Capital Punishment

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I want to invite you to take out your Bible.
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I want you to open it to the book of Romans as we have been studying Romans together.
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I want you to go back with me to Romans chapter 13.
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For two weeks we sought to make our understanding more clear of Romans 13 verses 1 through 7.
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We focused on what it had to say about the role and responsibility of civil servants.
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It's not supposed to make any noise.
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Hopefully that won't happen again.
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As most of you know, I use my phone to record the service.
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So now it just told me my GPS connection was lost.
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Well, that's what happens when you use your phone for GPS, for watching videos, for listening to sermons, for study.
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That's what happens when your phone becomes everything.
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I was talking to my dad about that earlier.
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How really companies like TomTom and Garmin and all that really are fighting a battle now because everybody's phone has a GPS.
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MP3 player companies are fighting a battle because everybody's phone plays music.
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It's funny how everything sort of has come full circle in these devices that we keep in our pocket.
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So getting back to the train of thought that I was in before.
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When we think about the lesson that we learn from Romans chapter 13, the lesson that we learn is very simple.
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And that is God is in control of everything.
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He's even in control of the government, which often seems like it is very much out of control.
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In the very first verse, it says, let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God.
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And we've spent the last couple of weeks talking about what that means.
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We said that every authority that is in the world comes from God from the top down, whether the person is a governmental authority, whether a person is an authority at a state level, whether a person is in authority at a county level, a city level, town level, church level.
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The authorities in the church have been instituted by God.
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And even in the home, God has set up a particular hierarchy of authority.
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And that's part of what we're going to be talking about on Sunday.
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We're going to be talking about how the family operates and the mother and father interact with one another, and how the father has authority in the home and the mother has responsibility to be his helpmate and to come alongside of him and work together with him.
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And both of them have the responsibility to disciple the children.
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But the structure of authority that goes from top all the way down to the very miniscule aspects of authority in the home all come from God.
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God is the one who places people in the positions of authority.
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Yes, we vote.
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Yes, we are part of the process.
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And yes, we should be part of the process because God uses means to accomplish his end.
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So we should be a part of that.
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But we should never for a second forget that God is ultimately still going to be God.
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A few years ago, in 2008, when we last voted for the president, there was a lot of concern about who was going to be voted as going to be a lot of concern again this time.
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And I don't know how many of you were here to remember this, but the sermon that I preached was God will still be on his throne Wednesday.
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Because everybody was concerned about the Tuesday vote and what was going to happen on that Tuesday.
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And I wanted people to remember that God is still God, even if whoever is in the White House.
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And it doesn't really matter in the scheme of the fact that God is still God.
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But what do we say rulers are? They are one of three things to a people.
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What are they? Does anybody remember what those three things were? A ruler is either one of three things.
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What? Either a blessing, a judgment or a test or trial.
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That's right.
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So you could say that the three things that a ruler is that God, the reason why God allows somebody to come to power is either one, that he would bless the people, two, that he would test the people or three, that he would try the people or that he would judge them.
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I'm sorry that he would judge the people and be a judgment on the people.
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And somebody asked me one time, well, in fact, I think it was after the service last week.
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Someone asked about, you know, how we what if we what if we don't respect the person in the office? Should we still respect the office? And I said, well, I think that answer we find that answer in the life of David.
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Because when David really was being attacked and his life was endangered by King Saul, he still was unwilling to strike King Saul.
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What did he say about that? He says, far be it for me to raise my hand against the one whom God has made king of Israel.
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He says, far be it for me to raise my hand against God's anointed.
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And the word anointed simply means to be placed in a position to be means literally to be poured over with oil.
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That were the pouring of the oil was a signification of a person being put in a position.
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Prophets were anointed, kings were anointed, priests were anointed as a symbol of going under that position of authority.
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So that's what the verse tells us.
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It's what it tells us about authority.
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But tonight we're going to step to something else that's found in verses one through seven.
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Something that I haven't talked about yet at length.
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And we're going to address it because I think it's something that we should address as a church.
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And at least understand what the Bible says about it.
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We understand about authority.
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We understand about God's control.
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We even understand about taxes because you mentioned that.
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We understand about honor and that we're to pay honor to whom honor is due.
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But the verse that we have not really dealt with is verse four.
