(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Part of the chapter that I wanted to focus on there in Genesis chapter 6 is where the Bible reads in verse 13, and God said unto Noah, the end of all flesh has come before me for the earth is filled with violence through them, and behold I will destroy them with the earth. And what I want to preach about tonight is the subject of the death penalty. And if you would go back to Genesis chapter 4, because Genesis chapter 4 is really the best place to start if we're going to understand where the death penalty came from. And the death penalty is something that God prescribes for certain crimes under the Old Testament law. And then also there's mention of the death penalty in the New Testament. And you know, when I grew up, Christians all believed that the death penalty was biblical, and they believed that the death penalty was something that our government should have. But it seems like today, increasingly, people are starting to say that the death penalty is not biblical, and they don't believe in the death penalty. They think we should abolish the death penalty, even Christians. And I'm going to prove to you from the Bible why that's unbiblical, and why I do believe in the death penalty. But before we get into that, let's look at where the death penalty came from. Because originally there was not a death penalty. You know, God created man and put man on this earth, and man began to multiply on this earth, and the first murder that was ever committed in the Bible was of course when Cain murdered Abel, right? And when God punishes Cain, he does not cause him to receive the death penalty. Look down, if you would, at verse number 11, we're going to see Cain's punishment for murdering Abel. It says, And now thou art cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand. When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength. A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear. The old thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth, and from thy face shall I be hid, and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth, and it shall come to pass that everyone that findeth me shall slay me. So the punishment that God prescribed for Cain is that he's going to be a fugitive and a vagabond, basically what we would call exile. He's kicked out from his family and from civilization. God is going to curse the fruit of the ground to where when he tries to farm, God's going to fight against it and he's not going to be able to get it to produce anything. He's going to have to go somewhere else. And God's basically in effect just kicking him out of the land. And this is a punishment that has been used throughout history on criminals, exile. It's even a punishment that God prescribed for certain crimes later on with the children of Israel that people who commit these crimes would be basically exiled, kicked out of the nation, you know, sent out to leave. That's what we see here as his punishment. So Cain says, well, that's too big of a punishment because he says, okay, I'm exiled, but he says I have a feeling somebody's going to kill me for what I've done. I have a feeling that somebody's going to revenge the blood of Abel and that someone's going to find me and slay me. Look what the Bible says in verse 15, and the Lord said in him, therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord said a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. So is Cain getting the death penalty for the murder that he committed? No. He's being punished with what? Exile, right? And God even goes so far as to say that anyone who kills him will be punished. So there's no death penalty in place here for murder, is there? Okay, go down if you would further in the chapter and look at verse number 23. This is a man named Lamech. This is one of Cain's descendants. And this man Lamech is the first man ever mentioned who had two wives in the Bible, Ada and Zilla, his two wives. Look what it says in verse number 23, Lamech said unto his wives Ada and Zilla, hear my voice ye wives of Lamech hearken unto my speech, for I have slain a man to my wounding and a young man to my hurt. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold. So I don't really know exactly what happened here with this situation with Lamech, why he killed this guy. It sounds like he's trying to say that he killed him in self-defense maybe. You know when he says, I've slain a man to my wounding and I've killed a man to my hurt. I don't know if he's saying it was self-defense or what he means by that. But whatever the case may be, he's looking at what Cain had with the sevenfold avenging and he says, well, you know, I'm even more justified in the murder that I've committed. So if he's going to be avenged sevenfold, man, I should be avenged seventy and sevenfold. Now maybe this guy legitimately was using self-defense, we don't really know. We know when Cain killed Abel, it was in cold blood though, it was just murder. But look if you would now at Genesis chapter 6. So in Genesis chapter 4, first we see Cain kill Abel, then we see Lamech kill a young man and they're both claiming the same, you know, vengeance on anybody who slays us. No death penalty. By the time we get to chapter 6 verse 5, look what verse 5 says. It says, and God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Look at verse 11. The earth also was corrupt before God and the earth was filled with violence. So why did God destroy the earth? Why did God send the flood? Well he says in verse 11 that the earth was filled with violence. And then in verse 13 he says, and God said to Noah, the end of all flesh has come before me for the earth is filled with violence through them. Now what does the word for mean? Because. So he says, look, the end of all flesh has come before me because the earth is filled with violence. So we can see that a major reason why God is destroying the earth with the flood, the main sin that he brings up twice here and he says, I'm going to destroy it because the earth is filled with violence. So there was a lot of violence in the earth in the days of Noah, in the days of the flood. That's why he said he destroyed it. And look, it's no coincidence that when we flip over to chapter 9 of Genesis, when Noah then gets off the ark, it says in Genesis 9 verse 6, who so shedeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed. For in the image of God made he man. So do we see something new being instituted after the flood? Oh yeah, this is new. This is the first time God ever gave human beings the right to execute the death penalty. Because before that they were told not to. But the result of that system in which murderers were not punished with the death penalty is that first one guy commits murder, then another. Next thing you know, the whole earth is filled with violence, people are killing each other left and right. I mean, you might not think about that, but that's what the Bible says, that before the flood people were