of the sixth commandment from the larger catechism. We did our first application concerning suicide and just answering the question concerning what is the biblical teaching on suicide. And now we'll look at a second application concerning lawful war. And in order to establish this specifically, we're going to look at some things that you might wonder, well, what does that have to do with lawful war? But trust me, we'll get to the point where it makes a little more sense. So bear with me as we go through this. Matthew chapter five, verses 17 through 20 in your handouts on page one. Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Alright, so this sets the stage for what we commonly call the Sermon on the Mount. The reason why I'm bringing this specifically out is to assist folks who may not understand that when you read a book or any discourse or you hear a sermon or a parable or whatever it is, if you hear somebody tell you something and they start their discourse by saying, now listen, don't suppose this about what I'm about to say and then you suppose that, that they just told you not to suppose, you know you've misunderstood what they've said. Because if the prefatory material is, don't get this idea from what I'm about to tell you, and then your idea from what he's about to tell you is exactly what he told you not to think, you're wrong. Period. Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter how you reason it out. Doesn't matter how you go to the point in the discourse where he says the thing that you think your error is based off of. you are wrong you can't be right so that's why he does this in fact the way he phrases it is very interesting think not in greek it means don't even begin to think the following and what is the following Well, it's that the ministry of Christ is to destroy the law of Moses or the teaching of the prophets. That's what it is. Anyone who comes to the conclusion that what Jesus says is against Moses and the prophets is literally disobedient to the prefatory material of Christ, the prohibition of thinking. Well, this, now that what you're saying here, Jesus, This is contrary to Moses and the prophets. The law is the five books of Moses. The prophets is the rest of the Old Testament. There's something in your sermon, Jesus, that's contrary to the Old Testament. And this is where it relates. This is how this relates. Because people who oppose the lawful use of warfare say that there's something in the Sermon on the Mount contrary to the Old Testament teaching on war. So this is why we're going to deal with this first. Because we have to remove the pharisaical blinder which refuses to listen to Jesus in hardness of heart when he says, don't think this. Don't even begin to think that this is the case. And they say, yeah, but this is the case. Look what he says here in verse 38. No, no, no, no. you misunderstood. You obviously missed the boat because he told you not to think that way and yet here you are thinking that way. All right, so we'll use a few examples from the Sermon on the Mount. Letter B there in your handouts, Matthew 5, 22. But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment and whosoever shall say to his brother Raqqa shall be in danger of the council and whosoever shall say thou fool shall be in danger of hellfire." So here's something. You have heard that it was said unto you, but I say unto you. So is he talking about the law and the prophets? No, he's not. The thing that he's correcting is not taught by Moses. It's not taught by the prophets. Then who's it taught by? Well, that was the other part of the preface. Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the law and the prophets? Is that what your copy says? Because mine doesn't. The scribes and the Pharisees. the party who teach you currently, if your righteousness isn't greater than theirs, not greater than the law and the prophets, but greater than the pharisaical righteousness, you will not make it into heaven. In fact, Christ warns that if you break the commandments of the law and the prophets the least, or you teach men to break the least of those commandments, then you'll be called least in the kingdom of heaven. Now, which commandments those are, of course, is fleshed out in the details of this. One concerns anger, one concerns adultery, one concerns vengeance, things like that. All right, now, Old Testament concerning anger or the sin of anger against your brother. Psalm 37, verses 7 through 9. So here's a comparison. Does Jesus teach something new here that's not taught by the Law and the Prophets? The answer is resoundingly no. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him. Fret not thyself because of Him who prospereth in the way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath. Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil, or evildoers shall be cut off, and those that wait upon the Lord They shall inherit the earth. Now, this is important to understand as well. When Christ talks about the meek inheriting the earth, he's actually quoting indirectly Psalm 37. In some cases, you could argue he's quoting directly from Psalm 37. The point being, Psalm 37 directs us away from wrath, causeless anger. This is something you should forsake. It doesn't do you any good. It doesn't please God. Remember that God will avenge you and that you will inherit all things. So why would you be fretting? Why would you be angry? Proverbs 14, 29 and 16, 32. First Proverbs 14, 29. He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding. and he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly. Now remember the proverbs are generally in parallels so that as you read through a proverb you often will find that there will be terms or verbs or concepts that rhyme, that's how you rhyme in Hebrew, is by the similarity of thought. So in English you rhyme with sound, in Hebrew you rhyme with thought. Okay, so notice this. He that is slow to wrath, what's the parallel? Hasty of spirit. It's an inverted parallel. It's a parallel by opposites, in other words. So on the one hand, you can be slow to wrath. On the other hand, you can be hasty of spirit. So that's the first parallel. Then the second parallel is great understanding for those who are, or he who is slow to wrath. Okay, what's the parallel? exalting folly. So there's folly versus understanding. There is slowness to anger and hastiness of spirit or quickness of temper. Those are parallels by opposites. The point being that Solomon and the prophets dissuades us by the Spirit of God from being angry with our brother. He's telling us, don't do that. And if you are going to be angry, it should only be after long provocation. That's the idea of being slow to wrath. It means that your mind rules your passion. Whereas a man who's foolish, his passion rules his mind. So he exalts folly. All right, then Proverbs 16, 32. He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty. And he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city. Here you have parallels. One is slow to anger and ruling your spirit. The other parallel is a mighty man and one who takes a city. Those are double parallels. Because it's not just laid out in a literary fashion, but the thoughts are the same. So the idea of slowness to anger is the same as ruling your spirit. Those two are parallel. They're exact parallels. And then the idea of being a mighty man and taking a city. Those are also parallels. But built into that parallel structure is the opposites, right? The opposite is this man is is worldly glorious the world would look at a man who is mighty and they would say what an awesome guy whereas God's evaluation has to do more with the control of your spirit than the dominion you have over other men he evaluates it more important that you rule over your temper and that you behave in a rational manner than you be a military power that's more important to him but in any case When Christ says, whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment, he's speaking the language of the Old Testament. He's speaking the language of Moses and the prophets. And that's very important to understand. Letter C on your handout, page 1. Matthew 5, 27 and 28. Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." Now, again, this is not when he says, but I say unto you, he's not saying, yeah, that Old Testament, that trashy old book. No, don't listen to that anymore. I've got new words. That's not what he's saying. That would be contrary to his preface, wouldn't it? Where he's saying, don't even begin to think that I'm about to teach you things contrary to Moses and the prophets. Don't think that. Don't even start to go down that path, because that's not the right path. OK. Exodus 20 verse 17 in the 10th commandment literally says, don't covet your neighbor's wife. Don't have a desire for a woman that is not your own. Isn't that what Jesus was talking about? Looking on a woman to lust after her? That's exactly what coveting is. It's wanting something that is not yours and having it in your mind and your will or in your affections or in your eyes in this case. I desire to look upon her so that I can feel things about her. To lust, that's the idea. Those strong desires and feelings of the body. Okay, so that is condemned by the seventh commandment. Thou shalt not commit adultery. So coveting. And then Job 31.1, Job didn't have the law of Moses that we're aware of. He seemed to have God revealing to the patriarchs and handed down orally. Look what he knew. I made a covenant with my eyes. Why then should I think upon a maid? I'm not going to look after a young woman. I'm a married man. I will not look at a young woman in order to have desire for her. I'm not going to sit there and ponder her and mull her over in my mind. I've made a covenant with my eyes means I control where my eyes go. I don't let them wander to wherever I want to see so that I can excite my own desires. He's saying I have not done that. Of course, his friends are piling on accusations about how wicked Job is, so he has to literally deal with this topic because it's one of the implied accusations against him is that, well, maybe you're a whoremonger, Job. That's why you're suffering so much. So he's making it clear, no, I'm not. But he knew the same thing that Jesus says, which is your eyes must be under regulation so that you don't commit violations of the seventh commandment. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Proverbs chapter 6, verses 23 through 25. For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light, and reproofs of instruction are the way of life. To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman, lest not after her beauty in thine heart, neither let her take thee with her eyelids. Now do you think that that matches the ethic? Well, nobody ever went to jail for window shopping. That's what wicked men say. You can't go to jail for what you're thinking. That's what the papists say. And they think, well, I can just let my eyes go and have my thoughts. You think God approves of that? Of course he doesn't. You think he approved of that in the Old Testament? Of course he didn't. So when Jesus says, think not that I'm come to destroy the law of the prophets, well, Solomon tells you the same thing. That law that God gave is a lamp. The commandment that God says, thou shalt not commit adultery is a lamp. Your evil desires for this woman are like darkness and death. So listen to the law, not to your desires. God will keep you from this woman who speaks fair speeches, she flatters with her tongue. Don't even desire after her beauty inside of your inner man, he says. That's the thinking on the maid, or the choosing of her, or the lusting after her. Thoughts, will, affections, that's the heart. Don't lust after her beauty in thine heart, he says. Don't use your eyes. Don't use your thoughts. Don't use your will. Don't use your affections to direct yourself toward your own pleasure. This is nothing new to what Jesus is saying, so then who is he correcting? Look at all that. False righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, which says you can't go to jail for what you're thinking. That is the Papist doctrine. It's a vile and filthy doctrine. No, you can. You can go to hell. You can burn in hell for what you're thinking. You can go to hell for window shopping. OK, this is very serious. Do not lust after her beauty. Now, there's a whole industry made up of lust. We call it pornographia, the written pornea, which is fornication. That's absolutely filthy. That's satanic. That's from the pit of hell. Because it's a whole industry premised on, let's teach men to violate the law of God. And guess who owns that industry? The Pharisees and the scribes. They literally own that industry. The Jews, the Talmudic Jews, they own that industry. All right. So, there's no inconsistency between the law of Moses, the teaching of the prophets, and the gospel, and what Christ says. That's why he says, don't think when I say, I say unto you, that somehow I'm undoing what Moses said, or what David said, or what Solomon said, or what Isaiah said. Page two of your handout. Letter D. you have heard that it hath been said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth but i say unto you that ye resist not evil but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek turn to him the other also oh here you go we got him Here Jesus contradicts Moses. Moses teaches you to avenge yourself. Moses teaches you to resist him who is evil. Moses teaches you that you have the right of self-defense, and Jesus just undid what Moses said. Wrong answer. Do not even begin to think that nonsense is what Jesus starts his whole discourse with. because people would misunderstand. It's like he prophesied about this misunderstanding. Leviticus chapter 19 verse 18. Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. I am the Lord. Is there anything in that phrase that says Well, take vengeance for yourself. Eye for an eye. He comes after you, you go after him. Do you see anything about that in that passage? It says no. Don't avenge. Don't even bear the affection that leads to the action of avenge. Avenging yourself is you take an action to punish that person in kind for how they've done wrong to you. Bearing a grudge is the internal affection that says, I have been wronged. I will pay them back. That's the idea of bearing a grudge. So he says, don't do it. And what's the remedy to avenging yourself and bearing grudges? loving your neighbor as you love yourself. And this is where Christ quotes from when he says this is the second great commandment. He's quoting from Leviticus 19.18. He didn't make it up himself. He's, well, of course he did because he inspired the scriptures because he's God. But it's not like the man Jesus taught this radically new thing called love your neighbor as you love yourself. No, he taught the law of Moses. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. So then 1st Samuel 24 gives us a living picture of what does it mean. Don't avenge yourself. Don't bear a grudge. Behold this day thine eyes. This is David speaking to his father-in-law Saul. Behold this day thine eyes have seen how that the Lord had delivered thee today into mine hand in the cave. Remember Saul goes aside to cover his feet. David and his men are in the cave. God delivered him into David's hand, and, listen, some bade me kill thee. These would be like the Pharisees and the scribes who were David's friends. They were with him there in the cave. Some said, I should avenge myself of you for all the evil that you've done to me in trying to take my life. I should bear a grudge against you, Saul, and I ought to avenge my own grudge. But mine eyes spared thee, and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my Lord, for he is the Lord's anointed. And the Lord avenged me of thee, but... what? Leviticus 19, 18. What does the law of Moses teach me? But mine hand shall not be upon thee. I'm not going to avenge myself. Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. David, recognizing that reality, does not take vengeance against Saul. He does not bear a grudge against him. And when he's done evil by, he turns the other cheek. That's what he does. He suffers the wrong. He allows himself to be defrauded by this man. And when he has the opportunity right in that cave to avenge himself, he refuses to do so. Proverbs 20, 22 and 24, 29. First Proverbs 20, 22. Say not thou, I will recompense evil. Recompense is paying somebody back. That's avenging yourself. I will recompense evil, but wait on the Lord and he shall save thee. Say not, this is Proverbs 24 29, say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me. That's what the Philistines said about Samson. We will do to him as he has done to us. Then Samson picks up on it and says the same thing. I will do to them as they've done to me. So God says, don't say that. Don't avenge yourself. Now, Samson, of course, acts as a civil magistrate. So that's fine. That's what we'll see. That's what civil magistrates are supposed to do. They're supposed to bring vengeance. But this is talking to private persons in Solomon's words. He's not talking about him as a king. I'm not going to avenge myself if somebody does something wrong. No. I'm not going to avenge crimes. No, that's nonsense. Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me. Here you are in your private capacity. You've been wronged. How should you respond? Just like David. Just like Leviticus 19. Just like Matthew 5, 38 and 39. You see, it's the same teaching. I will render to the man according to his work. Don't say this, God says. Don't say I'll pay him back in kind. Don't say I'll render to him according to his work. Who is it that renders to every man according to his work? Well, it's God. And it's his deputy, the civil magistrate, who's supposed to punish those that do evil. All right, now, letter E, Matthew 5, 43 and 44. You have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. You see, in the Old Testament it said, in the law and in the prophets it said, thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy, right? No, actually it didn't. It's nowhere written in the Law of Moses. It's nowhere in the Prophets. You won't find it in the Psalms. You can't find it anywhere in the Old Testament. Something to that effect. Does it teach you to defend yourself? Does it teach you that the magistrate should put people to death? Does it teach you that war is lawful? Yes, of course it does. Does it teach you that a thief should make restitution? Yes. Does it teach you that a murderer should be put to death? Yes. Does it teach you that you should avenge yourself? No, it doesn't. The Old Testament doesn't teach that. So then, everyone who thinks that Jesus is dismantling the Old Testament doctrine concerning war or civil government is violating a basic prohibition of the gospel. which is, think not that I am teaching you against the law of Moses, that I've come to destroy Moses, the law, or the prophets. I have not come to destroy them, to dismantle them, but to fulfill them by showing you what is the true righteousness of the law and the prophets. What is a true holy life, not the caricature of it that the Pharisees teach. not the caricature of it that the scribes teach, but the actual teaching of the law and the prophets. So what does God say? Exodus 23, verses 4 and 5. If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass growing astray, thou shalt surely slit its throat and throw it in a ditch. Is that what your Bible says? Because if it does, it's not actually the word of God. thou shalt surely bring it back to him. Who? Thine enemy. Thou shalt bring thine enemy's ox or his ass back to him again. Then verse five. If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, have a big belly laugh, take a picture of it, and kick up some dust into your enemy's eyes. No. He even addresses, you might not want to help him. Oh, I really don't want to help that jerk. He hates me. I'm not going to help him. No, if you're tempted to say, I'm not gonna do good to those who hate me, I'm not gonna love those who are my enemies, thou shalt surely help with him. Don't even consider it an option to allow your enemy to suffer. If you can relieve him, you'd better do something about it. Why? Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Thou shalt love thine enemy Him that hateth thee. He wants you dead. How should you treat him? Well, like you would be treated. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Love your enemies. You see, this is not... What Jesus is saying is not at odds or undercuts or contradicts or improves or perfects what the law of Moses says. It's just a further application. That's all it is. That's his point. Don't think that I came to contradict the law or the prophets. Psalm 7 verse 4. If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me, yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy. This is the gospel ethic. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. Remember, Jesus prayed that upon the cross. Well, David had the same sentiment. These people are my enemies without a cause. I delivered him from his distress. That's what he's saying. I loved him as I love myself. In fact, he says that when his enemies, I didn't quote this, but he says that when his enemies were sick, he mourned as if his mom were dying. That's how serious he took it. He loved his enemies to that extent that he was willing to see their troubles as his own. Proverbs 25, 21 and 22. If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink. For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee." Most certainly, this has to be the Old Testament speaking here. Well, this is actually quoted in the New Testament in Romans 12. Literally, word for word, this is quoted in the New Testament as a reason why we should not repay evil with evil is because God says this, and then he quotes from Proverbs 25, 21, and 22 to demonstrate a Christian ethic of how do you respond to your enemies? But if Jesus came along and said, look, guys, all that Old Testament stuff, I'm going to fix it. I'm going to make it better. I'm going to teach you a higher, more perfect ethic. I'm not going to teach you what Moses said. I'm going against the prophets, David and Solomon. Well, then that makes absolutely no sense. Why? Why? Why would the apostle Paul quote from this proverb? if somehow there's an entirely new ethic being taught, because there isn't a new ethic being taught. That is to misunderstand the preface of the Sermon on the Mount. All right, third page. Third page, letter F, Romans 13, one through four. So now we're getting into our, we're starting to approach into our topic having looked at the proper understanding of the New Testament according to the words of Jesus Christ himself, as he essentially reestablishes the truth taught by Moses and the prophets, now civil government. Romans 13 1-4 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God. And they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good work, but to the evil. Would thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same. For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid. For he beareth not the sword in vain. For he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Okay, here's your basic theory of civil government. taught naturally, people naturally know this, heathens know this, they establish civil governments in the ancient world on this premise, that civil government is to exist for one purpose, that's to punish those who do evil. So because men are created in the image of God, they don't need the Bible to know that. They can know that without reference specifically to the Bible. Now the Bible directs magistrates more perfectly and clearly than anything else that man could figure out on his own. That's absolutely true. Because the same God who gave the natural revelation gave the scriptural revelation. So if you have access to the scriptural revelation, you'd better listen to it. You'd better not say, well, the light of nature is good enough. No. That's like saying, well, I can figure out how to put this. Let's say you have a piece of electronics you're putting together that's fairly complex. You say, well, I can put this together myself. Yeah, have at it. Give it a try. See what happens. Five hours later, you haven't figured out how to do it. You can't get it to work. Maybe you should have just read the instruction manual, because it's the same person who made all these parts, and you can look at and see, well, there's probably some order to this. He actually told you what the order is, and what steps you should take to get to the final order, how the whole thing works. He'll tell you everything about it. He gave you an instruction manual. It's a poor analogy, but it works. The light of nature can tell you, generally speaking, crime should be punished. Generally speaking, murder should be suppressed. Adultery should be suppressed. Theft should be suppressed. But does it tell you how? Does it tell you what