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Houston's First Baptist Church is a relevant biblical community where we gather our hearts, grow our souls and give our lives as we seek to fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). This podcast provides weekly messages from Pastor Gregg Matte and others. Visit us at HoustonsFirst.org to learn more about HFBC, and visit us in person the next time you're in Houston!
You need not turn, it will save a moment and clarify matters greatly to simply say to you that the story of the 34th chapter of Genesis is one in which Dinah, daughter of Jacob, goes out for a little outing and seemingly is attacked and molested by a stranger. Simeon and Levi, her two brothers, go to look him up. A conversation ensues in which he and his people propose marriage with Jacob and his kindred. They discuss the matter and I think with the original premeditated cunning that they were capable of doing, conceived a great plan by which they would get even. They suggest that they do intermarry, but that in order for them to marry into their religion they would have to submit to the rite of circumcision. And so they do and are circumcised. Now, some time later, while they are ill from the operation, they attack them and slay Shechem and his father Hamor and their kind. And they get even. And for the crime that they committed, it would seem that the punishment inflicted was certainly justice. Now, there are those of you who know vastly more about all of the psychological and legal ramifications of the subject of retribution in this world inflicted by one human being under the law on another than do I. In fact, some of the very finest attorneys in all of this city are grand Christian men and members of our church. I say humorously, but rather seriously, that the first sermon I ever preached lasted 11 minutes at which time I told them everything I knew and a whole bunch I wasn't too sure about. But I do know enough to stay on my territory and know what I know something about. Speak in wherein I do know. And I do know this, that the predominant theme of the law and the Bible is a book of law and grace, but the heart of the theme of law in the Old and New Testament is the theme of retribution, of judgment and death because of sin. It is a law of life, it is a law of nature, it is a law of God, it is a law of eternity, and it is a law of the Scriptures. And I want tonight to point out some things to you that perhaps might not have occurred to you previously to allow you better to make your decision in light of the teaching of the Scripture as to this issue, this very pertinent and important issue of capital punishment. Our God has a place of capital punishment throughout eternity. The principle of the lawbreaker paying for his crime is as old as eternity. That place is called hell. And that nation is indeed fortunate to the degree that it is stayed by the teachings of the Word of God. Now, to be sure, grace covers and fulfills and is the completion of the law. But the problem is that the world does not live under grace. The world does not abide by the law of grace. The world knows not of the law of grace. It will not honor it. It will not respect it. It refuses to abide by it. Now, five or six or seven things I would call simply to your attention tonight. And let me say this. The matter of capital punishment, the rightness or the wrongness of it, is not really the heart, the most important part of what I want to say tonight. It is not, I do not think, in the total economy of God and what our God is doing, the most important issue of the day. It is only a symptom of what this world is doing. Now you will recall when I preached on the battle of Armageddon a few weeks ago that I tried to give you an overview of what this world is all about and that to which history is moving. I pointed out three basic things to you. Number one, God did not create this world a bad place. God didn't instigate hell and sin and death and judgment and social diseases and suicide and electric chairs and hangman's nooses and poison and LSD and immorality and poverty. God did not create such a world. God created a beautiful world. God created a perfect world. God created a world without imperfection and imbalance, a wonderful and godly place where man might dwell in the presence of a loving God forever. But our God did not create man a robot where he had to abide by the laws of God. He made him a free moral agent. Now he could have so made us that we had to obey God, but then we never could have known the joy of serving God because we wanted to. But there was the built -in risk that man would choose to wrongly use the grace of God, which he did. Because one day there was a man named Lucifer, a fallen angel who usurped his authority over God. And he, the most intelligent, the most powerful, the most beautiful of all the created beings declared war on God. He said, I'm taking over. I shall be as God. I shall rule the universe. It's mine. And Satan and Jesus Christ squared off for battle. This world is the battleground. And the battle rages today. And every skirmish and every question and every problem is but a ramification of the basic eternal problem of the ages. The question of whose world is this? Now one day it