involved in civil stuff. 1 person can do both.
But the pietus said, no, no, no, world worldly government, you’re not supposed to be involved in. Well, guess what?
If all the spiritual people withdraw from government because it’s worldly Mhmm.
Who’s left to be involved in the government but the unspiritual?
And they’re gonna yield to their ambitions, and they’re gonna end up become tyrants, and that’s how Hitler sees power.
Bill, scripturally speaking, should we, um, ought we be concerned about the kind of country that we leave to our children, or do we say, hey.
We’re just a passing through. We’re going to heaven soon enough. Jesus will return. Uh, let’s just let it go.
Yeah. Yeah. This to me is the, um, the crux of the whole matter.
And, uh, I think that, uh, God is pushing the world to a decision making moment to see what we can stomach.
In other words, if we’re not gonna play a good offense, let’s at least see if we can play a good defense.
If the if the church is not taking serious winning the world for Christ, at least don’t keep your mouth shut when they’re mutilating little children.
And so, um, the, uh, we’re the bride of Christ in every romance novel builds up to what?
A decision making moment. A a forsaking of all others and choosing the 1.
I think God is pushing the world to a decision making moment, and some people are gonna choose the all others.
And you you know it’s in somebody’s heart by their actions.
People say, god knows my heart because, yeah, he knew Abraham’s heart, but he still wanted to see Abraham be willing to take his son, Isaac, to the top of Mount Moriah and be willing to offer him.
People say, oh, god knows my heart. Yes, he does.
But, uh, imagine telling a wife and her husband’s watching football, and you you you asked the husband, when was the last time you told your wife you love her?
He’s like, uh, I can’t remember, but she knows my heart. Like, okay.
When was the last time you did anything to show your wife your lover?
Uh, I can’t remember, but she knows my heart.
It’s like, dude, we need to have a little marriage counseling here. Yeah. People say, God knows my heart.
Yes, he does. And he wants to hear some words out of your mouth, and he wants to see some actions.
And I think he’s pushing us to have to do something.
Bill, in in in your book, silence equals consent, uh, you bring up so many important points.
1 of them is the term tasset approval. Can you tell us what that is?
Yeah. So in a numbers chapter 30 gives a half a dozen scenarios of silence equals consent.
1 of them is if a daughter is still living in her father’s house in her youth and binds herself with a vow, and the day the father hears about it, if he’s silent, her vows stand.
But if the father overrules her, then her she’s released from the vow, and the Lord forgives her.
That’s come down to us as vows in a wedding ceremony, and the pastor tells the church members, if you are silent when you hear these vows, you’re giving your consent to the vows.
Yeah. Speak now for all your peace.
And so if a church member’s silence gives consent to wedding vows, it gives consent to other things.
If they’re killing babies in the community and the church members are silent, they’re giving consent to killing babies.
It’s called the rule of tacit approval, TACIT, and it’s in real estate law.
You have a piece of property, somebody’s squatting on it, and you’re silent, They can gain title to your property through adverse possession just by you being silent.
It’s in debt collection law. Somebody owes you money, you’ll wait 10 years to try to start collecting.
The judge will say, well, if you really thought you passed the statute of limitations.
If you really thought they owed you money, you wouldn’t have been silent for so long.
It’s even in our constitution, article 1, section 7. Congress puts a bill on the president’s desk.
It says, if any bill shall not be returned by the president within 10 days, the same shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it.
If all he said was be silent for 10 days, and it equals his signature.
And so if church member silence gives consent to wedding vows, it gives consent to other things.
And if they’re selling children right?
I mean, I was in Colorado and they had this thing where they a bill to punish people who are selling children to be abused.
Right? It’s it’s sexual. And, um, and and and every person of the opposing party voted against it.
And it’s like church members are silent. How can you be silent when they’re selling children?
And it’s, you know, I, uh, I think some people say, well, I’m just gonna wait for the rapture.
Things are getting really bad. Some even are excited. Oh, this just means Jesus is coming back quicker.
Um, I have a question for you. Who do you think you’re gonna meet when you’re raptured? Uh, Jesus.