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And that deals with the subject of what is called capital punishment.
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So tonight's focus is going to be on the right and responsibility of capital punishment.
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So let's read the verses again.
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We're going to read verses one through seven.
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And tonight's focus will be on verse four.
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Verse one says, Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God.
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And those that exist have been instituted by God.
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Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed.
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And those who resist will incur judgment.
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For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.
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Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good and you will receive his approval.
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For he is God's servant for your good.
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But if you do wrong, be afraid.
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For he.
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I'm sorry.
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Yes.
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Well, I did try to explain this.
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I have tried to explain this the last couple of weeks.
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When it says the governing authority is there for our good.
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Ultimately what that's referring to is the fact that it is better to have government than to not.
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It's better to have a bad government than to have no government.
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Because man who lives under no authority lives by the rule of his own heart.
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And that's what happened before the flood.
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And that's what brought God's wrath in the flood.
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Was because man lived according to what was right in his own eyes.
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And as such, it was only evil continually.
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Even a bad government is better than no government.
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So, in that regard.
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Well, it's easy to forget.
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It's a long week.
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No, but I just want to remind everybody.
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We did address.
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Because it does seem that there are times when we could say that it's not good in our sense of good.
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But God has established government ultimately for good.
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Sometimes rulers are a judgment.
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Sometimes rulers are a blessing.
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Sometimes rulers are a test.
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But no matter what, it's ultimately God is going to work it out for our good.
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The Bible says in Romans 8.28 that God causes all things to work together for our good.
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And he has established government ultimately for our good.
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So, that's how I would address that.
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It's a legitimate question.
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In fact, I'm glad you mentioned it because it gets to remind us what we have.
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Yeah, what I had mentioned before.
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Alright.
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Now, moving on though, it says.
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Where was I? Be afraid.
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For he does not bear the sword in vain.
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For he is a servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.
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Therefore, one must be in subjection not only to avoid God's wrath.
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But also for the sake of conscience.
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For the same reason, you also pay taxes for the authorities or ministers of God attending to this very thing.
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Pay to all what is owed to them.
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Taxes to whom taxes are owed.
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Revenue to whom revenue is owed.
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Respect to whom respect is owed.
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Honor to whom honor is owed.
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And may God add his blessing to the reading of his word.
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We're going to move on in the weeks to come into verse 8.
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But as I said, tonight we're going to focus primarily on verse 4.
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And we're going to deal with the question of capital punishment.
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I've mentioned capital punishment in a few of my messages dealing with this.
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But I've never really dealt with the subject in toto.
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And I felt like tonight would be a good opportunity to do that.
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For really, if there is one subject which is very divisive in America.
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In fact, probably one of the most divisive political subjects.
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It is the subject of whether or not the government should have the authority to take a person's life.
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And that really has been debated and talked about for quite some time.
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And from a Christian perspective, looking at all of the arguments.
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I have heard it argued from both sides that it is illegitimate for the state to take someone's life.
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I have heard people who are Christian people.
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Who have made the argument that it is illegitimate for the state to exercise something as drastic as capital punishment.
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So it's something for us to consider today.
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The reality of whether or not the Bible teaches that we should.
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Whether or not it is something that the state should practice.
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And whether or not it is something that we as Christians should look upon with approval or with disapproval.
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Ultimately, we can't stop the state.
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But we can as Americans exercise our voting rights.
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We can have influence within the system.
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And we have to ask ourselves questions on social issues like this.
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We have to ask what does the Bible teach in regards to this ethic.
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And we have to understand the principles behind what the Bible is saying.
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Because there are many ways that people use the Bible to make arguments that are not biblical.
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Let me say that again.
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Just make sure you understand what I am saying.
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There are many ways that people use the Bible to make arguments that are not biblical.
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You want to hear one? You want to hear a real good one? There are people who argue that women should be pastors.
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And they say, well, the book of Galatians says that in Christ there is neither slave nor free.
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There is neither male nor female.
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But all are equal.
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And they quote that verse.
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And they say, look here.
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You're saying a woman can't be a pastor.
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But right here in the Bible it says there is neither male nor female.
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How then can you make the argument that someone could not be a pastor simply because of their gender? Aren't you speaking from a sexist, patriarchal, misogynistic attitude? I wouldn't do it so well if I hadn't heard it myself.
