{"id":19167,"date":"2016-10-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-16T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/the-bible-and-voting-part-15\/"},"modified":"2016-10-16T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-10-16T05:00:00","slug":"the-bible-and-voting-part-15","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/the-bible-and-voting-part-15\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bible and Voting – Part 15"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[65],"series_event":[466],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-19167","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-proverbs","series_event-the-bible-and-voting-2016","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"The Bible and Voting - Part 15","sermon_date":"20161016","sermon_month":"10","sermon_year":"2016","sermon_notes":3996,"sermon_slides":4000,"sermon_mp3":3546,"sermon_id":"101616949127","series_or_event":466,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":65,"chapter_and_verse":"14:34","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nSUGAR LAND BIBLE CHURCH\n\nOctober 16, 2016 The Bible and Voting, Part 15\n\nProverbs 14:34\n\nGood morning everybody.\u00a0 If we could take our Bibles and open them to the book of Revelation, chapter 19 and verse 11, coming towards the end of our study on The Bible and Voting.\u00a0 It seems to be a subject on everybody\u2019s mind; three weeks to go, we have all the October surprises coming out and I call it the silly season, lots of polls, pundits, speeches, debates, and I\u2019m always frustrated when we hit this time, every four years, every two years really, and the reason I\u2019m frustrated is there\u2019s so much talk in the culture about this and that.\u00a0 People are pontificating about all kinds of issues and they\u2019re acting as if God has never spoken or revealed Himself.\n\nAnd one of the things that we are very convinced of here is that the Bible, which is inspired by God, is not just a book about how to get to heaven (as important as that subject is), it\u2019s really a book, if you let it speak it speaks to every area of life.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why I wanted to do this series, The Bible and Voting, talking about things that the Bible reveals concerning current issues of the day that are very hot and debated within the culture.\u00a0 So this is not a series really designed to ramrod people into one political party or the other; I don\u2019t know if the IRS would appreciate that if I did that anyway, and even if I could do it I wouldn\u2019t want to do it.\u00a0 It\u2019s more talking about things where God has revealed Himself and how you vote is really between you and the Lord.\n\nIt\u2019s a lot like a typical sermon where you\u2019re given truth and it really is not the pastor\u2019s job to make the application; he can show you the application but whether you make the application on Monday morning is really up to you.\u00a0 And that\u2019s the spirit in which these remarks are offered; I\u2019m trying to get us back to the Scripture and to get us to think about the political world the way God thinks about it.\u00a0 And so consequently we have gone through a series of economic issues where God has spoken, and from there we moved into a series of social issues where God, once again, has spoken.\u00a0 And we\u2019re sort of at the tail end of the series dealing with the subject of foreign affairs where once again God has spoken.\u00a0 A lot of people would want us to have a one-world government.\u00a0 I think God has spoken on that, Genesis 11.\u00a0 A lot of people act as if the enforcement of borders is some kind of uncompassionate thing to do.\u00a0 I think God has spoken on that, as we have studied.\u00a0 A lot of people are very ambivalent and really could care less about the United States and its historic relation to the nation of Israel.\u00a0 I, once again, think that God has spoken on that subject.\n\nAnd then we come to this final subject that we\u2019ve been interacting with, the whole subject of national defense, peace through strength as we talked about it last week.\u00a0 This gets into the subject of terrorism.\u00a0 Terrorism, of course, is something on all of our minds as almost now a normal part of the culture is seeing yet another terrorist attack on American soil, whether it be 9-11, Fort Hood, the Boston Marathon bomber, Orlando, Chelsea New York, San Bernardino.\u00a0 And once again this is a subject that people examine without the light of Scripture.\u00a0 We are not doing that in this series because this is yet another area where God has spoken.\u00a0 God has spoken or revealed Himself on the issue of terrorism.\n\nWe\u2019ve been following this outline, it\u2019s got about six parts, the first four we\u2019ve already gone through.\u00a0 We\u2019ve looked at terrorism\u2019s false causes; people will blame terrorism on everything other than its actual cause.\u00a0 You noticed that?\u00a0 Poverty, lack of education, there\u2019s always the blame America first crowd, anything that\u2019s wrong in the world it must be America\u2019s fault.\u00a0 I\u2019ve gone through those meticulously and showed you that those are not the biblical explanations for terrorism.\u00a0 From there we transitioned into terrorism\u2019s actual causes and the Bible reveals two things: number 1, the depravity of man, we\u2019ve spent quite a bit of time in Mark 7:20-23 where Jesus indicates that murder (you could substitute the word terrorism for murder) emanates from the heart.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s not what goes into a man, Jesus says to the Pharisees, that makes him unclean; it\u2019s what naturally springs out of him in his fallen state and He mentions many, many sins, including the sin of murder.\u00a0 The fact of the matter is we\u2019re all terrorists; all of us have the potential for terrorist activity but you see, that terrorist heart, which we all have, comes into contact with something that I call a radical ideology, whether it be Marxism or Islam or any number of ideologies we could talk about.