actions constitute those things and the gradations of the crimes leading up to the final crime of murder? Does it tell you? No. God tells you that in his word. So if you have access to his word, why would you say no? I'll just fall back on the less detailed information that nature provides me. That's absurd. We always, as humans, want to know more perfectly what we ought to think about something, what we ought to do. We don't say, here, I have a more perfect knowledge and a less perfect knowledge. Unless you're a retard, then you'll say, oh, I'll go with less perfect. I'd rather not know. I just want to be dumb. I just want to be less informed. Nobody in their right mind says that. People always think I should go for the better information, or the better choice, or the better product, or whatever the thing is. We evaluate rationally and say, well, it sure makes more sense if I had more detailed instructions on this that are reasonably within my grasp to comprehend, then, well, I don't really want to know. If that's the opinion, I just don't want to know, you're either stupid, or you're wicked, or you're both. But reasonable people say, well, I'd like to know the whole thing. I don't want to read part of the story. I don't want the CliffsNotes. I want to know the whole thing. What actually happened? So God said, here's the whole thing. It's called the Bible. You can understand nature on your own without reference to the Bible. But if you have access to the Bible and you say, no, I don't want that, that's a dereliction of duty. That's a foolishness. That's lack of wisdom. It's lack of rationality. It's not right. You ought to want to know more. Okay, so here Paul says, What's the goal of civil government? What's the source of civil government? Why do you pay taxes? He answers all these questions in Romans 13. First he says, there is no power but of God. Now that word of means under, hupah. God is the supreme ruler. Civil power is under him. And furthermore, its ordination is of God or by God. So he is the source or the sovereign over it. He is the agent which has caused it to come into existence. It's part of his providence, in other words. It's not part of the original created order to have a civil government. But in his providence, he has ordered things in such a way that he desires there to be civil government. And if you fight against that, if you resist that ordinance of God, let's say, not just with your actions, but with your words. What if you write a book that says civil government is of the devil? Well, that's resisting the ordinance of God. Or if you practically say, I will not submit myself to civil government. I want to be a law to myself. That's resisting the ordinance of God. Or if they make just laws and you say, I'm not going to obey them. You're a criminal. That's resisting the ordinance of God. You can do it in theory. You can do it in practice. Those who say civil government is not the ordinance of God literally resist the ordinance of God. They fight against God in his providence. They're under him, these powers are. They're ordained by him. If you resist them, you resist God's ordinance. And what do you receive to yourself? Eternal perdition. You fight against God as he has instituted civil government. You're fighting God. Now, verse three, for rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Okay, so civil government exists to terrorize certain types of people. Criminals, in other words. Their job is to make them shake in their boots. To terrorize someone means you cause them to be afraid and to be scared. That's the idea of terrorism. You know, we think about that. What is a terrorist? Well, they do acts of violence in order to intimidate. That's the goal of civil government, to intimidate by violence. That's what the Bible says. Use violence to terrorize evil works. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same. For he is the minister of God to thee, that's you Christians, as well as everybody else, to you, Christian, for your good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid. You should be afraid. If you're a criminal, you should be afraid of civil government. You shouldn't think, oh, I'll get benefits from the civil government if I commit my crimes. No, no, no. That's not civil government. That's lawlessness. For he beareth not the what? The sword. Makairos is the Greek word. It's a butcher's sword. It's what they hack animals in pieces with. It's what the Romans would use to cut your head off if you were a capital criminal. Capitus is your head. A capital crime is one that costs you your head. And the machairos is the tool by which your head was cut off. God's minister bearing a vengeful sword to terrorize evil works with violence. Oh, you know, when Jesus died on the cross and the grace of God came into the world, all that went away, right? Wrong. Absolutely wrong. Couldn't be wronger. That is to resist the ordinance of God. For he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Now, I believe the word there minister