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But you see, they are using the Bible to make an unbiblical argument.
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People do it all the time.
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Because the Bible is very clear that though men and women are equal in Christ, we are all in one body, which is Christ, there are still authority structures which are set up in the home and in the church.
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Do you know how I respond when somebody uses the Galatians passage? I say, well, let me ask you a question.
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My son is 11 years old.
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When he receives Christ and is regenerate and is baptized and becomes a Christian, spiritually we are equals.
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But I'm still his father.
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And he's still my son.
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We have not lost the structure of authority which God has set up in my home.
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He can't look at me and say, well, Dad, I'm a Christian and you're a Christian.
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We're equals.
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I no longer have to obey your rules.
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Because that would last about as long as it took for me to get my belt off.
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But you get the idea, right? For someone to say that because there is equality spiritually, that that absolutely means that there is no structure set up for the family or the church, then that misses completely what the Bible says.
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Absolutely.
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And that's a good point.
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The context of Galatians 3 has nothing to do at all with the hierarchy of the church or how the church is supposed to be set up or the family is supposed to be set up.
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And that's very good.
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When we go to 1 Timothy 2, it's very clear where it talks about the role of men and women and how women are not supposed to have that type of authority in the church.
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It's not sexist.
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It's not misogynistic.
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It's not patriarchal.
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It's simply the way that God intended the church to be set up.
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And I've often made this very simple argument that I have yet to be responded on.
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Now, that's not to say somebody smarter than me might not come along.
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Because some people often ask, well, why is it? Why is that the case? And the simple answer is, well, that's the way God wants it to be.
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But if you really want the answer to the question that I think the reason why God intends it to be that way is because God has set up the family as the father is the spiritual pastor, provider, and protector of his home.
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If his wife became the pastor of the church, there would be a conflict of authority in that relationship.
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Because in his house, he would be the authority.
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In God's house, she would be the authority.
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And as such, there would be a discrepancy.
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And because she is put in a place where she is then at the mercy of the church, he would not be able to stand as the position he's supposed to stand in as her protector.
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Because guess what? When the church brings something to bear on me, I have to stand for myself.
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If my wife were the pastor and you brought something to bear on her, you better believe I would bear on you.
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Because that's my job.
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And that's not the way it's supposed to be.
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I'm not supposed to allow my wife, my wife's not supposed to be in a position of authority where she would be at the mercy of other people's criticism, other people's issues, other people's problems, as the pastor often is, without my ability to stand as her bulwark, her wall, her defense.
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I think that's a very pragmatic answer, but I think it works for me.
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It shows me why my wife shouldn't be a pastor, why no man's wife should be a pastor.
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So what if a woman's not married? Well, you might can make that argument, but yet still the Bible makes it very clear about that issue.
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Now, that's not the issue of tonight, I know.
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But you see how the conversation begins.
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The conversation begins with an unbiblical argument that's made from the Bible.
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So now let's get back to capital punishment.
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What are some of the issues that are brought up from the Bible? What are some of the arguments that are made against capital punishment from the Bible? Somebody give me the most obvious one, please.
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Thou shalt not kill.
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Thank you.
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Which one is that? Which commandment is that? Have no other gods before the Lord, not make any idols, not use the Lord's name in vain, remember the Sabbath, honor your father and mother, do not commit murder.
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Number six, right? Commandment six.
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Yes, sir.
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That's true.
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That's true.
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It's real hard to do it when you're dead.
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Absolutely.
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So that's true.
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Yeah, he can't commit another crime.
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Commandment six is thou shalt not what? Thou shalt not...
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I'm putting a question mark there because I want to hear your answer.
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Thou shalt not say what? Ah-ha-ha.
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Some of you say kill.
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But yet, this is incorrect.
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Even though it's in the King James.
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Was I so brazen as to say the King James made a mistake? Yes, I did.
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I'm definitely not going to make it to that King James only Christmas party I was invited to.
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No.
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The Bible never says thou shalt not kill because if it did, it would be in direct contradiction to itself when the Lord actually commanded His people to go in and kill every man, woman, child, and animal among the Canaanites.
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You know, we've read this story.
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You know, the Canaanite genocide in Scripture.
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And God commands that.
