The Administration of Death

Fred R. Coulter—October 13, 2012

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• Since we, as Christians having the Holy Spirit of God, are not to tolerate evil?

• How far does that extend in jurisdiction over society?

If we would be like Daniel, or maybe Joseph of Arimathea, and we were in the governing structure of a government on earth, then we would have a lot of obligation to eliminate as much evil as possible. However, we do not have the authority of the Kingdom of God, yet. This becomes a very interesting thing.

Let's come to 2-Corinthians 3, because this is one of the most misunderstood chapters in the whole Bible, especially by Protestantism. They approach it with the prejudicial template that the law has been done away. So, wherever there appears to be a question concerning law, they superimpose that template on it whether it is true or not. This is a roundabout question to how are we going to answer: How much evil can we eliminate in the world today? We will see that that basically gets down to a matter of God-given authority, whether we have the authority or not.

2-Corinthians 2:17: "For we are not like the many..." That's the majority. Paul was fighting this thing of changing doctrine, problems with false ministers, and he says "…the many…" Sometimes we read that and we don't stop and think about the many compared to Paul, Timothy, Silas and the few.

"...who for their own profit... [self-interpretation] ...are corrupting the Word of God; but we speak with sincerity, as from God, and before God, and in Christ" (v 17).

Notice the problem that he deals with here, how he addresses it. Very much the same situation that we have with churches today, 2-Corinthians 3:1: "Do we again begin to commend ourselves? Or do we, as some, need epistles of commendation to you, or epistles of commendation from you?"

Here is the same thing that we have always in the deceptive elite, whether high in the structure or low in the structure. They always reinforce their status by commendations. 'He's a wonderful person. We recommend him,' or whatever. We have the same thing today.

Paul is saying none of this counts because if you're twisting and turning the Scriptures and if you are an apostle of Satan the devil, as he says there in 2-Cor. 11, then you're not going to be doing the will of God. Paul is showing the real truth of the matter. In effect he's saying it doesn't matter what people say, it matters what you are.

Verse 2: "You are our epistle, and are inscribed in our hearts... [with the Holy Spirit of God you love one another; you serve one another] ...being known and read by all men... [by our conduct and our faithfulness to the Word of God] ...for it is manifest that you are Christ's epistle, ministered by us..." (vs 2-3).

Now that's interesting, because God the Father does the calling. Christ is the High Priest, we receive the Holy Spirit of God, and what is God writing in our heart and in our mind?

• the Word of God
• the laws of God
• the commandments of God

—which is an epistle.

"...ministered by us... [In other words, all we are doing is ministering and serving the people that God has called.] ...you were not inscribed with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God..." (v 3). Just like I said. You can baptize people and you can give them a certificate of baptism on such and such a date. If the baptism is not valid before God, what is the certificate? Nothing! We are to let God's Spirit lead us, guide us, and direct us so then we are living representatives of God.

"...not on tables of stone..." (v 3). If it's being written in our heart, inscribed, what was written on the tables of stone? Ten Commandments! "...but on the fleshly tablets of the heart" (v 3). How is that done? Circumcision of the heart (Col. 2)] …Now we have this confidence through Christ toward God; not that we are competent of ourselves, or credit anything to our own abilities: rather, our competency is from God" (vs 3-5).

As we are reading these things and going through them, let's think about 'religious' people, ministers. Let's think about what happened to the largest Church of God in modern time when they began violating these very things here. It blew apart! Why? Because God was not going to tolerate having human glory, human ability, corruption and things like this go on! Here's the bottom line of what he is talking about here.

1-Corinthians 1:29: "So that no flesh might glory in His presence. But you are of Him in Christ Jesus, Who was made to us wisdom from God—even righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption; so that, as it is written, 'The one who glories, let him glory in the Lord'" (vs 29-31).

Paul is reinforcing this in 2-Cor. 3 in a little different way by saying, 'Look, don't come and credit me with having whatever you want to accredit me with. You have a good mind, you study.' And, of course, Paul did. He knew many languages. Any one of us—if you did a comparative IQ exam—we would be way low.

But what he's saying is that what he's preaching is not because he himself was competent, but that it came from Christ! This becomes important when we're trying to understand how much evil can we stop in the world. First of all, we need to know what is our status before God and in the world, and then when we understand that then we can answer the question. I realize this is kind of a long way around it here.