is liturgos. It's one who offers worship to God. It's used of Christ as a minister of the circumcision in the book of Romans. It's used as Paul as a minister to the Gentiles in the book of Romans. It's used here of the civil magistrate performing a holy function to God. God puts a sword in his hand and says, you worship me by killing people. You worship me by acts of violence against criminals. That's how you worship me. That's the job of civil government. A revenger. Avenge not yourselves, we're taught, right? Who's the avenger? God is. Well, God has a deputy. God has someone who stands in his place and executes his wrath against them that do evil. How do we know what God's wrath is? Well, it's in the Law and the Prophets, isn't it? He tells us explicit detail what sort of crimes he hates, and what sort of penalties magistrates the sword he gave them. How should you wield this? What should you do with it? Whom should you terrorize? Whom should you praise? Well, that's all taught to you in the Bible and the Law and the Prophets. But the point being here, The New Testament is not at odds with the Old Testament regarding civil government. Just as we saw in the Sermon on the Mount, it's not at odds with the Old Testament on ethics, private ethics, and how you ought to approach your life. The idea of passive non-resistance as somehow a teaching from the Sermon on the Mount, contrary to the law of Moses, is contrary to the preface of the Sermon on the Mount, which says, don't think that I've told you we're going to destroy the law or the prophets. No, I'm going to tell you how to fulfill what Moses and the prophets require. I'm going to show you what they actually said and meant. OK, now. Deuteronomy 13, a Christian theory of civil government to terrorize the wicked with violence on God's behalf. Deuteronomy 19, 11 through 13. But if any man hate his neighbor and lie in wait for him, this is the cities of refuge. Accidentally kill somebody, God delivers him into your hand, go to the city of refuge, but If any man hate his neighbor, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally, that he die, and fleeth into one of these cities, then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him hence, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee. Does that sound like Romans 13? It sounds exactly like Romans 13, Deuteronomy 19, 11 through 13. No pity. Just vengeance. Avenge the blood shed on the earth, and it'll go well with you. What does that mean if you don't avenge the blood shed upon the earth? It will go ill with you. Everyone who opposes capital punishment hates his nation, hates his neighbor, hates God. Everyone who opposes the capital punishment that God requires, that is, put them to death for murderers, is himself a companion of murderers. I don't care if they say it in the name of Jesus or in the name of Allah or in the name of no God They are enemies of God who oppose the lawful power of the state to put to death murderers Exodus 20 22 28 This is more of a general theory. Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people. Now again, Moses sometimes uses parallels in the law. The gods are the rulers. The reviling is the cursing. So it's a double phrase to emphasize. And why are they called gods? Shouldn't we revile the heathen gods? Yes, we should. We should think badly and speak ill of them because they're vile and they're disgusting and they need to be reviled. They need to be spoken against. When he says, do not revile the gods, he's not talking about the false gods of the heathens. He's talking about those that God puts in his place and calls them gods. This is in Psalm 82. So civil magistrates are called gods, mighty ones, because they stand in the seat of the mightiest of all, which is God himself. They are ministers of God. That's the same theory of civil government as the apostle Paul teaches in Romans 13, that they stand as God's lieutenants, exercising vengeance as his ministers, executing wrath, whose wrath? God's wrath upon them that do evil. That's why they're called gods, the rulers of the people. Don't revile them, don't curse them, honor them, respect them. Give honor to whom honor is due, which is later in the Romans 13 passage. Proverbs 20 verse 2, the fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion. Kids, just imagine if you went out at night and you heard a lion roar. You think you'd be afraid? Adults go out at night and you hear a lion roar. You think you'd be afraid? You better be or you don't have any sense. You see, a lion terrorizes people, doesn't he? That's what a king's supposed to do. If you hear the king and you're afraid of the king because you've done evil, you should be afraid. That's what Paul says. You should be in terror if you do what is evil. Be afraid. He commands you. It's an imperative. If thou do that which is evil, Romans 13, 4, be afraid. You are required to be afraid. You are commanded to be afraid. Because if that's a lawful civil power holding a sword that's going to bring God's wrath