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So if God says thou shalt not kill and then says go and kill, God is at that moment unrighteous because He has committed the sin of contradicting Himself because at some point He had to have been wrong.
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It's a sin to say I was right and now I'm wrong.
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For God, because God can't be wrong.
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So, what's the word? Commit murder, right? Thou shalt not commit murder.
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So, is what the state is...
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Let's see if I can formulate this sentence correctly.
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Let's back that up.
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When the state takes a life, is that murder? We would all say no.
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But why is it not murder? What is the difference between some guy on 8th Street who takes a gun and shoots another person in cold blood and that person falling to his death and the state taking a person, laying them on a table and putting into their arm a poisonous substance which ultimately brings to death.
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What is the difference? You're right, but I'm letting everybody sort of mull that over in their mind.
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The difference is justice.
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And somebody said that and that's right.
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Yes, sir.
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Okay.
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No, I understand.
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Yes, sir.
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Yes, sir.
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Yeah, I'm actually...
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I'm getting there.
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You always outrun me.
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But I got a whole list.
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You always do that.
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You always outrun me.
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I'll back up.
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No, no, no.
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You're right.
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That's where we're going next.
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Because where do we find the Ten Commandments? Do you remember? I'm preaching on one of them on Sunday.
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I'm preaching on the fifth one which is honor your father and mother.
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Where do we find it? Exodus 20.
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Exodus 20 is where this command comes in.
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Commandment number 6 comes in Exodus 20.
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Thou shalt not commit murder which means to kill unjustly.
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So the difference between the guy on 8th Street with the pistol who takes out and takes somebody's life and somebody who is taken by the state and who is executed by the state the difference is justice.
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Right? Can we all agree that the difference is that the person on 8th Street was not treated justly.
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He was not treated in accordance with the law.
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This is why it is different if the person on 8th Street if man 1 pulls out a butcher knife and he attacks the second person and then the second person pulls out a gun and shoots him in self-defense he will not be charged with murder.
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Or at least he shouldn't be.
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Now in some liberal states you can't defend yourself.
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But justifiably what? Well, justifiably justifiably that is not murder anymore is it? At that point it is self-defense.
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And the law recognizes self-defense.
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The law recognizes what we call second degree murder.
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Manslaughter.
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All of these things are recognized.
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But what is murder in the first degree? Premeditated unjust murder.
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The taking of a life without any just cause.
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And that is what is recognized in Commandment 6.
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So when someone says and you'll see it when the arguments about capital punishment are made and you see these people standing out on the lawns of the prisons or you see these people on Fox News or CNN or MSNBC or any of these other news organizations you'll see people and undoubtedly there will be someone in the crowd who holds up a sign and the sign will say Thou shalt not kill.
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Well beloved, that is using the Bible to make an unbiblical argument.
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Because they've used a quote from the Bible incorrectly.
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And they've misquoted it to make their argument.
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So that's Commandment 6.
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Thou shalt not murder.
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Is there any other verse in the Bible that people use to say that capital punishment is wrong? Are there other verses? Yes.
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Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord.
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Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord.
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That is true.
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They use that argument and that argument they will say, See, when the state takes a life they are enacting vengeance and the Lord says vengeance is mine.
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How would we answer that question? How would we relate that back to the Scripture and demonstrate that they are making a biblical argument that is actually unbiblical? Well, first and foremost, we could find that answer right here in Romans 13.
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Look back at verse 4.
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For he is God's servant for your good, but if you do wrong, be afraid.
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For he does not bear the sword in vain.
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For he is God's servant and avenger who carries out what? God's wrath.
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Isn't that interesting? Isn't it interesting that God uses means to bring about His ends? And that God actually uses the means of capital punishment to bring about the end of judgment for an individual.
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Because it says, you can say, Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord.
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And He can say it is.
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I use the government to bring it about.
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I use this tool which I set up from the foundation of the world as my tool.
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They were a minister of judgment and justice.
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Right? So that's one.
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What's another one? Does anybody have another verse? And I'm using it because I want you guys to think about this because there may come a day you're sitting in a coffee shop.
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You're seeing this on CNN.
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There's a question and somebody says, hey, thou shalt not kill.
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I don't believe in capital punishment.
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You can then demonstrate to them what does the Bible actually say.
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What's a verse? Come on, somebody think about a verse that somebody may use to argue against capital punishment.