\u00a0 A radical ideology is an ideology that people buy into that gives their sin nature permission to vent itself.\n\nChristianity, of course, runs counter to the sin nature, it\u2019s always telling us to stay away from things that I already want to do.\u00a0 Not so with a radical ideology, and typically when you find people involved in terrorism you\u2019ll find lurking in the background some sort of radical non-biblical ideology which gives people the permission to target innocent civilians in the aim of accomplishing some kind of higher good.\u00a0 We\u2019ve talked in depth about that.\u00a0 And if we understand the root of terrorism we come up with a proper solution as to how to deter it because God has given us, I believe, the solution to terrorism.\u00a0 But if your diagnosis of the problem is incorrect then you can\u2019t come up with a right solution, so today we\u2019re inundated with all sorts of false solutions to terrorism\u2014we need military reduction, appeasement, dialogue, more treaties, more subsidies, apology tours, and the like.\n\nAnd if we would only return to the Word of God\u2026 the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 8 and verse 11 says this: \u201cBecause the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil.\u201d\u00a0 God has ordained an institution, this takes us to Roman numeral IV, of the proper solution to terrorist activity.\u00a0 I\u2019m very fond of this quote by Robert Charles Winthrop, who was the Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1847-1849, speaking to the Massachusetts Bible Society.\u00a0 He makes a tremendous statement:\u00a0 \u201cMen, in a word, must necessarily be controlled, either by a power within them, or by a power without them; either by the Word of God, or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible, or by the bayonet.\u201d [Robert Winthrop, Addresses and Speeches on Various Occasions<\/em> (Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 1852), 172. Speech to the Massachusetts Bible Society (1849-05-28).]\n\nThe greatest deterrent to terrorist activity and violence in general is the Scripture.\u00a0 Once the Scripture enters the heart of a person through their growth in Christ, because they\u2019ve been born spiritually and they have the new nature, and they begin to grow in that faith, that event, as miraculous as it is, spiritually in and of itself does more to help society than any other single event because the Bible has within it a built-in system that tells people perpetually to grow in Christ I have to live counter to my natural instincts.\n\nThis is why our Founding Fathers, as we have said many, many times, were so big on the promotion of the Bible.\u00a0 In fact, it\u2019s very interesting that Winthrop, the Speaker of the House, made this statement before a Bible society.\u00a0 When was the last time you found a politician of that caliber (A) not only speaking for a Bible society or before a Bible society but saying to this Bible society that you guys are actually doing the work of freedom because you\u2019re allowing us to keep government limited (which is what America is all about), and if we\u2019re going to have limited government people have to learn how to control themselves.\u00a0 The best solution to people controlling themselves, according to our Founding Fathers, was the Ten Commandments of God.\u00a0 That\u2019s why all this talk about we need to take the Ten Commandments down from the public school walls; from city halls.\u00a0 It\u2019s such silly talk; it\u2019s thoroughly antithetical to the way America\u2019s founders thought; they wanted Christianity promoted even promoted in public life, because that\u2019s the greatest bulwark or deterrent against violent activity.\n\nBut God has another solution to terrorism; if the first doesn\u2019t work He has ordained an institution.\u00a0 Notice what Winthrop says here: \u201cMen will be controlled, either by the Bible, or the bayonet, either by the Word of God or the strong arm of government.\u201d\u00a0 <\/strong>If I don\u2019t have an internal value system to keep me under control in my moments of rage then there has to be another check and balance at work which acts as a deterrent; it puts fear into my heart acting as a deterrent to keep me away from the violence that my heart naturally wants to commit.\u00a0 That is called the institution of human government; to understand the origin of human government you have to understand what the world was like just prior to the flood.\n\nGenesis 6:11 says this of that antediluvian pre-flood world: \u201cNow the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with\u201d what? \u201cviolence.\u201d\u00a0 The pre-flood world was characterized by unrestrained violence; there was virtually nothing as a check and balance against the depraved nature of man.\u00a0 And following the flood, as God begins to repopulate the earth through Noah\u2019s three sons the sin nature in people never changed.\u00a0 In fact, there\u2019s a reference to the ongoing sin nature in that post-flood world in the book of Genesis, chapter 8 and verse 21 where it talks about how the intent of man\u2019s thoughts and heart is continually wicked from his youth.\u00a0 [Genesis 8:21, \u201cThe LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, \u2018I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man\u2019s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.\u2019\u201d]\n\nGiven that truth of the depraved nature of man, which has not changed, pre-flood, post-flood, God\u2019s solution to it is the institution of human government, where God, in what\u2019s called His covenant with Noah, called the human government into existence and He vested in human government the power of the sword, which as we have said in prior sermons is the basis for capital punishment.\u00a0 God says this in the post-flood world.\u00a0 \u201cWhoever sheds man\u2019s blood,\u201d notice this, \u201cby man,\u201d not by God, \u201cby man shall his blood be shed.\u201d\u00a0 That is the origin of a human institution that God gave as a gift to the human race to put a check or a state of fear in the heart of sinful man which holds him back from natural bloodshed.