killing each other left and right. I mean that's what he means when he said it was filled with violence. That's why he just randomly pulls out the death penalty, as soon as Noah gets off the ark he's like, okay, new rule. You kill somebody, you're going to be killed. And your blood's going to be shed by man. There's no sevenfold vengeance, no. There's the death penalty. So in light of what I just explained there from the Bible, and if you would turn to Exodus 21, in light of what I just explained there from the Bible, why did God institute the death penalty? Basically to protect us, to keep the peace, to keep law and order, right? Basically he instituted the death penalty simply to keep this world from becoming filled with violence like it did before the flood. Because after the ark and after the flood's over, God says, look, I'm not going to flood the earth again. And he put the rainbow in the sky as a sign that he would not flood it again. He said, because I understand that man's heart and his imagination is evil from his youth upward. God's just saying, look, I know man's evil. I'm not going to flood the earth again. I know they're sinful. But he put in place the death penalty, though, to keep it from getting out of hand. Because the death penalty is a deterrent against committing murder. Now if you don't have the death penalty in place, there's going to be a lot more murder, like we saw before the flood. You put the death penalty in place, that's a deterrent that will cause people to think twice before they commit murder. Now the death penalty was instituted right when Noah got off the ark. That's long before the Mosaic law. People are to be put to death for murder. Now look at the Mosaic law. This is Exodus chapter 21 where God is giving the commandments unto Moses and he starts to explain to him some crimes that should be punished by death. Let's start out in verse 12. It says, he that smiteth a man so that he die shall be surely put to death. So that's just like in Genesis chapter number 9. And then it says, if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand, then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee. That is where we get the concept of second degree murder. Because first degree murder is premeditated. Look at the next verse, he explains the premeditation in the next verse. He says, but if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbor to slay him with guile, thou shalt take him from mine altar that he may die. So right there he's saying, look, if God just delivers somebody into his hand, meaning that it's something that just happens spontaneously, spur of the moment. You know, people get in a fight and next thing you know, one person kills another. You know, that is often considered second degree murder. Somebody gets angry, loses their temper, flies off the handle and kills somebody. That's second degree murder because it is not premeditated. First degree murder is where somebody says, you know what, I'm going to go kill that person. And they lie in wait for that person or they plan it. It doesn't just happen as a crime of passion. So it's interesting how a lot of our laws come from the Bible. You know, the concept of first degree murder and second degree murder is right here in Exodus 21, the difference. And so we see that a person who commits second degree murder is not necessarily going to get the death penalty. They can go flee to the city of refuge. They can lay hold upon the horns of the altar and so forth. It says in verse number 15 though, he that smiteth his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. Now does that say whoso kills his father or mother? No this is just saying anybody who hits their mother or their father shall be put to death. So I mean even if you just assault your mom or dad, the Bible says here that they would be put to death. Now this is the Old Testament law that was given unto Moses by God on the Mount Sinai. Okay let's keep reading. It says in verse 16, and he that stealeth a man and selleth him or if he be found in his hand he shall surely be put to death. What would we call that? Stealing a man. What do we call that? Kidnapping. Kidnappers, he said, should be put to death. Then he also says in verse 17, and he that curseth his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. Now if you would, flip over quickly to Matthew chapter 15. Matthew chapter number 15 because Jesus actually refers to this law in Matthew chapter 15. Because a lot of people will say, well you know that's the Old Testament mosaic law but Jesus didn't teach that, okay. So Jesus did teach that and Jesus reiterated this in Matthew 15 because he says in verse 4 of Matthew 15, well actually let's start in verse 3 it says, but he answered and said unto them, why do you also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded saying, honor thy father and mother and he that curseth father or mother let him die the death but ye say whosoever shall say to his father or mother it is a gift by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me and honor not his father or his mother he shall be free thus have you made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. So is Jesus backing up the commandment here or not that says that if you curse your father or mother you shall be put to death. Now atheists will often bring out this verse and say, oh you believe the Bible, huh? A book that tells you to put to death a disobedient child? Now let me ask you something, did this say to put a disobedient child to death? Well the Bible says to stone a rebellious child. Does this say to stone a rebellious child? Does this say rebellious or disobedient? No they're lying. Every child is going to be rebellious at some point. Every child is going to be disobedient at some point and the Bible clearly commands us to spank our children when they disobey. But this is not disobedience, this is not rebellion, this is assaulting your parents. And I've seen this, I've seen kids today and teenagers that will literally slap their parent across the mouth or punch their parent in the face. That's the abomination of a society that we're living in. Total disrespect. Now you say, well what about cursing? Now a lot of people misunderstand the word cursing in the Bible. They think basically, because we have a word in English today, we have a word cussing. And here's the thing, the word cussing comes from the word cursing. But when we say cussing, what we mean by that is we basically mean that somebody used a word that is considered a bad word, okay, you know, by Tipper Gore or the TV movie rating association or whoever decides what is a bad word. I find it ironic that half of the words that are bad words are in the Bible. And let me tell you something, any word that's in the Bible is not a bad word. I mean people have told me that I was cussing from the pulpit because I use, I'm preaching the Bible, I'm reading Bible verses and using biblical terms and they're like, that's cussing. You're cussing