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How about the ever famous turn the other cheek? That's the one we often hear, right? Jesus said, if a man strikes you on the cheek, turn and allow him to strike the other cheek.
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How then can we as Christians support the punishment of an evil doer if we are told that if someone does evil to us that we are supposed to take it and continue? I almost thought your hand was going up there for a minute.
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I did.
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No, I was excited.
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All right.
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One thing you must remember, and this is very important, because people will argue and they will say the Bible contradicts itself because they will say, in one place it says an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand and a foot for a foot.
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And yet Jesus said, you have heard it said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I say unto you if a man strikes you in the right cheek, turn and allow him to strike the other.
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See, here Jesus Himself contradicts Holy Scripture.
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We have to be ready for these kind of things because this is the type...
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You know, most people who don't believe the Bible still want to know what it says so they can argue with you about it.
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And some very agnostic people are very knowledgeable about what the Bible says.
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And they'll ask this question.
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Yes, sir? I'm getting there too.
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You're outrunning me at every curve.
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Because getting back, I want to make this point before I get to that.
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Because that's actually another argument that they use.
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That was going to be the last one.
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But just dealing with the argument of the cheek, turn the other cheek.
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If you say, eye for an eye, tooth for tooth, turn the other cheek, and you look at those outside of their context, it does appear that the two are contradictory.
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You can't demand eye for an eye and say, turn the other cheek, and those two go together in the same way.
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You can't say that both of those are true in the same context because they're not.
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The phrase, eye for an eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot, it's found in the law.
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Given to the judges of Israel for this.
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This is how you establish justice.
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An eye for an eye, a hand for hand, a tooth for tooth, a foot for foot.
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The idea was this.
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If Irv comes to me and Irv gouges out my eye, he wouldn't be, okay.
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And I want justice to be served.
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At most, Irv would have his eye gouged out.
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I would want to kill him.
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No offense, Irv.
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Because that's vengeance.
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Vengeance would want your life.
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Vengeance would want double payment, both eyes.
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Vengeance would want him cut off at the knees.
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Vengeance would want his family's eyes.
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But justice says an eye for an eye.
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And that is how judges are supposed to judge with equity.
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And that is how God established justice.
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But when Jesus came, He saw a perversion of justice.
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He saw Pharisees and Sadducees who had authority amongst God's people and who were bringing about a perversion of God's justice.
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And He said, they are preaching to you eye for an eye.
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But I say unto you, don't seek vengeance.
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That's what Jesus meant when He said, if somebody hits you, turn the other cheek.
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Let them hit you again rather than automatically seeking vengeance.
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Justice is to be carried out by law and order and government, not through vengeance.
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This is why it says, do not repay evil for evil.
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But the law is there to protect the innocent.
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The law is there to protect the noble and the good.
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Even though the law doesn't always do right, the law is supposed to do those things.
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It's supposed to protect people.
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And that's why God established government to maintain law and order.
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Yeah, that's why I didn't make it on the jury.
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No, that's how all law was established in Israel.
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It had to be established on at least two or three witnesses.
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And the reason for that is because they didn't have security cameras and fingerprints back then.
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I mean, seriously.
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They had almost everything that was brought before a judge was brought on a witness.
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And if I didn't like you, Irv, and I said, hey, Irv hurt me, it would be my word against yours.
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Unless I had other people who had witnessed you harming me, I didn't have a case.
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See, I actually was called to jury duty one time.
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And I found out how to beat it.
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But I wasn't dishonest.
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I found out how to beat it because I was honest.
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And apparently, it wouldn't allow me to be a juror.
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Because this is what they said.
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They said, would you accept one witness in a crime? And I said, I can't.
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They said, why? I said, because the Bible says I have to have two or three.
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And they looked at me like I had three heads and asked me to leave.
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And I boogied on out to the car and left.
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Because I really wasn't excited about being there anyway.
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But seriously, I remember that they asked me, would you accept one witness? And I said, I can't.
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Now, let's keep it today, it's not one witness.
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Because things like fingerprints, security footage, all these things bear witness to what happened.
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It's not anymore one person's word.
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But no, I would not take one person's word against another to see a man imprisoned.
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I think it would be dangerous to do so.
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So, with that being said, that kind of went off the subject.