\u00a0 If they won\u2019t be constrained by the Bible and God\u2019s truth then the only thing left to keep them under control is the threat of force.\u00a0 And that\u2019s the logic of human government.\u00a0 Human government, of course, is not part of God\u2019s covenants with Israel.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s a covenant that God made with Noah which benefits all of humanity, which precedes (by a long period of time) the calling of Abraham.\u00a0 It is a preservative human government that God built into the human race to allow it to perpetuate, to prevent it from regressing to what it was like prior to the flood.\n\nAnd Paul, of course, picks up on the institution of human government, not in the Old Testament but where?\u00a0 In the New Testament.\u00a0 Paul, in Romans 13 is just reiterating the Noahic Covenant when Paul says in Romans 13, \u201cFor rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil.\u201d If you \u201cwant to have no fear of authority, do what is good and\u00a0 you will have praise from the same.\u00a0 [4] for it is a minister of God to you for good.\u00a0 But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practice evil.\u201d\u00a0 Paul is simply repeating; he is recycling what the original design for God was doing back to the Noahic Covenant.\n\nPeter talks about the same thing in 1 Peter 2:13-14 where he says, \u201cgovernors\u201d that\u2019s the institution of human government, \u201care sent by Him for the punishment of evil doers.\u201d\u00a0 [1 Peter 2:13, \u201cSubmit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority,\u00a0\u00a0 [14] or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.\u201d]\n\nAnd you see, the Bible teaches, and sociologists debate this, political scientists debate it. \u00a0I don\u2019t debate it because the Bible teaches it; it teaches the reality of deterrents; deterrents is the idea that I\u2019m so afraid of doing the time that I\u2019ll hopefully stay away from the what? \u00a0The crime.\u00a0 That\u2019s the logic of human government.\u00a0 That\u2019s what holds people back, many times, from doing atrocities.\u00a0\u00a0 You see this in God\u2019s working with the nation of Israel.\u00a0 Now I acknowledge that we\u2019re not under the Law of Moses today but the principle of deterrents is there in the Mosaic Law about stoning people to death who commit certain sins.\u00a0 And then verse 11 of Deuteronomy 13 says, \u201cThen all Israel will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such a wicked thing among you.\u201d\n\nWhy don\u2019t I drive home today and walk into a liquor store or convenience store and just take what I want; I mean, that\u2019s what my heart already wants to do, why don\u2019t I just do it?\u00a0 Well, I see what happens to people that do that; they get caught, they get punished.\u00a0 And so I stay away from certain things, not because of the goodness of my own heart many times, but because of fear of punish\u00adment.\u00a0 And what would this world be like if you took away the fear of punishment?\u00a0 It would be just like it was prior to the flood.\n\nAnd consequently people have a very distorted view of what government is supposed to do, arguing many times from the position of pacifism, and we\u2019ve gone through those arguments last week, the pacifist\u2019s position where it\u2019s this idea that the government should not punish, the government should never go to war, is an exercise in distorting one Bible verse after another.\u00a0 We\u2019ve walked through several of them, turn the other cheek, the commonly misquoted command, \u201cthou shalt not kill;\u201d it doesn\u2019t say \u201cthou shalt not kill,\u201d it says \u201cthou shalt not\u201d what? \u201cmurder,\u201d and we\u2019ve talked about the difference between killing and murder. \u00a0But what you hear many times is distortions of the Bible out of harmony with what God established human government to do.\n\nAnd now we move into Roman numeral V and many people have asked me about this, so now we\u2019re talking about it.\u00a0 Of course, the way this usually works is I say wait a minute, we\u2019re getting to that and then the people that had the question don\u2019t show up that Sunday, but fortunately for technology we have it archived for you, but many people have asked me, I get this whole idea of the government and its responsibility to restrain evil in a lawless world but is it possible for the government to go too far?\u00a0 Is it possible, as you walk about wars and the need to go to war in certain circumstances, is it not possible that the government can step out of line and go to war when really it\u2019s not supposed to go to war?\u00a0 And we are not the first generation that\u2019s ever wrestled with this.\u00a0 In fact, when you get into this subject you\u2019ll find that theologians have been arguing about this and talking about this for centuries.\u00a0 This is called the principles of just war.\u00a0 There\u2019s at least eight of them.\u00a0 Do you mind if I give these to you?\n\nWhere do I get these from?\u00a0 I get these from the ESV Study Bible, page 255, it talks about the subject of war and in a very nice, neat, concise way it lays out the criteria for a just war.\u00a0 It talks about the subject of war and in a very nice, neat, concise way it lays out the criteria for a just war.\u00a0 Yes, government has a God ordained function but it is possible for government to step outside of its God ordained authority and begin to do things that God never called it to do, hence the theologians who have wrestled with this say, \u201cThere must be principles of just war in place before a government goes to war.\u201d\u00a0 We, as you know, in this country, invaded Iraq, Afghanistan, to root out terrorism and terrorist that committed such an atrocity against our citizens on 9-11.\u00a0 There are many Christian voices that will tell you that what our government did was non-Christian, what our government did was wrong.\u00a0 And I will let you be the judge of that and any other war simply by asking ourselves are the principles of just war being dutifully followed.\u00a0\u00a0 There are eight principles so here we go:\n\nNumber 1, the war must be for a just cause.