Does does Jesus love the little children? Yeah.
Do you think he might wonder why you didn’t do anything to protect them?
I mean, we’re not in China where you don’t vote. We’re in America where the citizen is the king.
The politicians are your servants. They’re supposed to do what you tell them to do.
And, um, and even if we can’t turn
it around, shouldn’t we at least try?
Some people have already conceded defeat in our country, and this upsets me so much because we we have a God who performs miracles and comes to the aid of those who are standing up for righteousness.
And I I believe that he still does that kind of thing.
But defeat seems to either be the result of some believers who feel like we’ve already crossed the line and and we’ve we’ve gone past the point of no return in this country and there’s just no hope, there’s nothing we can do, or it’s somehow baked into their eschatology, their view of the end times, that this is everything falling into place like you just mentioned, and there’s nothing we can do.
Yeah. And and when you see it from the perspective of God is wanting to see what’s in your heart, and he’s pushing you to this decision making.
Yeah. We are getting closer to the end, and he wants to have people it’s sort of like a self sorting out of the sheep and the goat.
It’s not the ultimate sorting out of the sheep. When Lord were you naked and we clothed you?
It’s not that, but it’s sort it’s sort of on a smaller scale.
God’s letting us choose whose side we’re gonna be on.
And if you can be silent when they’re selling innocent children to be sexually abused, your your silence is giving consent to that.
And so those that are doing evil and those that are silent in the face of evil, and by their silence, they’re consenting to it.
And there are others that are saying, I’m sorry.
I I just can’t go with a hysterectomy on a little 8 year old girl because she went through a tomboy phase.
I’m sorry. I can’t go with castrating a little boy because he played with his sister’s dolls.
And they say, okay. Since I don’t care about what people think about me anymore, I’m gonna be bolder for Jesus.
And and I think that that whether we turn it around or not, the purpose is God wants to see what’s in your heart.
Yeah. He wants to see what’s in people’s hearts, and and he’s putting us in this position where we’re gonna have to choose.
Yeah. And and some people are like, oh, okay.
1 of the stories in the Bible is, uh, numbers, uh, chapter 20.
And, uh, Moses and Aaron are at the door of the tabernacle, and God says, gather the assembly, thou and Aaron, take the um, rod and speak to the rock, water will come out.
Father to gather the assembly, Moses lifts up his rod, hits the rock once, hits the rock twice, water comes out.
End of the chapter, it says, Aaron will not enter the land because both of you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah.
It’s like both. We just read the chapter. Aaron didn’t do anything. He didn’t say anything the whole chapter.
It’s like, yeah. That’s just it. He was at the door of the tabernacle.
He heard God say, speak to the rock.
When Moses lifted up the rod the first time and hit the rock, it probably took Aaron by surprise.
When Moses lifted up the rod the second time, Aaron did not protest. He didn’t say, woah. Hold it.
Right. He
was silent. And in that instant, he was guilty. Moses’ was a sin of commission.
Aaron’s was a sin of omission.
Wow. This is really convicting. This is really convicting, Bill.
You know, when I when I look at what’s going on in our country right now, it it it it evil seems to be more and more normalized to the point where you’re right.
We we can have sort of a seared conscience about these things and saying, oh, look at them again.
Here’s another thing. Look. It just seems to be more and more wicked.
But I I don’t view this as, uh, say, the book of Revelation playing out in front of us as much as I see this, uh, the apathy of believers, uh, failing to teach children what’s important, failing to rescue those who are being devoured by by evil, the reversal of goodness in in in this country.
And, uh, and that reminds me of that, uh, famous quote by Alex de Tocqueville or credited to Alex de Tocqueville, the French, uh, political scientist and historian who, uh, who went to go figure out what was it that made America so great.
And and I love that quote that sort of summarizes his findings.
He said, I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there.
In her fertile fields and boundless prairies, and it was not there.
In her rich minds and vast world commerce, and it was not there.
He said, not until I went to the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I discover the secret of her genius and power.
America is great because she is good.
And if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.