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But the whole idea is capital punishment, capital punishment is designed to be an act of justice.
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It is not an act of murder.
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It is an act of justice.
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Because all the way back in Genesis 9, when God established the civil government, when He established human government, He established it on the basis of if a man takes the life of another man, so too shall his life be taken because in the image of God, He made man.
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We are made in God's image.
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And when a person takes the life of another person, that is an absolute strike against the person of God.
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And when we strike against the person of God, that is the most heinous of crimes and that crime must be dealt with in the most powerful of ways.
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Yes, sir.
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Yes, sir.
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That is a very good question.
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And that actually moves on to the question of just war.
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Does the Bible ever say that war is just? Absolutely.
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But it is not being done in an act of premeditated hatred.
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It is being done as an act of war.
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So at that point, a soldier is carrying out his duties.
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And one of the most interesting things that we find in Scripture is that never once did Jesus, as many times as He came in the presence of a soldier, never did Jesus command that a soldier leave his profession.
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You think about it.
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Every time when the soldier sent the men to Jesus asking that his person be healed, the centurion, the centurion who was Cornelius and his house, all of these, never was it said to them the rich young ruler came to Jesus and said, what must I do to be saved? He said, sell all your goods and go and give it to the poor and come and follow me.
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But when a soldier came to Jesus, Jesus didn't say, take off your sword and your shield and set it aside and follow me.
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That's an interesting, that's not, that's an argument from silence.
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That's not an argument from Jesus actually said something, but it is a pregnant silence because he never commanded a soldier to leave his post.
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Soldiers do have a responsibility because without soldiers, a government cannot enforce its laws.
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Everybody agree with that? Police officers are types of soldiers.
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They're what we call civilian, they are civilians in the sense that they're not military.
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They're civilian law enforcement and they are types of soldiers.
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If a police officer kills a man in the line of duty because he's protecting another person or himself as a police officer, that's not murder because he's doing the duty of a police officer.
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Likewise, when a soldier is in battle, the question is not whether or not the soldier has the right to kill.
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The question is whether or not the war is just.
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That's where it would become an issue because the soldier is simply doing what he's commanded to do, to go and do his job.
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At that point, who would bear the responsibility? The soldier or the men who send him into battle? You could argue it's defense.
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Don't shoot until shot upon.
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Don't fire until fired upon.
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But really, seriously, who bears the more responsibility in the sense of the soldier? Is it the soldier who willfully follows his commander, which the Bible tells us we're to obey authority that is put above us.
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Is the soldier the one or is the one who has commanded him to go into battle if it is unjust? Yeah, absolutely.
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That's something we have to consider.
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Well, that's the part I didn't really...
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You're right, and I hate to even mention that because I know that it is so few and far between, but those get all the attention.
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When one soldier does something or one police officer does something that brings bad reputation to the entire military or to the entire law enforcement community, when one of them does that, whether it's going and killing an innocent group of people or whether it's killing somebody incorrectly involved in a police situation, yes, that does happen.
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And yes, that person is responsible because at that point he has disobeyed his command.
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That would be murder.
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It could be.
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Yeah, and that's why the gentleman...
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I call him gentleman.
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I don't know what his name was.
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The guy who went into the city and started killing people, the military soldier.
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Now, we could argue all day about whether or not he was mentally capable or whether he had a mental breakdown.
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No matter what happened, what he did was not sanctioned by his commanding officers.
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It was something he did on his own, and as such, he has to bear the responsibility of it.
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At that point, it could become murderous.
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It's a murderous rage, rampage, rather than a soldier in battle.
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But you see how this becomes, there is, it expands because you're going to love where I end all this.
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We're not there yet.
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I need to get to a few other things, and I was going to go to just work towards the end, but you made me go there first.
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It's okay.
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That's what we're doing.
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We're having fun.
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I like to learn.
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I hope you guys are enjoying it.
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But getting back to the last one, the last argument, we've said Commandment 6 says, thou shalt not commit murder.
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Some people use that as argument.
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Seek not vengeance.
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Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord.
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People use that.
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Turn the other cheek.
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People use that argument.
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But the one argument that I've heard very recently is that, hey, if there was anybody who was against capital punishment, it was Jesus because he was a victim of it.
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I've heard that.