\u00a0 Now is it possible that war, as terrible as it is, can be for the right cause.\u00a0 Apparently so because Jesus Himself is going to declare war.\u00a0 Did you know that?\u00a0 Did you know that when Jesus comes back to this earth He is not coming back as a meek and mild lamb; He\u2019s coming back as a lion to declare war, and in the process of describing this war Revelation 19:11 says this: \u201cAnd I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True,\u201d watch this, \u201cand in righteousness He judges and wages war.\u201d\u00a0 So apparently Jesus is coming back to declare war, Revelation 14 tell us that this war that Jesus declares on the unsaved world will be so severe that the blood will flow as high as the horse\u2019s bridles for two hundred miles.\u00a0 [Revelation 14:20, \u201cAnd the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses\u2019 bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles.\u201d]\u00a0 That\u2019s quite a blood bath, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 And yet it\u2019s Jesus Christ Himself who is declaring this war.\u00a0 And notice Revelation 19 calls it a righteous war.\u00a0 [Revelation 19:11, \u201cAnd I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteous\u00ad\u00adness He judges and wages war.\u201d] Aha, \u201crighteous war.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0There must be wars that are righteous.\n\nNow for God to declare war He\u2019s always righteous, but if we as mere human beings fulfill our God-ordained function in human government and declare war how are we to know if the war we declare is righteous or unrighteous?\u00a0 We\u2019re just fallen human beings.\u00a0 Hence the principles of just war.\u00a0 The first principle is this:\u00a0 You do not go to war unless the cause is just or unless the cause is righteous.\u00a0 In the ESV Study Bible it defines righteousness or a just cause as follows: \u201cIs the reason for going to war a moral right or a moral cause such as\u201d what? \u201csuch as defense of the nation.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s the first thing you ask; is the war for petty reasons?\u00a0 Is the war for simply revenge?\u00a0 Or is there an actual righteous cause in it?\n\nThis takes us to principle number 2; number 2, was the war declared by a competent legal authority?\u00a0 The ESV Study Bible puts it this way.\u00a0 \u201cCompetent authority, has the war been actually declared, not simply by a renegade band within a nation but by a recognized competent authority within that nation.\u201d\u00a0 So a bunch of malcontents get power and they bring a nation to war, that second principle, under those circumstances, would not be satisfied.\u00a0 You see, under the United States government there\u2019s a way to go to war and there\u2019s a way not to go to war.\u00a0 Article 1, Section 8 of the United States Constitution is very clear, it says: \u201cCongress shall have the power to\u201d do what?\u00a0 \u201cArticle 1, section 8, \u201cto declare war.\u201d\u00a0 Article 1 of the Constitution governs the Congress; Article II of the Constitution governs the Presidency, and Article 2, section 8, says this: \u201cThe President shall be the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States.\u201d\n\nNotice the logic here: Congress declares the war, the President of the United States as the sole organ of foreign affairs, as he has been called by our Supreme Court, prosecutes the war, conducts the war.\u00a0 Now that\u2019s an interesting formula given here by our Founding Fathers.\u00a0 What you\u2019ll start to discover is a lot of the wars we\u2019ve gotten ourselves into haven\u2019t gone through that constitutional formula.\u00a0 That\u2019s why sometimes they change the definition\u2026oh, this is not really a war, this is just a police action.\u00a0 But the second question in just war, when you\u2019re deciding is a war right or is a war not right, is you try to figure out has that war, which hopefully for a good cause, a righteous cause, has it actually been declared by a competent legal authority.\n\nThe third principle is this, the principle of comparative justice.\u00a0 What does comparative justice mean?\u00a0 It should be clear that the actions of the enemy are morally wrong and the motives and the actions of one\u2019s own nation in going to war in comparison are morally right.\u00a0 When you look at the subject of morality, like, for example, our decision to intervene in World War II to stop Adolf Hitler, is comparative justice acknowledge?\u00a0 Is the decision to go to war, which is always a horrific thing, it always brings atrocity, are our motives in going to war correct and accurate in comparison to what would happen if we didn\u2019t go to war\u2026comparative justice.\n\nThis, or course, is the natural function of government.\u00a0 Romans 13:3-5 says, \u201cBut if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.\u201d\u00a0 [Romans13:3-5, \u201cFor rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; [4] for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. [5] Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience\u2019 sake.\u201d]\n\nNotice in that statement itself that governments have the ability to discern good from evil.\u00a0 Well, if they\u2019re not saved where do they get this idea from?\u00a0 They get it from something called conscience.\u00a0 What is conscience?\u00a0 You\u2019ll find a description of conscience in Romans 2:14-15.\u00a0 [Romans 2:2-14-15, \u201cFor when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, [15] in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.\u201d] \u00a0It\u2019s this idea that God has put His laws into the hearts of all people, whether they are saved or unsaved.\u00a0 Everybody functions according to conscience.\n\nNow of course your conscience can become deadened through constant rebellion but conscience is there.\u00a0 You say prove it.\u00a0 Here\u2019s how you can prove it, you\u2019ve got two kids at home; you tell kid A if you go and mow the lawn I\u2019ll take\u00a0 you to the baseball game tonight.