from the pulpit. Well no, and here's the thing, but when the Bible talks about cursing, it's not talking about using a four letter word. That's not what curse in the Bible means. A curse is the opposite of what? A blessing. Bless is the opposite of curse. Now if I bless you, you know what I'm saying? I'm basically putting a good word on you saying, for example, you know what, may you live long and be healthy and may you prosper in all that you do and God bless you. I mean if I say God bless you, I'm basically saying I want God to do good things for you, right? So what is the opposite of that? Cursing someone would be to wish something bad upon someone, right? Blessing is when I wish something good upon you. Cursing is when I wish something bad upon you. Like for example, if I said, you know, man I hope that you get in a horrible car wreck on the way home today. I mean, wouldn't that be an awful thing to say? But that would be a curse? Or what if I said to somebody, hey, go to hell, isn't that a curse? Okay? All different examples you could think of of basically wishing that something bad would happen to someone and saying that you want something bad to, you know, that they melt like a snail or whatever, you know what I mean? Whatever the curse may be, you know, that's not a blessing, that's a curse, okay? So it's like, for example, what about Elisha in 2 Kings chapter 2? Elisha cursed the children that had come out and mocked him, a bunch of children were, you know, roving around and mocking him and telling him. And he cursed those children and then God sent two bears that tear up 40 and 2 of them. That was the result of the curse of God and the curse that Elijah put upon them. Or like, for example, when a curse was put upon Ahab that he would be killed in the vineyard of Naboth and that the dogs would eat him, okay? That was a curse. So when the Bible says here that if someone curses his father or his mother, he shall surely be put to death, this is basically a child who basically tells their parent to go to hell. Or tells their parent, you know, I hope that you, I wish that you would die. I mean, can you imagine saying something like that to your parent? The Bible said that if someone said that to their parent in the Old Testament that they should be put to death. Or if they hit their parent. You know, that shows that God demands respect of children for their parents and not to even come close to doing anything like that, okay? Let's keep reading. Back in Exodus 21. But we saw Jesus is backing this stuff up in the New Testament. And he's criticizing them for ignoring it. He's saying your tradition is making my word void. Here's what God said. God said, whoso curseth of his father or mother, let him die the death. But look what it says here in verse 18, and if men strive together and one smite another with a stone or with his fist and he die not but keepeth his bed, if he rise again and walk abroad upon his staff, then he that smote him shall be quit, only he shall pay for the loss of his time and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed. And if a man smite his servant or his maid with a rod and he die under his hand, he shall be surely punished notwithstanding. If he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished, for he is his money. Now this is talking about indentured servitude, okay? This is talking about people back in the old days when they didn't have money to pay a debt, they would basically sell themselves into servitude temporarily, not for life. They weren't supposed to be kept for more than six years and then they were to be let free. But let's say I owe you a huge amount of money and I can't pay it, well then I basically have to work it off. It's sort of like the old thing of, you know, you order the food at the restaurant and you can't pay the bill so you wash dishes for a few hours. Who's ever done that before? Who's ever had to wash dishes for a few hours? Nobody. Okay, that must only happen on TV because it never happened to me either. But anyway, you know, you've got to wash dishes for a few hours, so you have to work it off. So basically what the Bible is saying here is that people who had purchased a servant like that, somebody who basically couldn't pay a debt and had to be sold into indentured servitude temporarily, if that person was unwilling to work or not working or obeying their master, then basically God gives that master permission to smite them with a rod, much like a child is spanked. They will be smitten with a rod, okay? But not to be injured though, because the Bible says, you know, if they're smitten and they lose a tooth or lose an eye or get hurt or die or get injured, you know, then you have to let them go free, okay? But he says if they die, you're going to be severely punished. But if they do not die, he says, he's your money. You know what I mean? Now, can you imagine today at work, if your boss at work had the ability to smite you when you didn't do your job? I mean, people, man, people would do their job, huh? Can you imagine? But anyway, but it says in verse 22, see here's the thing, like at your job today, if somebody doesn't do their job, they're just going to, what's going to happen to them if they're not doing their job? They're going to get fired, right? But if somebody is indentured to someone for a servant, and they're just like, no, I'm not going to work, it's like, well, you can't fire them because, you know, they're your servant. So, you know, I guess it's time to get out the stick, you know? But anyway, it says in verse 22, if men strive and hurt a woman with child, what's a woman with child? Pregnant. So that her fruit depart from her and yet no mischief follow, he shall be surely punished according as the woman's husband will lay upon him and he shall pay as the judge is determined. So here's what this is talking about. You know, pregnant women, if they are jolted or hit or injured, it can cause them to have a miscarriage. So he says here, you know, let's say two guys are fighting each other and they accidentally, you know, in the course of the scuffle, they bump into a woman that's pregnant and basically cause her fruit to depart from her, cause her to have a miscarriage. The Bible says they're going to be severely punished for that. Now they're not going to be put to death because were they trying to kill that child? Were they killing it on purpose? It was an accident, right? They're just roughhousing, they're fighting each other and they accidentally. Now there's punishment there, they've done wrong by not being careful, but they're not going to be put to death for that. But it says in verse number 23, and if any mischief follow, then shalt thou give life for life. Now what does that mean about mischief? I think what he's saying about mischief there is basically he's saying, you know, if it was intentional or if there, if it seems like, hey, wait a minute, this might've been done on purpose or this was done with, with spite, whatever. I don't