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I've seen shirts, billboards, bumper stickers that said Jesus would oppose capital punishment because they say, hey, he was a victim of it.
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But isn't it interesting? That's right.
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But you see how a person who is liberally minded, who is trying to use a biblical point to make an unbiblical argument could say, well, Jesus was killed by capital punishment, so we know capital punishment wouldn't be supported by him.
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How do we answer? I think you made the good point.
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God planned that this would be.
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In fact, if somebody said that to me and really wanted my answer, because people normally don't want an answer when they're so brazen they just want to say something.
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But if people said that to me and wanted an answer, I would take them to Acts 4 because there's a place in Acts 4 that I think, if we understood this...
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Listen to what Peter says starting in verse 8.
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The scribes and the elders had gathered together and they had told him, they had asked, what power or by what name have you done this? And then Peter, verse 8, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, O rulers and people of the elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man by what means this man has been healed, let it be known, all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man is standing before you.
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This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone and there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
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So he is telling them who Jesus is.
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And then he goes on to say a little bit further down.
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Let me find the verse here.
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Oh, excuse me.
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I thought I had it there and I lost it.
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Here, verse 27.
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For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the people of Israel.
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Alright, who is he talking about? Herod and Pontius Pilate.
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They are the ones who conspired for the death of Christ along with the people of Israel who called for the death of Christ.
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Verse 28.
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To do whatever your hand and your plan, same word that Priscilla used, had predestined to take place.
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So when somebody says the death of Christ was a misuse of the government's power and Jesus would have been against the death penalty in His own case, we must remind them that this was part of God's predestined and predetermined plan that Christ would be killed on the cross for our sins.
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For our good.
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Did He use evil men to accomplish it? Did He use evil attitudes to accomplish it? Well, He did.
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He used the evil attitude of Pontius.
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He used the evil attitude of Herod.
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He used the evil attitude of the Jews.
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But what I'm saying is He used that to bring it about and He used the established authority of the government to bring about the death of Christ through the crucifixion which was capital punishment which goes back to what Richard said before.
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This very ordained act of God, capital punishment, was the very method by which God used to bring salvation to His people.
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So in that respect, we can say that capital punishment has been used by God for our good.
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Yeah, absolutely.
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And they did kill Him and God raised Him from the dead.
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That's right.
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Now, getting back to what we've been learning.
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We've been asking the question what arguments would people use against capital punishment? Here's this one.
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Here's this one.
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Here's that one.
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And we've given an answer to every one.
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But what would we use as a positive statement about capital punishment? How would we positively affirm it? Well, we go back to the law and we affirm it through the law.
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I'm going to give you some verses.
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If you want to go there with me, fine.
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Or if you just want to hear me read them, fine.
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But I want you to, if you would, write them down if you're taking notes because here are some positive affirmations that interestingly enough come after Exodus 20 which gives us the thou shalt not commit murder.
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After thou shalt not commit murder, the law does not stop there.
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The law gives positive statements about when a life is to be taken.
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The first one is the one you mentioned earlier.
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Exodus chapter 21 and verse 12.
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It says, Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death.
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This again is not talking about an accident.
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It's not talking about self-defense.
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This is absolutely murder.
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And that's the action that's being spoken of here.
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Huh? Exodus chapter 21 and verse 12.
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In fact, it goes on to say, But if he did not lie in wait for Him, but God let him fall into His hand, then I will appoint for you a place to where he may flee.
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But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, you shall take him from the altar that he may die.
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So there, right there.
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It's giving you.
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It's showing you that this is not talking about an accident.
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It's not talking about self-defense.
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It's premeditated.
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He was laying in wait, waiting for the person so that he could kill him.
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It's premeditated, first degree murder.
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And it's to be treated with the death penalty.
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Verse 15.
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Same chapter.
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Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall be put to death.
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I'm actually going to talk about that Sunday.
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On Mother's Day.
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Don't y'all love coming to this church? I mean, really.
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I'm going to talk about honoring fathers and mothers.
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I'm going to talk about mothers particularly because of Mother's Day.
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But I'm going to actually exegete the 5th Commandment.
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Something I haven't done before.
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Just that one phrase.
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What does it mean to honor? What's the promise? And does it ever expire? That's the three questions we're going to ask.