\u00a0\u00a0 You tell kid B if you go and mow the lawn I\u2019ll take you to Disney World.\u00a0 What\u2019s the first kid going to day? \u00a0That\u2019s not what?\u00a0 Fair.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it interesting how little kids always say \u201cthat\u2019s not fair.\u201d\u00a0 They have an instinctive ability to understand unfairness and inequity.\u00a0 Now you might want to go to the baseball game instead of Disney World but most kids I think would rather go to Disney World than the baseball game so just bear with me in my analogy.\u00a0 But the concept of fairness is in little children; it\u2019s in all of us from our earliest memories.\u00a0 How did we ever get this idea that things are supposed to be fair and supposed to be equitable.\u00a0 The answer to that is conscience.\n\nAnd so when a government is seeking to ascertain whether a war is just or unjust Paul says that governments exist to punish those who do wrong, commend those who do right.\u00a0 How do they know what\u2019s right from wrong?\u00a0 They instinctively know it and can know it and should know it based on something Paul talked about earlier in the book of Romans called conscience.\u00a0 You know a lot of the war crimes that the Nazi\u2019s were put on trial for, a lot of the Nazi\u2019s used the excuse well, we were just following orders, we killed all these Jews, we shot all these people, we abused all these people because we were just following orders.\u00a0 And you\u2019ll notice that in the international prosecution of those Nazis that excuse did not wash.\u00a0 Why did it not wash?\u00a0 They should have known what they were doing was wrong.\u00a0 They should have known what they were doing was evil because of the reality of conscience and the fact that conscience is in all human beings.\u00a0 Governments have this ability to understand right from wrong when it comes to this very important subject of just war.\n\nThe fourth principle is this: is there a right intention.\u00a0 In other words, is there a right motivation?\u00a0 The ESV Study Bible puts it this way: \u201cRight intention is the purpose of going to war to project justice and righteousness rather than merely seeking to rob and pillage and destroy another nation.\u201d\u00a0 There are all kinds of wars that take place in our world.\u00a0 In fact, if I understand the words of Christ correctly, wars and rumors of wars are supposed to increase and escalate as we get closer to the end of the age.\u00a0 I see that in Matthew 24:7 and following.\u00a0 [Matthew 24, \u201cYou will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things<\/em> must take place, but that<\/em> is not yet the end. [7] For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. [8] But all these things are merely<\/em> the beginning of birth pangs.\u201d]\n\nSo we have to ask ourselves when we see wars happening, was the motive actually for a right intention?\u00a0 Was it there kind of like cancer where you go into your body and you declare war on that part of your body to do what?\u00a0 Simply to prevent it from spreading, so the war that you\u2019ve declared on that cancer through surgery or medical treatment is painful but it\u2019s designed to accomplish a greater good.\u00a0 Was the war declared for a right reason, a right intention?\u00a0 Or is it simply to get rich, to increase one\u2019s boundaries and borders at the expense of someone else because they were weaker than you?\u00a0 Is the war there simply for revenge because of some past wrong committed against a nation?\u00a0\u00a0 There are all kinds of reasons wars occur; the issue with just was is is the intention correct?\n\nThe book of Proverbs, chapter 21 and verse 2 puts it this way: \u201cEvery man's way is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the hearts.\u201d\u00a0 What a horrific decision to send American troops into Harm\u2019s way, to send any nation\u2019s troops into Harm\u2019s way.\u00a0 The theologians have said it must be for a right intention.\n\nAnd there\u2019s a fifth principle of just war, it\u2019s the principle of last resort.\u00a0 Last resort, the ESV Study Bible puts it this way: \u201cLast resort: have all the other reasonable means of resolving the conflict been exhausted?\u201d\u00a0 The book of Romans, chapter 12, verse 18, puts it this way: \u201cIf possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.\u201d\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it interesting that we as Christians are supposed to be peace lovers.\u00a0 We are to, even in our personal relationships, pursue peace, pursue harmony as long as that opportunity is available.\u00a0 But Paul is very clear, as long as \u201cit depends upon you.\u201d\u00a0 There may be times when peace is no longer an option in our personal relationships with each other and with other people.\u00a0 Perhaps someone\u2019s conduct in a personal relationship is so egregious and it\u2019s so reprehensible that the only thing you\u2019re left with is the reality of conflict.\n\nThat\u2019s how it works in this doctrine of the nations that we\u2019ve been exploring.\u00a0\u00a0 You don\u2019t pursue a trigger happy mindset where war is your first option; war is your last option.\u00a0 And anybody that\u2019s fought in a conflict, I fortunately never have but there are men and women in this room, I can think of several men who have been involved in actual conflict; they will affirm the statement that war is hell; it is a hellish event.\u00a0 And because of the hellish nature of war, war has to be thought of as a last possibility than the first possibility.\u00a0 Has that principle of last resort, has that been honored?\n\nThis takes us to yet another principle, this takes to number six, what is the probability of success?\u00a0 The probability of success\u2026is there a reasonable expectation that the war can be won?\u00a0 It\u2019s interesting to me that Hitler, in his insanity towards the end, just prior to his suicide, was going to war against nations and his advisors were telling him you can\u2019t do this, there\u2019s no way we can win.\u00a0 And yet in his diabolical insanity he wasn\u2019t even thinking in a rational way.