know exactly what that means, but that seems to make sense. This proves that abortions murder because he's saying, look, if you're doing it by mischief, if you're causing a woman to miscarry by mischief, he says, then he shall give life for life. What does life for life mean? The death penalty. You know what this teaches? Anybody who kills an unborn child maliciously or with mischief should be put to death because that is a life. And look, how can you give life for life if it's not alive? It is alive. That's why he said give life for life, okay? And then in the next verse it says eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, and if a man smite the eye of his servant or the eye of his maid that it perish, he shall let him go free for his eyes' sake. We already talked about that. And on and on. Let's skip to Leviticus chapter 20. Let's go to Leviticus 20. So we saw some crimes there that God punished in the Mosaic law, and I've got to hurry up because I want to get to the New Testament's teaching on the death penalty, but we saw some crimes that will cause you to be put to death, right? One of them is murder. That's pretty obvious. Another one is kidnapping. Killing a child or stealing an adult, kidnapping. Another one was cursing or hitting your parents, right? And then we also saw that causing the death of an unborn child will get you the death penalty also, right? Let's go to Leviticus chapter 20 and we're going to see some other crimes that will cause you to get the death penalty according to the law of Moses, verse 9. Chapter 20 verse 9, for everyone that curseth his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He that curseth his father or his mother, his blood shall be upon him. Basically, you know, his blood's upon him. I mean, it's his fault. He's brought it upon himself. Verse 10, and the man that comitteth adultery with another man's wife, even he that comitteth adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. So both the man and the woman that are involved in adultery shall surely, does that say maybe? Shall surely be put to death. And it says in verse 11, and the man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness. Both of them shall surely be put to death, their blood shall be upon them. Verse 12, and if a man lie with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death. They've wrought confusion, their blood shall be upon them. And really, verses 10 through 12 are all just talking about adultery. Any adultery is punished by death. That's to put it in one word. Verse 13, if a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death, their blood shall be upon them. That's homosexuals, right? Crystal clear. Look at the next verse, 14, and if a man take a wife and his mother, it is wickedness. They shall be burnt with fire, both he and they, that there be no wickedness among you. And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death, and ye shall slay the beast. You say, well, no one would ever do that. Well, you know what? I'm sure that's coming next in America with all the other weird stuff. I'm sure that's going to be next, because of all the filth that has become normal in our society. You know, it's beyond comprehension. Verse 16 says, and if a woman approach unto any beast and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman and the beast, they shall surely be put to death, their blood shall be upon them. Jump down to verse 27. It says, a man also, or woman, that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death, they shall stone them with stones, their blood shall be upon them. Now, we just don't have time tonight to look at all the Old Testament scriptures about the death penalty, because there are too many of them. But I just wanted to give you a main sampling of the Bible's main teachings in Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus, just giving an outline of most of the sins that are punished in the Old Testament by the death penalty. A few more, as you would, turn in your Bible to Romans 13. Turn to Romans 13. There are a few other sins that are mentioned in the Bible as being punishable by death. One of them was that those in the children of Israel that violated the Sabbath day would be put to death. And then another was those that would blaspheme the name of the Lord would be put to death. So those are the main sins, everything we just looked at, plus blasphemy or violating the Sabbath. Now, you say, well Pastor Anderson, we are living today in the New Testament, so therefore everything that you just read from Genesis, everything that you just read from Exodus, and everything that you just read from Leviticus is null and void, because we're living in the New Testament. To make that statement is to show basic ignorance of the relationship between Old Testament and New Testament, because Jesus Christ did not come to eliminate the Old Testament. He did not come to destroy the law. He said, think not that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets, I came not to destroy but to fulfill, for verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Now look, yes, clearly there are changes today in the New Testament from the Old Testament. No question about the fact that the New Testament is different than the Old Testament. But does that mean that the Old Testament is completely null and void from Genesis to Malachi? No. There are specific changes in the New Testament. And look, anything that is not specifically changed in the New Testament still stands. And God said, I'm not here to eliminate it. I'm not here to destroy it. But He did make changes. For example, the Sabbath day is not something that we observe in the New Testament. And I'm not going to re-preach that sermon. I did a sermon a few weeks ago or months ago where I went through a lot of scripture on that. I showed in Colossians 2 where he says that that was one of the things that was a shadow of things to come. That's not something that came until the Mosaic law and it's something that was specifically done away in the New Testament. I'm not going to re-preach that sermon. Other things were done away. The animal sacrifices, the Levitical priesthood, the high priest Aaron, the physical tabernacle that they would use, those things have all been changed. But most of the laws of the Old Testament still stand. It's still a sin to murder. It's still a sin to hit your parents. It's still a sin to cross-dress. It's still a sin to go to bed with these people they told you not to go to bed with in Leviticus 20, you know, your daughter-in-law, your father's wife, all these people. That's all still a sin. Nowhere in the New Testament does it say, now cross-dressing is fine. Now murder's fine. Now it's okay to steal now. Okay, that's ridiculous because these things are wrong, they're sinful, they're ungodly things. Eating pork isn't something that's just intrinsically sinful. That was one of the things that was done away specifically in the New Testament because it was a