God's Law and Order

Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham.

A little later in the program we'll tell you how you can get the best of 2021 message series. But first, here's Dr. Graham's message, God's law and order. More and more we are seeing in our generation this battle between light and darkness. I don't know about you, but as I observe what is going on in America today and around the world, I see this battle between right and wrong heating up, Christ and Antichrist.

And it is so essential that we be spiritually prepared for this battle. And in our text before us, Romans chapter 13 verse 7 verses, we see what God says about law and order, about crime and punishment, and yes, about Jesus and judgment. Verse 1 says, let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.

Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good and you will receive his approval. For he is God's servant for your good, but if you do wrong, be afraid. For he does not bear the sword in vain, for he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore, one must be in subjection not only to avoid God's wrath, but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this, you are also to pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God.

It did not say the preachers are the ministers of God in this case, but the authorities, those placed in authority are ministers, servants of God attending to this very thing. Wraps it up in verse 7, pay to all what is owed to them, taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to which revenue is owed, and respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. We live in a time which we are seeing decreasing respect for authority. We know that Satan is in the middle of this. Satan is the ultimate rebel and anarchist and we are seeing the death of civility and debate and decency and discussion.

And as a result, we are seeing self-destruction. One man said this, where there is no truth, only power remains. This is the reason we are speaking of God's truth in these days. Because once truth, capital T, is lost, God's truth revealed in God's Word, once it is lost, once truth is gone, only raw power remains.

First point I want to make to you is under the heading Law and Order. In the first four verses that we just read describe the fact that order comes from God Himself. God has put into every human being an inexpressible desire to bring order into society.

It is written into the consciousness of a human being because it comes from God. Many people who do not even know Christ or who may not even believe in God are concerned with law and order, concerned with crime and punishment, policies and politics. There are lawyers and governors and politicians and police and others who again may not have a personal faith in Jesus Christ but innately, instinctively within every person there is created by God a desire for order rather than chaos. Now God is the God of order. When He created the world, when He created the universe, He put everything in order and that includes justice. God is the God of law and order of justice and He has established rules to regulate society. He gave them in His Word the Ten Commandments themselves or the framework for freedom in all societies.

If we just live by the Ten Commandments you wouldn't need any other laws. He gave us these commandments and He also, because He is a God of justice, He is a God of judgment, He holds everyone accountable to keep His law and therefore He judges sin. There is retribution because of rebellion against God's law.

The Scripture says God is not mocked. Whatever a person sows He will also reap. So God gave us law through government and without it you have chaos, you have confusion, you have anarchy and yes you have violence. But not only has God established law and order for the sake of law itself but also because of love. The generous welfare of God for humankind, for society, love requires law and order.

Because you love your children you establish guidelines and rules for your family. That rule is based upon a relationship and God loves you. God loves people therefore He has placed rules, restraints within the culture to restore and to renew society when it is broken. And God establishes authority therefore and we are to be subject right here in the Scripture. Verse 1, see it again, let every person be subject, that is obedient to authority. Law and order is the framework for freedom. If there were no rules without retribution there would be no freedom in society without boundaries, without boundaries freedom cannot prevail. And so God has given us law and order. How many of you have heard someone say, well you cannot legislate morality. How many of you heard someone say that?

You might even have said that yourself. While it is true that you cannot make people obey the law or even to obey God, while it is true that you cannot legislate morality in that sense, it is also true that you can legislate against immorality. In fact, laws are given to us including the Ten Commandments that legislate against what is wrong and therefore to punish wrongdoers.

Do you see that? Certainly there are things that are wrong and there is legislation, you know this, there is legislation that is there to prevent and to protect against immoral decision. Verse 2 says that he who resists authority is opposed to the ordinance or the institution of God. When you do the crime, the crime is against God. We can seek to change the government, we can appeal for better laws, we can protest, we can politic, we can elect new leaders in America, but we are to never defy what God has divinely decreed. The only time we are to disobey the decree of man is if that law defies the law of God. We must obey God and not man.

And that's conscientious objection, of course, and that's appropriate in Scripture. In Scriptures, Christians are commanded to live in submission to the authorities of all time, authority that God has placed over us. There are three primary institutions that God has established. One, of course, and first is marriage, home, and family. Then there is the church and the third institution that God has given human beings is government. So you have marriage, home, and family, you have the church, and you have government.