\u00a0 And there are many wars that take place where there is absolutely no chance to win because the person declaring war is not functioning according to just war principles.\n\nIt\u2019s interesting that Jesus, in the book of Luke, chapter 14 and verse 31, talked about this very thing.\u00a0 Now in context he was talking about the cost of being a disciple but as he was dealing with the cost of being a disciple he makes a comment about war and the probability of success.\u00a0 Jesus says this: \u201cOr what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand?\u201d\u00a0 You figure out, are you going to win this or are you not going to win this before you get into the horror of a conflict?\u00a0 What is the probability, all things being equal, of success?\n\nAnd this takes us to a seventh principle, the proportionality of projected results; will the good results that come from the victory in a way be significantly greater than the harm and loss that will inevitably come with pursuing a war.\u00a0 War is hell, just like declaring war on someone\u2019s cancer in their body is hellish.\u00a0 But is the penetration of the body worth the end result which is the containment of cancer?\u00a0 Is the war itself worth the greater good of containing evil?\u00a0 Is America\u2019s intervention, World War 2, to stop the Nazi\u2019s worth the necessary bloodshed that we must go through to contain that terrible movement. \u00a0This is a basic principle of just war.\u00a0 Paul, in Romans 12:24 says, \u201cDo not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.\u201d\n\nAnd finally, the last principle of just war is the principle of the right spirit.\u00a0 The principle of the right spirit says this: Is the war undertaken with great reluctance and sorrow at the harm that will come rather than simply with a delight in war.\u00a0 There are many, many people that I agree with politically but it just seems like there\u2019s an extra spring in their step, there\u2019s an extra glee that comes over them when they talk about the reality of war.\u00a0 That\u2019s not the biblical frame of mind.\u00a0 It\u2019s something that\u2019s to be undertaken with great sorrow, great contrition, wishing, hoping, praying that there is another route.\n\nAnd if people love war the Bible is against that belief.\u00a0 Psalm 68:30 says this of God: \u201cHe has scattered the peoples who delight in war.\u201d\u00a0 War is an unfortunate and sad reality in our fallen world but those that delight in it, gleeful in it, trigger happy, God Himself scatters such people.\u00a0 Is the war itself conducted with the right spirit.\n\nSo you\u2019ll notice that we are not the first generation that\u2019s ever had to think about this; these principles of just war are ancient.\u00a0 The principle of just cause, the principle of competent authority, the principle of comparative justice, right intention, last resort, probability of success, proportionality of projected results or predicted results and a right spirit.\n\nIsn\u2019t it interesting how the Bible itself has so much to say and shed light on the prospect of war?\u00a0 The Bible is acknowledging government has a function, government has a role, government restrains evil in a fallen world, but it also gives balance by giving us these eight principles of just war.\u00a0 Do you think about these when you vote for people?\u00a0 Do you think about the person that is going to make the decision to send out troops into Harm\u2019s way, to send our God forbid daughters, sons, into Harm\u2019s way?\u00a0 Do you think about whether they understand the principles of just war?\u00a0 Do they ever articulate the principles of just war?\n\nWhy doesn\u2019t someone stand up in one of these town hall meetings and ask a Presidential candidate what is your belief on the principles of just war?\u00a0 First of all do you know what the principles are?\u00a0 Can you rattle them through for me and give me your personal point of view on it?\u00a0 And we are not holding our elected officials accountable to the standards of the Bible many times.\u00a0 We just assume that they must know what they\u2019re doing because after all, they went to an Ivy League School and I didn\u2019t go to an Ivy League School.\u00a0 That is not why America\u2019s Founding Fathers established this republic and vested power in \u201cWe the people.\u201d\u00a0 And so few pulpits are even talking about issues like this and the poor flock is so confused and beleaguered by relentless propaganda from one commercial after another they wouldn\u2019t understand how to take the Bible and apply it to social and civic life even if they wanted to.\n\nUltimately it\u2019s a crisis in the pulpit; it\u2019s a failure amongst pastors to teach principles like these so that we can be better citizens and better stewards of this great republic that we have been given as a gift from God Himself.\u00a0 How many people in the history of mankind have had the opportunity to influence their own government through voting?\u00a0 How many people around the world laboring in an under oppressive and totalitarian regimes would love the opportunity that we have?\u00a0 And yet today, as I have mentioned, half of the body of Christ is even registered to vote; half of that number even shows up to vote and even a smaller percentage of that is thinking about principles like this when they do vote.\u00a0 May God help us to understand that we are stewards and there is so much complaint about Washington D.C. this and Washington D.C. that and this candidate this and this candidate that.\u00a0 You know what God is saying?\u00a0 He\u2019s saying look in the mirror.\u00a0 This republic is deteriorating because it was designed to be in the hands of the people and the people have, by and large, acquiesced their responsibility and the very people that should be leading in this area, the Christian church, have acquiesced.\u00a0 And yet the principles for all of these subjects are there in the Scripture if we would just let it speak.\u00a0 So these eight principles are principles that must be considered when making a decision to go to war, principles of just war.\n\nAll right, how about the prosecuting of a war?\u00a0 How do you do that?