ceremonial thing. So what we have in the Old Testament, some people will describe it this way and I think it's a pretty good way to describe it. We have the ceremonial law and we have the moral law. You know, people sometimes characterize it that way. And the moral law still stands. The ceremonial law, those things are done away in Christ, specifically in the New Testament. Now here's what you have to understand. The reason why today we do not have the death penalty in America today for most things, even for murder, most murderers don't even get the death penalty. The reason why we don't have the death penalty being carried out today is not because we're living in the New Testament. That is not true. People will say, well the reason that adulterers aren't put to death is because we're living in the New Testament, or the reason that murderers aren't put to death is because we're living in the New Testament. No, the reason why murderers and adulterers are not put to death today is because we live in the United States of America and the United States of America does not allow us to put murderers and adulterers to death. That's why. Now listen, when Jesus walked on this earth, the children of Israel did not have the right to govern themselves. They were being ruled over by someone else. Who was that? The Romans. So were they following Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy as far as putting criminals to death? You think that they had the right in Jesus' day to put somebody to death for working on the Sabbath? Did they have the right to put someone to death in Jesus' day for smiting their parents? Did they have the right in Jesus' day to put someone to death for committing adultery? No, because the Romans, and I'm going to prove that later from Scripture, the Romans were the bosses and they had to follow the law of the land. So people will sometimes accuse me of being a hypocrite today, because I'm preaching, you know, this is what the Bible teaches about the death penalty, they'll say, well, you're a hypocrite because you won't go kill those people. Now look, I'm not going to go kill anyone. I've never killed anybody and I'm never going to kill anybody, unless somebody breaks into my house or attacks me or something, I'm going to defend myself, okay, but I'm not going to go out and kill someone. Because God tells us to obey the laws of the land. I mean that is a biblical concept, to obey the ordinance of man. And look at Romans 13, because Romans 13 explains the fact that the death penalty is still something that God believes in in the New Testament. Now let me ask you this, is Romans 13 New Testament doctrine? Now I understand if you say to me, well Jesus, before He died on the cross in Matthew 15, that's not New Testament. Well you're right, because the New Testament began when Jesus shed His blood on the cross. That's when the New Testament began. But is anybody going to say that Romans 13 is not the New Testament? Of course Romans 13 is the New Testament, is it not? Let's see what it says. It says in verse 1, 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 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 is the minister of God, I'm sorry it says, 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. Wherefore ye must needs be subject not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For this cause pay ye tribute also, what's another word for tribute? Taxes. For this cause pay ye tribute also, for they are God's ministers attending continually upon this very thing. Now look, the Bible is real clear in Romans 13 1-6 that God has ordained rulers. God has ordained human government for the purpose of punishing evil doers. Now did he ordain human government to take care of you from cradle to grave? To babysit you and parent you and nanny you and healthcare you and feed you? No. He ordained the rulers and the powers that be for the punishment of evil doers. And he says that when they are attending continually upon that very thing, when they're doing their job, when they're doing what they're supposed to be doing, they are serving who? God. They are God's ministers and the Bible says they are a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Evil is harming someone else, harming another person. Okay, well let me ask you this. What is the tool that God said human government has been ordained by God to use to punish the evil doer? What is the tool? It's a sword. Did it not say that? Did we not just read that in the New Testament? Did the New Testament not just say that when the ruler is bearing the sword to revenge evil he is the minister of God administering God's justice on the evil doer? Is that not what he said? It's what it says. Now what do you do with a sword? Give somebody a spanking with a sword with the broadside? No. A sword is used to slay someone and we see in the Bible people executed by the sword. They are slain by the sword or sometimes they are beheaded by the sword. Now in 1793 the guillotine was invented in revolutionary France to be a more humane way. Now you're like, humane? That's horrible. Actually the guillotine was invented to be a humane way to put people to death because it works so fast. Because basically it's just, it's over, done. Although I learned this week that apparently your brain can still operate for like 10 to 15 seconds after that. That's kind of a creepy thought. But anyway, sorry to creep you out with that, but anyway, I learned that from the George Zimmerman trial, okay? But anyway, the guillotine was invented in 1793. So guess what they used before that to put people to death by beheading? Either a sword or an axe, and you know what, I'm not trying to be gruesome even though I am, but it took multiple blows, yeah exactly. And that's where, you know, the coup de gras comes in, you know, the final blow. But the thing is, people are also just slain with the sword. Wasn't it James, the disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ, who Herod caused to be put to death by the sword? So that was something that they used to put people to death in Paul's day when he's writing Romans 13. They were putting people to death with the sword, Herod did it, okay? So Romans 13 proves that God still expected the death penalty to be carried out in the New Testament. Nothing to do with Old Testament versus New Testament. It says if you're living in a nation where the death penalty exists, then you go by the laws of the land. Basically you bring them in and they're put to death. But if you're living in a nation where the death penalty's illegal, is it right for us to just vigilante-wise just go out and put somebody to death because we think they should be put to death? No we're supposed to let the revenger, you know, the powers that be, the government under which we live, we're supposed to let them carry out that justice. Now if they're not doing it, they're not doing their job. I think this is a pretty clear teaching that the New Testament is still for the death penalty in