And therefore, under the authority of God, we are to live in law and order. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message, God's law and order. We hope you're enjoying today's message, and we're excited to share that for a limited time, your gift to PowerPoint will be doubled up to $150,000 thanks to a generous matching grant. To say thanks for your gift today, we'll send you the most popular and encouraging messages from this past year together in one collection called The Best of 2021. So call now to have your gift doubled by the match and request The Best of 2021 as our thanks. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. Text PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit jackgram.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online, or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional.

Our website again is jackgram.org. Now let's get back to today's message, God's law and order. Go ahead and turn in your Bibles to 1 Peter 2, 13 to 17. You know, if you know your basic civics, and many young people unfortunately do not know basic civics, they're not being taught not only the patriotic history of America and our generation, but they're not being taught basic civics in some instances. But America is a nation of laws. We are a nation based upon laws to be lived out in freedom. 1 Peter 2, 13, be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme or to governors who are sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good, you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, but not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Verse 17 says, honor everyone, love the brotherhood, fear God and honor the emperor. I would define that as good citizenship, law and order. We're told in Titus chapter 3 verse 1 that we're not to malign our leaders or to speak evil against those who are in public service.

As a Christian, you're a parent. Don't speak evil of the police officers who surround us. Don't speak evil of leaders.

Don't malign them. That's directly out of Scripture. Because these are ministers, back to Romans 13, these are ministers ordained of God to serve our community, to serve our nation. The second point that I want to make is that of crime and punishment. We've talked about law and order, established authorities by God, but what about crime and punishment?

Because in Romans 13, it talks about the judgment of God that is mitigated, mediated between the servants of God, the ministers of God, that is those who enforce and execute the law. Romans 13 tells us that there is punishment that is delivered by due authorities, delegated by the government, and that crime has consequences. And therefore that consequences are punishment. Whether it be in fines or in greater cases of law and beyond misdemeanors, the breaking of moral law and the nation's laws, there is imprisonment and even capital punishment.

Four things I want you to write down about punishment, what it is. Punishment is preventative. There is in the very fact that people are punished the reality that it can be and should be a deterrent to crime itself. It is preventative of other crimes. If you commit a crime and you are punished in jail or even in death for a murderous crime, it is preventative of crime being committed again by you. Punishment is corrective. It is corrective in society for the welfare of society and it is corrective in the individual who rebels against the laws of God and of the nation.

Punishment is also punitive in that it is punishment for the punishment itself. And that includes the death penalty and capital punishment, which is taught in this very scripture. He does not bear the sword in vain. The sword in this case is an instrument of death and execution. The sword, obviously referenced here, is the sword of capital punishment.

The terror and the fear of death due to capital crimes such as murder. God said this in Genesis 9, 6, 6. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed.

For God made man in his own image. Now, that is a principle in God's Word before the law of Moses, before the laws of Israel. It is a principle of life and death that is written in to the very foundation of civilization. Flip back to Romans 13. The New Testament is teaching us that the sword is to be born as an instrument of death to those who break God's standards and laws.

And the laws are to be established, the laws are to be equally applied, and the laws are to be executed. Romans 12, 19 says this, Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God. For it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. So God has established this law and order with crime and punishment. There's never a place for personal vendettas or vigilantism because God has established government and one of the means of government, the most important functions of government, is to establish capital punishment.

You say, wait, wait, wait, wait. What about the Bible verse, the Ten Commandments in Exodus chapter 20 when it says you shall not kill? The sixth commandment says thou shalt not, you shall not murder. The Scripture allows for the protection of yourself and your body and self-defense. The Scripture allows for just war. But you shall not murder means you shall not take another human being's life. And lawbreakers are to be justly punished by the God-ordained authorities. It says we bear not the sword in vain. Yes, the Bible teaches capital punishment.

We do not celebrate when any person dies. It's a tragedy when any person dies, but that does not limit the law's requirement and God's requirement of justice. Law and order belongs to God. This is not man-made.

This is God-made. And as Bible-believing Christians, we affirm it. Justice must be enforced.

Again, not vigilante, not personal vendettas. We let it go and we let God through His assigned governing authorities. We're to never avenge ourselves but leave wrath and judgment to God. There's no place for private or personal vengeance, but God has established the government and those who execute the laws as enforcers and executors, God-ordained. And by the way, God Himself will deal with evildoers Himself. It's not over when the judgment comes here because divine wrath is poured out upon unrepentant sinners.