down on you, well, you should be very afraid. Whoso provoketh him to anger, sinneth against his own soul. Don't commit crimes, in other words, that provoke your magistrate to come at you like a lion, to destroy you and tear you in pieces, to use the sword to cut your head off, to hack you in pieces. You want that? Well, then don't commit the evils that provoke such a response. All right, so having looked at Christ's Sermon on the Mount and various points at which obviously he agrees with Moses and the prophets, most obviously, You didn't need that. But if you just listen to what he said, think not that I've come to destroy or to unloose the law of the prophets. I'm not come to destroy, but to fulfill. So you must listen to every jot and tittle of the Old Testament. And if you have a false teacher who comes along and opposes it, don't listen to him because he's going to be the least in the kingdom of heaven. But you'll be blessed if you teach and do these things. And if you're like the Pharisees and the scribes and you teach your little, well, you won't go to jail for what you're thinking. I can curse and hate my enemies. You want to go the Pharisees route, not Moses route, not Isaiah's route, not David's route. You're going to hell. You won't enter the kingdom of heaven. So we've considered that. Then we've considered Romans 13 in the specific New Testament doctrine of the civil government. That was basically a reiteration of everything that's said in the law of Moses and in the prophets. So then this conclusion. The basis for civil government and judgment of crimes by violence, as well as in the function of national defense and the shedding of blood in war to defend the lives, properties, and religion of a nation are not differences between the Old and New Testaments. So just break that down. Because the function of civil government in the Old and New Testament is the same, because Jesus does not oppose the lawful function of violence to suppress evil, then that's true of enemies internal criminals. That's what Romans 13 is referring to explicitly. And enemies external invaders in time of war. Because God says the sword has been given to them to punish them that do evil. Do external invaders do evil when they come into a nation? Yes, they do. Generally, they come to steal your property, to rape your women, to kill your people. Do you have a duty? Does the magistrate have a duty to repel them with violence? You bet he does. He does it on God's behalf because God has appointed the boundaries of every nation And he has determined the rise and fall of empires, and who lives where, and where their land starts, and where the other guy's land ends. And if anybody transgresses that, they're fighting against God. And who, pray tell, should punish them? Well, the magistrate should. And the magistrate can compel his citizens to help him come and suppress those kinds of evils. He certainly has that power. And if you resist that power and say, no, I don't kill because Jesus, what are you saying? I want to go to hell because I resist the lawful ordinance of God. I speak against his ordinance of holiness and vengeance on God's behalf. And I say that's evil. It's not Christian. Well, then you're saying that Paul was not a Christian who describes in detail the nature of civil government. This is not a difference between the Old and New Testament. No. It's a difference between Christianity and heresy. Heresy says, Jesus came to destroy the law and the prophets. Jesus came to set himself against Moses. Jesus came to undo what David said, to undo what Isaiah said. He came to undo what Jeremiah said. So when we go through and look at the idea of warfare in the Bible, We must understand, we as Christians believe the entirety of the Bible concerning this matter. We do not say that the New Testament is at variance with the Old, and that passive non-resistance means that we should never commit any act of violence against anyone, no, not even a fly. That's absurd. Now, of course, not everybody says you shouldn't kill flies who believes in passive non-resistance. I'm using a hyperbole there. The point being, the New Testament does not say Old Testament civil government, that's unchristian. That's without the grace of God. And now that the grace of God has come and God came in the flesh and Jesus died on the cross, now that Old Testament stuff, that all goes into the background. It's a sub-Christian ethic. It's an imperfect ethic. Whatever language people want to surround their heresy with, It's still heresy. Jesus said, no, don't don't think I'm doing that. Paul said, here's the nature of civil government. And so when we look at the Old Testament, we see that there is a united voice concerning these matters, not a divided voice or a contradictory voice. So that being said, part two of this study on lawful war will be the specifics of when does God sanction and justify the taking of life in war? And when does he not? And that will be God willing next week. Let's close our time together in prayer.