Romans 13. Now go back if you would to John chapter 8 because what people will bring up when they are against the death penalty, they'll bring up a few arguments. Turn to John 8 because this is often an argument that's used to say, well you know, Jesus abolished the death penalty in the New Testament. Now while you're turning to John 8, let me give you another argument that people bring up and I think this has got to be the silliest argument in the world. It's the most bizarre argument I've ever heard but I keep hearing it. Here's what people say, we all deserve the death penalty because the wages of sin is death. We all deserve the death penalty but Jesus died for us and so we don't have to worry about it. Now you know why that has got to be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard? Because obviously these people have just no clue the difference between physical death and spiritual damnation in hell, dying and going to hell the second death. I mean to sit there and say, well Jesus died for all our sins so therefore there's no more death penalty. Well look, then basically what if somebody steals? Whoa, don't punish them. Jesus died for stealing and so we will not, in fact, let's empty every prison. Open prison doors, set the captive free, empty all prisons. Stealing you know what, if anybody steals, Jesus died for them, don't worry about it. Let's just allow stealing. And you say well no, if somebody steals they should be brought before the judge, well the judge not. We don't have the right to judge today, but this is the kind of retarded doctrine that's being taught today where people say, now that Jesus died on the cross, you know what, basically just it's all forgiven. No it's not because there's a difference between your soul being forgiven, spiritual forgiveness and just law and order, justice and human government. You know what will happen? Now look, let me say this, if I go out and steal, Jesus paid for that and so I'm still going to go to heaven. Where my sin abounds, grace will abound more. But look, God's still going to punish me on this earth for stealing. And not only that, human government is ordained by God to punish me for stealing. So if I go out and steal, yes my sins are paid for by Jesus, but does that mean I should just have no consequences for my stealing? What should be the punishment if I steal? If I'm caught stealing, what should be my punishment? I should pay back four times whatever I stole. Because the Bible doesn't say that I would go to prison, no. The Bible doesn't teach prison, never. The Bible teaches that I should pay back fourfold. Now but you say, whoa, but that was the Old Testament. New Testament, no punishment for stealing. Okay well then basically just every store is going to be looted tonight, if that were the law of the land. Wouldn't we be living in chaos and anarchy, would we not? If there were no law against stealing, would there be chaos and anarchy? What if we just had made a law and said, you know what, we're not going to punish murderers because you know what, we're all worthy of death, but Jesus died for us, so no more punishment for murderers. Do you think murder would increase if there was no punishment? There are some bad people in this world that would just go on a killing spree. I mean there are gangs and people that would just start killing tonight and they'd kill and steal and rape and pillage and maim. Look, why do we even have the death penalty in the first place? Is it just because God's a mean God that just likes people's heads to roll? We had the death penalty, is it even what God originally instituted? We have the death penalty to keep society from devolving into anarchy, chaos, and violence like it did before the flood. So where does he say in the New Testament, get rid of all criminal justice? Don't punish stealing anymore. Okay, so if he didn't tell us not to punish stealing and he didn't tell us not to punish murder, why would we just assume that kidnapping is now fine? Don't punish kidnapping. Now look, if I were to take a poll of Christians and I said, okay, what should be the punishment for stealing? You know what 90-some percent of them would say? If I asked Christians today, what do you think should be the punishment for stealing? What do you think is a fair punishment? What would be justice? You know what they'd say? Prison. Steal a car, go to prison. Okay, show me that in the Bible. Okay, and you say, well, it has nothing to do with the Bible. Yeah, but hold on a second, I thought the Bible was the fountainhead of all wisdom and all knowledge. Why would we just make stuff up? If God has already set up a government in the Old Testament that worked and he said if you steal, you pay back fourfold, why would we say, well, I know God said you pay back fourfold, but I think it'd be better to lock someone in a cage for ten years or five years. I think that's better. I mean, who am I supposed to believe, folks? If the Bible said that a right punishment for stealing is that they pay back four times what they stole, so if they steal a thousand bucks, they got to pay back four thousand. And you say, well, they don't have four thousand. Well, time to go into servitude. Time to become a bond servant. Time to get your butt whooped if you don't do the work. I mean, we read that earlier in the sermon, okay? So what I'm saying is that the Bible has more wisdom than we do. Why do we think we're smarter than the Bible? And the prison system is a bad system because it puts all the criminals together and they learn from each other the bad ways. A lot of them are queers and weirdos and, you know, it's just a bad place. And you know what it does? It destroys people's lives. You know, you got a guy, let's say he steals. I'm not condoning stealing, but you know what? I don't believe a person's whole life should be ruined because they stole. I don't think they should be killed. I don't think their life should be ruined. I think that that person could still be used by God and live a good life and have a good family. And the Bible says, let him that stole steal no more, but work with his hands the thing that's good. Ephesians chapter 4, New Testament doctrine, and let me say this, if somebody steals and then goes to prison, you know what's usually going to happen? Their wife will probably divorce them. Their job is going to fire them and then they're going to have that felony and then they're going to try to get another job and then they're not going to get the job because that felony is on their record and you pretty much are destroying that person's life. And then a lot of those people go back to crime because there's no forgiveness. And look, I don't believe in prison, but if somebody does go to prison for stealing, when they get out of prison that should never be mentioned to them again because they've paid their price, they've paid their punishment. It's time to forgive people and start over. You can't just keep punishing someone for the rest of their life for what