will be climaxed in the battle of Armageddon when the showdown which God is allowing to build up, he's letting Satan have his way. He's letting even go so far. Though he's going to ultimately climax in a battle when this world's control will be fought out and established between Satan and Jesus Christ once for all. And everything that goes on behind the scenes is but a symptom of that basic premise that is raging everywhere. One day it will be God's world. But until that time comes, for reasons known only to God, our God has chosen to let the devil have some leeway. He wants man to choose him because he wants to, not because he must. And the Lord has prepared a countdown calendar, a day beyond which he may not go. So the Bible says again, he saith in David, he limiteth a certain day, saying, this day believe and harden not your hearts. He called Satan three times the prince and the power of this age, the prince of this world, four times Jesus called Satan. He's taken hands off to a degree. He lets him go so far. And what this world really wants. What is in the heart of every unregenerate man is a basic desire like Satan to become God himself, to do away with the laws and restraints of God and take it over and follow Satan and make it his own world. Psychologists say wisely that sin is an attitude is an attitude which wishes God were dead. That's what Satan wishes. And that is what is intrinsically in the heart of every unregenerate man. A desire that wishes that the restraints and the authorities and the laws and the governing discipline of God were non -existent. And that he could take over and kick God out and do what he wanted to do. And this is called the mystery of iniquity. The desire for a world without God, a world of lawlessness, a world rampant and covered by sin, and it is this kind of world to which our world is moving. Cheer up. It'll get worse. You ain't seen nothing yet. Law will be taken away. The Holy Spirit will be taken away. The church will be caught out. And for three and a half years, this world is going to get a taste of all the sin it wants. It's going to get a world of absolute lawlessness, restraint and discipline and authority and law removed. Second Thessalonians 7, 2 -7. The mystery of iniquity doth already work. It is already at work. And in your lifetime and in my lifetime, we are seeing it increase toward a climax with great rapidity. And he who now letteth, he, Jesus Christ, who allows him to act, will let, will continue to do so until he be taken out of the way. And then when he, the restraining force, the Spirit of God, God in the world, in Christ, in believers, will be taken away, then Antichrist will rip off the mask. Then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming. At the rapture of the church, the Christians will be caught out. Without the sheriff, without police, without government officials, without discipline, without authority, without law, without the Holy Spirit, without believers, without righteousness, the world will be a lawless place for about three and a half years. And then Jesus will come to this earth in power and vindictive judgment, taking vengeance on them that know not the Lord. And he will destroy Satan by the very presence of the brightness of his coming. You see, Satan's kingdom is the kingdom of darkness. The kingdom of Christ is the kingdom of righteousness and white and purity and loves to be exposed while sin hides in darkness. And he will destroy the kingdom of darkness in that last grand battle. But it will be preceded by a period of absolute lawlessness with no restraint, every righteous restraining force having been taken out of the world. And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they believe not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. For this cause, God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie. He's going to let them have all the unrighteousness they want. And for this cause, God should send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but who had pleasure in unrighteousness. And so bear in mind, when you see a world that is moving toward the obvious removal of every kind of discipline, that that is the world that Satan is developing. I wonder what the average GI, the modern, the veteran tonight, you that fought in Korea in the first war and the second war, would think if you went to the modern army base, the modern navy base, where the soldiers and the sailors have rap sessions with the generals and tell them what they think, and are entertained in the mess halls while go -go girls dance half nude on the tables. Far cry, isn't it? Read the newspaper, that's happening. Far cry from the discipline of another day. And ladies and gentlemen, it is obvious to me that the basic movement toward removing the teeth of the law and discipline and authority that which our world is moving, of which this new movement against capital punishment is but a part, is obviously a part, if not originated by Satan, certainly a part of the world that Satan is producing. In every area you find it. No strong lines of demarcation between the police, between those who enforce the laws and those who disobey them, legalize marijuana, legalize abortion, take away war, take away judgment, take away crimes, take away