\u00a0 As I mentioned before the Congress declares war according to our Constitution; the President prosecutes the war, we have looked at the principles that our Congress is to think about when considering a war.\u00a0 But what about the President\u2019s responsibility.\u00a0 How does he prosecute a war?\u00a0 There are, again the ESV Study Bible is helping me, four principles on how to fight a war.\u00a0\u00a0 Notice, if\u00a0 you could the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 20, beginning in verse 10, four principles.\u00a0 Here we go.\n\nNumber 1, the principle of proportionality.\u00a0 Proportionality means what?\u00a0 Proportionality in the use of force, no greater destruction should be caused than is needed to win the war.\u00a0 This is a lesson we learned as kids in athletics.\u00a0 I\u00a0 remember my first basketball coach said look, you\u2019ve got the lead, don\u2019t humiliate the other side, don\u2019t run up the score so high that the other side will never see the light of day again and will be discouraged, that\u2019s not good sportsmanship.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why when a team is way up the coach will take the five starters, sit them on the bench and let the second string play.\u00a0 The same principle exists in this concept of war; you don\u2019t go to war to destroy or humiliate or to do things beyond what is necessary to win the war.\n\nYou say well, that\u2019s an interesting concept you have there, where do you find that in the Bible.\u00a0 Deuteronomy 20, thank you very much, verse 10.\u00a0\u00a0 Notice what Deuteronomy 20 and verse 10 says, \u201cWhen\u201d God now through Moses is giving instructions about war, \u201cWhen you approach a city to fight against it, you shall offer it terms of peace.\u00a0 [11] If it agrees to make peace with you and opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall become your forced labor and shall serve you.\u201d\u00a0 In other words, if the city wants peace you don\u2019t go in there and annihilate the city; you spare lives.\u00a0 Verse 12, \u201cHowever, if it does not make peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it.\u201d\u00a0 What is that?\u00a0 That is a legal principle that far outdates its time; it\u2019s way ahead of its time, the principle of proportionality, something that God Himself ordained.\u00a0 It\u2019s something that God Himself established.\n\nDo you know that in the Law of Moses there are legal and political principles that exceed the day by centuries and millennia?\u00a0 Did you know that in order to execute somebody under the Mosaic Law you had to watch that person commit the crime with two to three witnesses?\u00a0 And the person that was the witness is the first one to throw the rock.\u00a0 You compare that to the Code of Hammurabi which is a contemporary legal code, it actually predates the Mosaic Law by about four centuries, do you know how the Code of Hammurabi says you determine whether someone is guilty or innocent; there\u2019s no talk about two to three witnesses, you just take people and you throw them in a lake or a river, the ones that don\u2019t drown are innocent, the ones that drown were obviously guilty.\u00a0 That\u2019s how the ancient world functioned.\u00a0 And yet God, through Moses, comes along and gives an advanced legal concept of no execution unless you have two to three witnesses.\n\nAnd in fact, under the Law of Moses there were six cities, three in the land of Israel west of the Jordan, three in what we call the Transjordan, east of the Jordan.\u00a0 These were cities of refuge.\u00a0 What were they there for?\u00a0 They were there if a homicide occurred there\u2019s a vigilante mentality that takes root in people, they want to punish the wrongdoer, and sometimes they rush to judgment and punish the wrong person, punish an innocent person.\u00a0 So to prevent that from happening you flee to these six cities, three east of the Jordan, three west of the Jordan, cities of refuge, so everybody could calm down, everybody can cool down and you can actually independent of emotion look at the facts.\u00a0 What is that?\u00a0 That\u2019s innocent until proven guilty, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 A pillar in American jurisprudence; you\u2019ll find Moses talking about that elevated principle all the way back in the time of Moses 1,500 years before the time of Christ.\n\nSecond principle is discrimination, this is big because this distinguishes just war versus terrorism.\u00a0 Discrimination between combatants and non-combatants, what does that mean?\u00a0 You don\u2019t target innocent people.\u00a0 Sometimes innocent people die in a war because of collateral damage, which is always unfortunate, but you never target the innocent.\u00a0 Where do you find that?\u00a0 Notice Deuteronomy 20:13-14, it says, \u201cWhen the LORD your God gives it into your hand, you shall strike all the men in it with the edge of the sword.\u00a0 [14] Only the women and the children and the animals\u201d now who are the \u201cwomen, children and the animals\u201d? these are noncombatants, non-soldiers, non-fighters, \u201cOnly the women and the children and the animals and all that is in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as booty for yourself; and you shall use the spoil of your enemies which the LORD your God has given you.\u201d\u00a0 There it is, an ancient principle.\u00a0 You do not target non-combatants.\n\nThis is what makes the act of terrorism so horrific and egregious because they are targeting non-combatants.\u00a0 The reason they are targeting non-combatants is they are seeking what is called a soft target.\u00a0 What is a soft target?\u00a0 It is a group of people in a mall, in a stadium, that can\u2019t fight back.\u00a0 Terrorism itself is completely outside of the principles of just war and outside the principles of how to actually prosecute a just war.\n\nWe have a third principle at work here, the avoidance of evil\u00a0 means.\u00a0 Avoidance of evil means\u2014will the captured or defeated enemies be treated with justice and compassion or are the captured tortured, humiliated?