they already have atoned for. But biblically, paying back fourfold is a better system. Plus here's the thing, if somebody robs me of all my stuff and then they eventually get caught and put in prison, how does that help me get my stuff back? Oh, don't worry, the person who robbed you is locked in a cage now for five years. That doesn't help me. But what if I got back four times what they stole? I'm like, cool. You know what I mean? Steal from me anytime. This is a great investment of my stuff. Because look, when people steal from you, they might break your windows and take your stereo or something. Well, if you got four times the value, that'll pay for the windows, that'll pay for the stress and the hassle. It makes more sense because you're paying back the victim instead of just taxing me to go put that person in a cage. And the United States has more people in a cage today than any other nation in the world. And I don't believe in it. It's cruel. It's not right. It's not biblical. And you know, brother Kent Hovind is in prison, right? The preacher? And I talked to, I visited Kent Hovind in prison. And when I visited him, he said 90-some percent of the people who are here in prison don't belong here. 90-some percent of the people in prison should be free because they just committed really small crimes like stealing or drugs or whatever. They shouldn't be locked up and have their life ruined. He said there are dads in here, husbands, and their lives are being ruined today. He said 90-some percent of the people who are in this prison should not be here. And he said the other 10% should have been put to death. Because he said they're pedophiles, they're rapists, they're murderers. He said they should be put to death. And I said to him, I said, Dr. Hovind, do you agree that homosexuals and murderers and rapists and adulterers should be put to death today? And he said absolutely. Because he said that's what the Bible says. And he said the Bible does not teach prison. Okay, now you say that's a radical doctrine. That's crazy talk. No, you're crazy. And let me tell you something. When this country was founded, it used to be based on this book. But it's not anymore. And you say you're a fringe lunatic, you're a radical, you're the Taliban, you're a fanatic, you're a fundamentalist. Okay, but hold on a second. Hold on a second. Did you know that when our country was founded, there was a law against homosexuality? And do you know what the punishment was? You're never going to guess. The death penalty. And in 1778, Thomas Jefferson, anybody heard of him before? He proposed to the Virginia legislature, because he was in the state of Virginia, he proposed to them that they should punish adultery, are you listening, adultery, rape, and sodomy. He said they should be punished with castration. Okay, adultery, rape, and sodomy. But you know what, they didn't listen to him. They said nope, it's death, buddy. It was death before and it's still going to be death. And they rejected Thomas Jefferson's suggestion to punish it with castration, which is not a biblical punishment. The Bible does not teach castration. And the Virginia legislature said nope, and this is the United States of America, they said nope, it's death. It's punished by death. So look, were those people all fundamental Baptists in Virginia? Was Virginia, in 1778, populated by just a bunch of foaming at the mouth Stephen Andersons? It was just like hundreds of thousands of Stephen Andersons, right? No, it was just everybody, men, women, children, Catholics, Episcopalians, Methodists, whatever they were, Baptists, Christians, it was just America, that was the law, and they got it from the Bible. Now when our country was first founded, in England at that time, in England in the 1600s, they had the death penalty on over 100 crimes. Now is that biblical? No the biblical list of crimes to be punished by death is 11, there are 11 crimes that the Bible lists as being punished by death. You know, we already went through them, you know, murder, adultery, I don't know. When the people who came from England to start these colonies over here in the United States, they said, you know what, we don't think it's right to put thieves to death like they do in England. We don't think it's right to put people to death for 150 different crimes. So we're going to reduce it to the biblical number and we're only going to put people to death these 11 things that are from the Bible. Those are the people that founded our country, those are the people who came here and started this nation. That's what our country has always been about until we got into this modern era of just licentious living and a breakdown of righteous government. Now so the arguments that people will bring against the death penalty, number one, they'll say, well it's the New Testament. Yeah, but hold on a second, just because we've been paid for by the blood of Christ, does that mean thieves, murderers should not be punished? Okay, well how do we punish thieves? Do we put them in a cage or do we make them pay fourfold? Okay, well if God has the right punishment for stealing, do you think He has the right punishment for murder? Do you think He's right that the second degree murderer should not be put to death? Or that the manslayer should not be put to death? Do you think He's right about that? I think He's right. Do you think He's also right when He talks about if I beat somebody up and they can't go to work that I have to pay for the loss of their time? Do you think He's right about that? I mean He makes a lot of sense. Okay, so why do we think that He has the wrong punishment for adultery? You say, well adultery is not evil. Yes it is. Adultery is violence. Adultery is a violation. Now look, here's the thing, obviously my wife and I have a wonderful marriage and this would never happen, but if a man were to lie with my wife, wouldn't you say that he is violating something that belongs to me? Because she's my wife, okay? She belongs to me, I belong to her, we belong to each other, okay? And look, just as much as stealing my car is violating my rights, going to bed with my wife, because guess what, I'm a lot more protective of my wife than I am of my car. And you know what, I treat my wife a lot better than I treat my car. And you know what, my wife looks a lot better than my car looks, alright? So but do you see how that's a violation of me? Well, but if it's consensual, yeah but did I consent to it? Just because your, you know, just because your whorish wife consents to commit adultery, you didn't consent to that. She's violating the vow that she made, which is not just a spiritual vow. When you get married, you get married not only religiously, but also legally, right? I mean when you get married, you sign a piece of paper, right? I just performed your wedding, Rick, okay? Didn't you sign a piece of paper that said I'm, you know, you're signing on to that, and when you break that, you're violating the law. Not just God's law, but man's