One final point, I close in just a couple of minutes. Jesus and justice. We've talked about law and order, we've talked about crime and punishment, but what about Jesus and justice? Jesus and judgment. Jesus affirmed capital punishment.

You say, where is that? In the garden before His own execution, before He was delivered to be executed for the sins of mankind, impulsive, pugnacious Peter was in the garden with Him that night when Jesus is praying and surrendering His will to the will of the Father. And when the arresters came to take Jesus away, Peter, what did he do? He grabbed a sword and started swinging.

The first one in line for this fisherman, not that good a swordsman, he swung wildly and Malchus, the high servant of the priest, ducked and Peter cut off his ear. And that's when Jesus said, Peter, stop it. If you live by the sword, you what? What Jesus said is what Genesis 9 6 is saying, what Romans 13 is saying.

You take a life and your life will be taken. It's biblical, it's our worldview. The scripture says in numbers 35, 33, if there's blood polluting the land, you shall not pollute the land in which you live for blood pollutes the land and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it except by the blood of the one who shed it.

It's clear. It may not be your emotional or personal charge, but it's the biblical position. You say it's so harsh. Yes, well, hell is harsh.

Nobody likes to hear much about judgment. And we should never speak of judgment without tenderness. But there is a terrible breakdown of society when murderers and criminals of extreme type are allowed to run free.

The breakdown of law and order will destroy a country quicker than anything. Jesus knows this. Jesus Himself took our judgment on the cross. He died the hands of wicked men. And there is only one cure for breaking the law, the laws of God. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God, Romans 6 23 is eternal life.

The only cure is repentance and redemption in Jesus Christ. And so what did Jesus do? He took our death and He took our hell and He took our judgment.

He was not a law breaker, but He died as a law breaker so that we could be forever saved. You're listening to Power Point with Jack Graham and the message, God's Law and Order. As we prepare to step into our 28th year of ministry, generous partners like you are enabling Power Point to harness technology to take the gospel into closed countries and hard to reach regions.

But in order to seize every opportunity God sends our way, your support is vital. That's why we're excited to share that some generous friends have offered to double your gift this month up to $150,000. To say thanks for your gift, we'll send you the best of 2021, a CD collection featuring 10 popular messages from this past year that will help you deepen your faith. So call now to have your gift doubled by the match and request the best of 2021 as our thanks. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627.

You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. And don't forget to visit jackgramm.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online, or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional. Our website again is jackgramm.org.

Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? I know many of you who are listening to me right now have been victims of violent crime. We live in a world of terrorism and we've seen of course violent crime on our television screens and the reporting of news. And yet many of you have actually been the victims in your own family of this kind of treachery and terrorism and even murder. My father was murdered in 1970.

I was a college student and I saw the impact this had upon our family, particularly my mother. We all dealt with that in different ways in our family, but ultimately we did trust God with the consequences of that murderous act. So what we did as a family is, number one, turn to God in prayer and to trust him and to ask God for healing in our own lives. And God enabled us to deal with it, though it still certainly is in our hearts and our minds and our memories. But we had a choice to make, and that is, are we going to live in bitterness and anger or fear or are we going to, number one, trust God? And then with the person who did this crime, we had a decision to make there also. And that is to live. Are we going to live in hatred and animosity and anger towards this one or are we going to give this one to God? We gave him to God. So to those of you who are listening to me today and maybe you have been wounded, broken, hurt by violent crime.

So I would just pray for you, number one, that God's peace would be upon you and that his grace would strengthen your life, that you would move past the past and giving this to God and trusting the processes to work that God has established. I would say to Christians everywhere that it's important that we as believers think biblically on this issue, that we have a worldview that is not created by society or the culture or the whims of the day, but that we establish our faith and our viewpoint based upon biblical instruction. That's why I brought this message.

That's why I pray that it will be an encouragement to you, not only teaching you, but training you in Christian discipleship. And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember when you give a gift to PowerPoint, your gift will be doubled and we'll send you the best of 2021 message series as our thanks. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 313131. Text PowerPoint to 313131. And join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about your God-given choice to follow Him or not. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint ministries.