penalty for the crime breaker, take away the penalty of death, and it will not be long until it will be take away the penalty of jailing them in jail. You see, there is a basic tenet in all of our life to loosen up the philosophy, do your own thing. Where man is God and there are no rules, a world with no law and total freedom is the world to which we are moving. And I see the recent tendency toward people being so concerned with legalizing marijuana and legalizing abortion and destroying capital punishment as but a symptom of the basic direction of our society away from every restraint. Do what you want to. Do anything. Freedom of sex. Freedom of dope. Freedom to kill. A world of lawlessness is the world to which we are moving. Now let me say this to you. God has for reasons known only to himself, created, allowed Satan to go so far in this world. If we live in a world that live by grace and live by love, the law of compassion and forgiveness would be wonderful. But it is the world who has chosen not to obey and abide by the law of Christ. We do not live in that kind of world. Law must prevail because it is the only law that lawless men understand. It is the thing that keeps us in check. People who are motivated by evil can only understand the law that punishes evil. They know nothing of grace. They know nothing of forgiveness and compassion and law. If they lived under that kind of system, if we lived under that kind of world philosophy, we could have that kind of action. But the only safety that we have are the laws. The only safety that we have, the only discipline we have left, are the disciplines of punishment for the crime breaker. God, the Bible says, did not make them for those who obey the laws. Listen to what he says yonder in the book of Romans chapter 13. Turn with me there if you have your Bibles tonight. Please, Romans chapter 13. I'm sorry, Romans verse number 3. Chapter number 3. Romans chapter 3, verses 1 through 7. I'm sorry, I do mean 13. Romans 13. 1 to 7. 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. For whosoever 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 works, but to the evil. The laws are not for men who obey the laws. The laws are for men who break the laws. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. 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 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, the man who enforces the law, who bears the sword, who enforces the will of the people. A revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. He is God's instrument to keep law in this world. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For for this cause pay ye tribute also. For they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues, tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. Let me point out some things to you. First of all, God is a God of capital punishment. I repeat, our God has created a world of law and order and limitation and discipline and authority. Without which you cannot have life and you cannot have society, but you only have the kind of rabble -less confusion that our world is creating as 10 ,000 symptoms of the removal of every restraint and discipline are obvious to people that look. God threatened Moses with death. When Zipporah, his wife, caused him to refuse in obedience to give obeisance to her heathen kind of religion and he therefore refused to circumcise his two sons, God met him in the way and said, We're going to have a showdown. You will do it or I will kill you. God allowed his own son to be killed on the cross. For that was the only way that the law could be fulfilled. For God could not destroy the law. You do not break the laws of God. You may break yourself upon them. You say, I do not accept the law of God. You may not accept the law of gravity, but you still must abide by it. And the rages, the result of sin is death. And if God cast men into hell for rejection of his law, if spiritual death is the result of men who break the law of God, how much less is the penalty of a physical death for the lawbreaker? God sent the angel Gabriel. He killed 185 ,000 people in Sennacherib's army. God empowered David. And David, the Bible says, slew 10 ,000 by the hand of the Lord. God empowered Samson. And Samson killed 3 ,000 people in the temple at one time. God caused his son to stand still that Joshua might pursue his enemies and slay them. God ended the entire human race and killed millions of people and saved only eight because the law cannot be broken. Now, it is also true that God uses human instrumentalities to bring about retribution. Not only has God used the saints to bring judgment upon the world, but he has used the world to bring judgment upon the saints. Listen. The prince of Ai was used in judgment of Joshua. The heathen time and time again brought judgment to Israel. Antioch of Tephanes was used in the hand of God as a tool to bring destruction to Jerusalem. Psalms 44 speaks of the destruction and the judgment of Israel by the hand, probably, of Jeroboam. Nebuchadnezzar sacked the great city three times. Saul, God's man, was slain on Gilboa's heights by the Philistines. A heathen army was used by God to bring retribution upon Absalom, a Christian man, because he would usurp the authority