law also. And man is supposed to have laws that basically protect us from murder, adultery, stealing, rape, I mean does everybody understand this? Or do we have any goofballs in here tonight that think that, oh but since Jesus died on the cross, we need to just have this freestyle. No punishment for murder, no punishment for stealing, no punishment, yeah let's see how long that lasts. When there's a bunch of gang bangers surrounding your house with pitchforks and axes and clubs, oh we're free in Christ, you know, it's not going to help you. I forgive you in Jesus' name, it doesn't make any sense folks, it's stupidity, it's not biblical doctrine and no one believed in it until now. Hundreds of years ago, this doctrine was not even known. Nobody believed in punishing criminals. And people used the Bible as a guide. And in America, when this country was founded, you had to study the Bible to become a lawyer. Literally. You could literally bring the Bible to court with you and use it to prove your case, because it was considered common law. But let me just go over one last thing before I let you go tonight. John chapter 8, another thing that people will bring up is John chapter 8, and they'll say John chapter 8 proves that Jesus abolished the death penalty in the New Testament. But let's see if that's really true. It says in John 8, 3, And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery, and when they had set her in the midst, they said unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned, but what sayest thou? Since they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him, but Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down and wrote on the ground, and when they which heard him being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last, and Jesus was left alone and the woman standing in the midst. And Jesus had lifted up himself and saw none but the woman. He said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto them, Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more. And they say right there, that's Jesus abolishing the death penalty in the New Testament. But first of all let me say this. Number one, when did the New Testament begin according to Hebrews chapter 9? At the death of Christ. The Bible says a testament is a force after men are dead, otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. So this is Old Testament, number one. Because the New Testament began with the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the New Testament in my blood which is shed for you, he said. But number two, what we see here is why were they tempting him? What were they trying to trick him? Why were they bringing him to him? Turn to John 18, we're going to come right back to chapter 8, but turn to John 18. Why were they trying to test him or tempt him? By saying, well here's a woman that committed adultery, Moses said to stone her to death, what do you say? They're constantly trying to put Jesus in a situation where they can find a way to accuse him and the Bible says they were tempting him to accuse him. So the question is, who are they trying to accuse him to? Well the Bible says they're trying to trick him so they can accuse him, okay? Well here's what the Bible says in John 18, 31, then said Pilate unto them, take ye him and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, it is not lawful for us to put any man to death. So let me ask you this, were the Jews allowed to follow their law and put people to death? Were they allowed to say, okay here's a woman taking an adultery, let's stone her, let's put her to death. Was that legal? Okay, is it legal for us in the United States? So we can relate to this, right? It's the same law today in America that it was in Rome. We're not allowed to put people to death according to God's law. So they're coming to Jesus and putting him in a catch 22 where basically if he says don't put her to death, they're thinking, well he's contradicting Moses, then we're going to accuse him to the Jews and say, hey this guy's preaching against Moses. This guy's saying that Moses is wrong. But if he says, yes let's put her to death, then they're going to go to the Romans and accuse him and say, oh this guy's telling us to kill people. This guy's a religious fanatic that wants to murder adulterers. See what I mean? He was like a lose-lose. That's what they were trying to do because they're either going to accuse him to the Jews or they're going to accuse him to the Romans because they were not, because people are like, well the reason he didn't say to stone her is because they didn't bring the man with her because it said the adulterer and the adulterer should be put to death. So Jesus wrote with his finger on the ground, where's the man? That's not what the Bible says. Because you know what? Who's the man? But here's the thing, you know why Jesus didn't stone her? And you know why Jesus did not have her put to death? Because it's not his job to put people to death. Because he's under the Roman law, he's following the laws of the land. And he's not telling them not to do it, he basically just says to them, he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. Is that saying never put anyone to death? Don't put people to death, abolish the death penalty. In fact he told them to kill her, that's what he actually said. But he did it in such a way where it was impossible for them to do it, because obviously nobody's without sin, right? So here's what it comes down to. He answered them with a really clever answer, I mean isn't that a smart answer? Okay, well he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. But look, did he answer them instantly with that? First he didn't even answer. Because look, it's a catch-22, I mean he could have just said, if I would have been there, let's say I would have been the one and they came to me, I would have just said, well you know what, we can't put adulterers to death because the Romans have made that illegal. But Jesus just did it in a more clever way that basically rebuked their own sins. So he's like killing multiple birds with one stone here. He's smart and clever and basically has a tricky answer that kind of shuts them up and makes them walk away with their heads down. He's also rebuking their hypocrisy, so it was just a smart answer all the way around. But also he's illustrating the fact that he has the power to forgive sin. Because Jesus says to her, look at what the Bible says there in verse 11. He said, no man, Lord, and Jesus said to her, neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more. Now look, does Jesus have the power to forgive sin? That's what he's doing. Now do you and I have the power to forgive sins? You are absolved, my son. Do we have that power? No. Did Jesus have that power to forgive sins? So is he allowed to pardon people whenever he wants? Now look, people will say, but this is proof right here that Jesus in the New Testament does not believe that adulterers should be put to death.