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Does that command to honor your father or mother ever expire? Even when you're an adult.
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That's what we're going to deal with.
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Those three questions.
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But seriously, right here it says, if you strike your father or mother...
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I've seen a lot of people on Jerry Springer that should be on death row.
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Not that I go around watching Jerry Springer, but every time I go get my tires changed, I still have to sit there.
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And they always got some daytime television show on.
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Or when I go give blood or something.
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What is the next one? Verse 16.
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Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him shall be put to death.
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What does it mean to steal a man? Kidnapping, right? Did you say that? Yeah.
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It's just kidnapping.
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So here's an interesting point.
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Because now God is broadening the range of the death penalty.
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He's saying not only is it killing another man, but it is bringing an imperiled condition.
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Yeah.
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Absolutely.
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Absolutely.
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So there's all kinds of issues why kidnapping could be tantamount to killing somebody.
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What if a person's kidnapped and then they die in the process? Yeah, there's all kinds of ways.
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And I agree.
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This is why God is making it a capital offense.
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Yeah.
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You're stealing.
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Yeah.
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Verse 17.
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What does it say? Whoever curses his father or his mother shall be put to death.
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I tell you what, that father-mother thing...
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I tell you, you know what's interesting? I'm unaware of, and if you were to show me one, I'd be willing to concede that I could be wrong.
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But I'm unaware of any passage of Scripture where this is fulfilled.
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And I've tried to find one.
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So if you find one, please tell me.
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Obviously, there's a lot of Bible and only one of me.
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And I'm willing to...
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There's multiple commands that say if a child is unruly, if a child is disrespectful, if a child dishonors, if a child curses, if a child strikes, it's actually throughout the Old Testament that that child is under the mercy of his parents and his parents can seek the death penalty for his child.
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But I don't know that it was ever carried out.
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And I'm curious if it ever was.
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If you know of a place, and I may just be ignorant.
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I'm willing to admit ignorance on that.
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But I've looked.
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I haven't seen one.
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But if you find one, send me an email.
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I'd love to know.
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Because I wonder if it was a parent whose child was so unruly that they were a danger to the very people of Israel.
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Am I missing one? Is somebody thinking of one right now? Because I can't think of where this was ever fulfilled.
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But can you imagine being a teenager in Israel? Knowing that the parents had that level of authority.
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That's probably why it didn't happen.
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Now, there are some other things that are calls for capital punishment.
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Some of them I don't even want to mention because we have children here.
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But there are other calls for capital punishment in the law.
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Adultery is one of them.
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Being a false prophet is one of them.
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If you want to write down a few that you can look up, I don't want to mention Exodus 22-19, Leviticus 20-10, Leviticus 20-13, Deuteronomy 13-5, Deuteronomy 22-24.
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But my only point in bringing those up is to mention that it's not only murder but the stealing of a life.
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The stealing of a life through kidnap.
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The stealing of a life through rape.
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The stealing of the glory of God through behavior like homosexuality was considered to be so heinous that a life was the only truly righteous payment.
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So, that all being said, and I know we're out of time, if we are asked the question, what does the Bible say about capital punishment? I think our only answer could be this.
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That God has instituted the government to enforce laws and certain crimes are only righteously judged by a life for a life.
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That is what the Bible says.
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If someone were to argue and say, well, aren't there people who are unjustly killed by capital punishment? We would certainly have to argue that there have been.
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And the person who is most is Christ.
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Christ was unjustly killed.
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But, that does not negate the fact that God uses it as an arm of vengeance and justice.
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His arm for justice.
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Somebody said one time, I don't think we should have capital punishment because we might accidentally kill somebody who was innocent.
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Instead, we should just lock them up in prison for the rest of their lives.
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My response was, is it better to imprison a man for the rest of his life when he is innocent than to kill an innocent man? In both, you have taken his life.
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Why not be more concerned that true justice is served than trying to find a way around God's instituted penalty? And I'll leave you with that.
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Father, thank you for this opportunity to study your Word.
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Thank you for so much good interaction tonight and being able to really dig into some of these questions very deep.
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We do pray, O Lord, that this has been an encouraging time and one that will be used by your people to further study, to further their desire for the Word, and to further be an encouragement to just want to know you more and want to follow your will.
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In Jesus' name we pray.
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Amen.