of the people of the name of God and take over his father's kingdom. The Holy Spirit deals in capital punishment. The Bible says that because of drunkenness at the Lord's supper table, because they were unworthily handling the things of God, because of this reason some of you are sick and many are even dead. The word sleep meaning dead. The Bible tells us in the fifth chapter of 1 Corinthians about a man who was practicing incest. Ananias, he was living in open adultery either with his stepmother, his mother, or his mother -in -law. And the apostles said, Turn him over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. Ananias and Sapphira lied to the Holy Spirit, pretended to be what they were not. Their life was a lie. They purported to be what they never were. And the filth of their life caused them in the public assembly of the saints to drop dead. The Holy Spirit killed Ananias and then killed his wife because they lied to the Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit practiced capital punishment in the New Testament. Jesus practices capital punishment. The Bible says he shall slay thousands at the brightness of his coming. When Jesus Christ rules this earth with a rule of peace under the rod of justice, the Bible teaches us that to sin in the millennial kingdom will mean instantaneous death. At the great white throne judgment, Jesus will say, Jesus Christ personally will say, To them that are the unsaved, Depart from me, Ye that never, Whom I never knew, And to ye that work iniquity, I never knew you into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Satan and the Antichrist will be the first two inhabitants to permanently inhabit the eternal hell. And they will be cast there, have bound hand and foot in person by Jesus Christ. Christ is a God of judgment. He's been nailed to the cross. He was reviled and rejected. To, uh, to provide for the sins of the world, he willingly died. But I want you to know when Jesus comes back again, that's all going to be over. He's no more a God of mercy. You'll have had your chance. He's no more a God of compassion and forgiveness. The Bible says he cometh in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not the Lord and all his holy angels with them. He shall slay tens of thousands at the very brightness of his coming. At the battle of Armageddon, when Jesus Christ leads the saints of the world into, into mortal battle with the saints, with the followers of Satan, the Bible says the blood will run to the very bits of the horse's mouth as they slay, literally kill, the enemies of God. Jesus Christ practices capital punishment. Capital punishment is God -ordained. It is Bible -substantiated. It is Holy Spirit -endorsed. And it is Jesus Christ -executed. Now, I doubt that you and I and our attitude and our opinion will sway much influence on legislation. I am not gravely concerned about what the law says about capital punishment. It's been many years, even though it's on the books, since very many men have died by capital punishment in many of our states. I am well aware of the pitfalls and the problems thereof. I am most aware of the fact that it's been a cold day in July since a rich man or a rich man's son ever died in anybody's electric chair. I am well aware of the inequities of the law. But that's not the most important thing. The thing that I want you and I to realize tonight is that the abolishment of the boundaries, the authoritarian, legal, disciplinary actions of restraint that are popping up everywhere are but an evidence of the basic movement of the world toward the climactic days when Christ shall come and there shall be for a period of time a world with no law and no restraint and no reservation. That's the important thing. It is heralding the end of the world and the coming of Jesus Christ. You and I need to be far more preoccupied with the rapid winning of the lost Jesus Christ who shall have no other chance when our Lord has come. There, there is where let us keep the emphasis. As I said, I'm no, I'm no lawyer nor historian. I don't know. I don't have the answer to everything. But I do know this. The Bible teaches capital punishment. The substitutionary provision of salvation based on the death of the innocent for the guilty is God's timely and timeless provision of salvation. But there must be death of the innocent or the death of the guilty. Either you will accept your own capital punishment in hell or you in substitutionary faith will accept the capital punishment of somebody who has endured and paid hell for you, Jesus Christ. But the only hope of salvation you have, the only possible provision of the future, the only satisfaction to the broken moral law of God, which penalty is death, is that someone will taste of death. For God's law must be satisfied. He's made the laws. We're playing on his football field. We'll go by his rules. And the wages of sin is death. But oh, thank God for the believer. We are passed from death unto life. And in the grace of Jesus Christ, when we have accepted him, God sees us through Christ's blood in a condition as though we had never broken any of God's laws. Hallelujah. Perfection established through his blood. That's worth singing about. Amazing grace. How sweet the sound. Shall we stand and pray?