\u00a0 Are we treating those captured the way they would want us to treat our solders that are captured?\n\nAnd then finally, the last principle is the principle of good faith.\u00a0 The principle of good faith says this: is there a genuine desire for restoration of peace and eventually living in harmony with the attacking nation?\u00a0\u00a0 Yes, we may be at war with you today but is it in our heart of hearts to believe that this won\u2019t be the case?\u00a0 Do we envision a day will come where the two nations that are at conflict will actually live in harmony with one another?\u00a0 Psalm 34:14 puts it this way: \u201cDepart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it.\u201d\n\nTerrorism is a horrific thing; that\u2019s why it\u2019s called terrorism.\u00a0 God has an answer to terrorism\u2014the institution of human government that puts fear into the hearts of people that won\u2019t be solidified or stabilized by the Bible; it is completely possible in a sinful world that a government can spiral out of control and go outside the boundary marks that God has given it and get involved in conflicts that God never authorized.\u00a0 May we be people of balance as we look together at a very difficult subject.\n\nAnd then finally, and next week we will get to this, and I really believe next week the series will end, I can\u2019t promise that though, legitimate methods in deterring terrorism.\u00a0 What about enhanced interrogation?\u00a0 What about waterboarding?\u00a0 What about spying?\u00a0 Are these things that God Himself would authorize and give permission for?\u00a0 You\u2019ll have to come back next week and find out about that as we allow the light of the Scripture to inform how we think on issues of today.\n\nOf course, the greatest war that is happening today is not the war between nations; it\u2019s the war between God and the human race.\u00a0 Did you know that the book of Romans, chapter 5 and verse 10 tells us very clearly that we, outside of Christ, are God\u2019s enemies. [Romans 5:10, \u201cFor if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.\u201d]\u00a0 And therefore when Jesus Christ returns to establish His kingdom upon the earth He is coming back to declare just war against His enemies. We are on a collision course as fallen members in Adam\u2019s line with the God of the universe.\u00a0 That is our predicament as fallen human beings, and yet Jesus Christ provides a way of peace.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it interesting that so much of the Scripture uses war terminology to describe our condition without<\/em> Christ and peace terminology to describe our condition in<\/em> Christ.\n\nHow do you enter into peace with God?\u00a0 You enter into peace with God first of all by acknowledging and understanding that God the Father already poured out His wrath on an innocent substitute, or scapegoat, His own Son, when that wrath belongs on my shoulders and it belongs on your shoulders.\u00a0 The wrath has already been poured out and consequently by accepting or believing or trusting what Jesus has done in my place I am exempted from and spared from the wrath of God.\u00a0 There is now reconciliation where formerly there was warfare.\u00a0 And as a child of God I no longer have to fear the coming wrath of God because the wrath of God the Father has been satisfied or satiated in the person of Jesus Christ and I have received what He has done by way of faith.\u00a0 Peace comes!\n\nBut what about the person who never has received that pardon?\u00a0 Then the same state of enmity, the same state of conflict, the same state of war, the same state of hostility, which has always existed between God and the human race, remains unresolved and therefore a person in that condition has nothing to look forward to other than the fiery indignation of a Holy God.\u00a0 I realize there are gentler and kinder and nicer ways to present the gospel but this is all biblical, what I\u2019m saying.\u00a0 What a tragedy it would be for people to listen to a sermon on terrorism and warfare and leave this place unresolved in the war that they\u2019re already in with God.\u00a0 God has a solution to terrorism.\u00a0 God has a solution to the warfare that we are in with Him, and that\u2019s Jesus and what He\u2019s done, and we\u2019ve received it by way of faith.\n\nOur exhortation here at Sugar Land Bible Church is to trust in that provision.\u00a0 It\u2019s something you can do in the quietness of your own heart, in the privacy of your own mind as I am speaking.\u00a0 It\u2019s not something you have to join a church to do, walk an aisle to do, give money to do; it\u2019s a private transaction between you and the Lord where the Spirit convicts you of your need to trust in His provision and you respond through human will, human freedom, human volition.\u00a0 God is not going to do it for you, He can convict you of it but He won\u2019t do it for you; you respond to human freedom to what He has done and receive it as a free gift.\u00a0 Have you done that?\n\nIs this a message if you\u2019ve done it that you\u2019re taking to other people? It\u2019s one thing to enjoy this ourselves; it\u2019s a totally different matter to export this to other people.\u00a0 That\u2019s why we had the missions moment that we had earlier; we want to export this good news to others.\u00a0 Receive this gift and commit yourself this week that as the Spirit of God provides opportunities you won\u2019t be bashful, you won\u2019t shrink back, but you will aggressively and boldly share the gospel with those who don\u2019t have any peace with God and are still in a state of war with God.\u00a0 If the gospel is something you need more teaching on I\u2019m available after the service to talk. Shall we pray.\n\nFather, we\u2019re grateful for the principles of just war; we\u2019re more grateful, Lord, for the truths that you have called between us and You through what Jesus has done.\u00a0 Help us to be receivers of this and share this good news with others.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory.\u00a0 We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name.\u00a0 And God\u2019s people said\u2026.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t