Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrates

Government in our nation at all levels is on a massive power binge.  Nameless, faceless bureaucrats enact rules and regulations that steal our property and freedom.  Instead of oversight, the federal monolith in Washington provides self-serving programs to ensure their own prosperity and re-election.  Our founders gave us a constitutional republic based on a federalist platform filled with checks and balances to prevent dictatorship by a power-hungry ruling class.   These elitists’ greed and lust for power, however, knows no bounds, and they have subverted and overcome those constitutional protections to the detriment of our God-given Natural Law Rights.  

As government grows more intrusive in our lives at an alarming rate, one can feel the rising tide of frustration and a sense of vulnerability in our people.  One by one, the institutions and rules on which we relied, have failed.  Originally, the Constitution and Bill of Rights ensured the sovereignty of the states and their citizens.  The Constitution is a voluntary contract among the sovereign states and their sovereign citizens.  The Federal Government is a creation of that contract, not a party to it. 

In their wisdom, our founders gave each state three tools; nullification, interposition, and secession, to control and fight overreach by the federal government.  States’ Rights were ignored and diminished during the events prior to and during the War Between the States and the Reconstruction period.  True state sovereignty ended in 1913 with the 16th Amendment (Federal Income Tax), the 17^th Amendment (direct election of senators), and the Federal Reserve Bank.  

Americans have traditionally relied on the electoral process to control government with an orderly transition of power.  The collectivist left began to subvert that process with group identity policies that used government programs to purchase votes from favored groups.  In the 2016 national election, a coalition of bureaucrats, lawyers, and entrenched politicians expected to crown Hillary Clinton as the first woman President.  When their plans failed and Donald Trump won, that same group maliciously stalled the populist policies of the Trump administration. 

It is apparent that the collectivist coalition now has firm control over the mechanisms of our government, the media, and the electoral process.  The national election of 2020 was marked by obvious irregularities and outright voter fraud.  At a minimum, the accuracy of that election at all levels is questionable.    

An unbiased and fair judiciary is essential for individual freedom and was the last restraint on the continued abuse of power by the federal government.  Decisions by the federal court system and the Supreme Court, however, once again indicated that our federal judiciary has been corrupted and can no longer be relied upon to uphold the words of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.    

Our nation has now reached the proverbial fork in the road.  All the institutions of government, the checks and balances upon which we relied to preserve our rights and freedoms, have failed.  Oligarchs control the reins of power and continue to dismantle the constitutional republic that protects us from tyranny.

Where do we now turn?   

Consider The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrates, an incredibly powerful tool to protect our rights and the subject of a timely book written by Pastor Matt Trewhella.  The subtitle is “A Proper Resistance to Tyranny and a Repudiation of Unlimited Obedience to Civil Government.”

The lesser magistrate doctrine is rooted in the historic Christian doctrine of interposition.  Interposition is where one steps into the gap – placing themselves in between the oppressor and his intended victim.  Interposition can take place verbally or physically.

The law of God is the objective standard to which all men and all governments of men are accountable.  If civil authorities make law, policy, or court opinion that is contrary to His law – the lesser magistrates are to interpose and stop the evil.”

Pastor Matt Trewhella 

On a personal note, reading Pastor Trewhella’s book was a turning point for me. As a county commissioner, it gave me the foundation to act to protect my constituents. I wrote two resolutions. The first declared Cherokee County, North Carolina, a Second Amendment Sanctuary County, and the second declared Cherokee County a Bill of Rights Sanctuary. In both resolutions, it states:

Therefore, it shall be the policy of the Cherokee County Government not to authorize the expenditure of or the appropriation of local government funds, resources, employees, agencies, contractors, buildings, detention centers, or offices for the purpose of implementing or assisting in the enforcement of any federal acts, laws, orders, mandates, rules or regulations, that infringe on the rights of the people as enumerated and ratified in the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution.

Our founders were men of great courage and faith, who pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to win our freedom.  Their solemn oath, however, was proven only by their actions in the face of financial ruin, imprisonment, and even death at the hands of King George and his soldiers.  In our troubled times, we must support and elect local officials who are willing to take those same risks to interpose themselves between the federal and state government tyrants to protect our individual rights and freedoms.

Resist Tyranny and Trust in Freedom!

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Dr. Dan’s guest on Freedom Forum Radio this weekend is Pastor Matt Trewhella, noted author and pastor of Mercy Seat Christian Church in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area and founder of Missionaries to the Preborn.

Through his research and teaching on the biblical duties of the lower magistrate, Pastor Trewhella came across the Magdeburg Confession, an important historical work that became the first in the history of mankind to set forth in a doctrinal format what only later came to be known as the Lesser Magistrate Doctrine. Check out his new website, Defy Tyrants.

Pastor Trewhella and his wife Clara live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They have eleven children.

Part one of this fascinating interview airs on Saturday and Sunday, March 26-27 on WJRB 95.1 FM and streamed live over the Internet. Part two airs on Saturday and Sunday, April 2-3, and part three airs Saturday and Sunday, April 9-10.

Air times are Saturday, 8:00 AM and 9:30 AM, and Sunday, 2:30 PM and 7:00 PM. All programs are available by podcast following airtime here.