1-Timothy 1:12: "And I thank Jesus Christ our Lord, Who has empowered me... [that's what makes him competent] ...that He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry... [rather than by commendations, letters or epistles] …Who was previously a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent person; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. But the grace of our Lord abounded exceedingly with the faith and love that is in Christ Jesus" (vs 12-14). That's what his ministry rested upon.

Now we will see how all of this comes together. It would be the same thing today. You can go online and you can take a course. If you finish the course, you get a certificate that 'you are certified by 'us teachers' over here who are great teachers, that you are student who 'studied under us,' and you are competent to teach and 'we authorize you to teach.' Paul is saying this is a spiritual matter through Christ.

2-Corinthians 3:6: "Who also made us competent as ministers of the New Covenant; not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."

Let's understand something here very important. The covenant given to Israel was the letter of the law. Israel was not a church. Israel was a physical nation, a physical people on earth who had the covenant with God to bring the letter of law of His commandments to all the people in Israel and should have taken it to the world.

I've got some very interesting material that was given to me. The Royal House of Britain: an Enduring Dynasty with many interesting things that is in addition to Judah's Sceptre and Joseph's Birthright. There are many publications about the ten tribes. Those coming out of Britain really have not learned the point. The point is if you have Christ, even if you've come from Israel, unless all the glory goes to God, it doesn't matter! Did God destroy the kings? Yes, He did! For the sake of David did He preserve a physical line? Yes, He did! But don't brag about it because that doesn't make you anything. Look what God did to David, because of the sin with Bathsheba.

As a physical nation, they had to follow the administration of death in case of serious crimes. That goes all the way back. We need to understand what the administration of death is. The administration of death is not the Ten Commandments. The administration of death is the authority given to leaders of nations to administer the death penalty for serious crimes.

Genesis 9:5: "And surely the blood of your lives will I require." Who administered justice before the Flood? The Lord! The Garden of Eden was there. The faithful line would come to God and there are a lot of things in the temple that are a reflection of the Garden of Eden. We won't get into that except you can understand that with the two cherubim at the east entrance.

When Abel was murdered, who administered the justice? The Lord did! What was his justice? Send them off into the 'land of wandering'! Speculation: There's every reason to believe that before the Flood God headquartered in the Garden of Eden and that He could appear to men. How did God appear to Adam and Eve? In His full glory? No! If it would been full glory, like He told Moses when Moses wanted to see the glory of God, He said, 'No man can look at My face and live.' He appeared to them as a human being, though He was God.

Just a little sidebar: This made it easier for Adam and Eve to say, 'If we become like God, we'll become like Him.' They had not seen the glory of God. So, the comparison there was, 'Well, we're almost like God.' You can think on that! God was the One Who administered whatever justice was before the Flood.

Genesis 9:5: "And surely the blood of your lives will I require. At the hand of every animal will I require it, and at the hand of man. At the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man…. [this is the death penalty for things such as murder, such as what we call capital crimes] …Whoever sheds man's blood, his blood shall be shed by man—for He made man in the image of God" (vs 5-6). Here is the authority for all nations—after the Flood—to administer the laws of God in the letter of the law and to bring about the death of those who committed capital crimes.

We find the same thing given to Israel. Here is the thing. Israel was not a church. Israel was a nation governed by the letter of God's law. That's why you have the laws:

• in the event of murder—death
• in the event of manslaughter—reparation
• in the event of stealing—reparations
• in the event of animal fights and goring—retribution and restoration

Let's come to Leviticus 18 {put in Exo. 21-23, the judgments of God and you will see life for life}. You will also understand when you read it, that whatever the judge lays upon the violator, he shall pay: the loss of hand, loss of arm, loss of leg, loss of eye. It didn't mean that if someone causes you to lose your eye, you go gouge out his eye. No! It means you did that so you pay whatever the judge says an eye is worth.

Our modern insurance is based upon that—right? You drive a car, you hit someone and you kill them—accident. You have insurance that pays so much for a life, so much for medical, so much for long-term things. There were certain things that required the death penalty. As a nation we need to remember that the Church came out of the roots of the nation and the roots go clear back to Abraham. We will see that there is a distinct problem with the death penalty as it relates to a church.

Leviticus 18:1: "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, "I am the LORD your God. As they do in the land of Egypt where you dwelt, you shall not do. And you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Neither shall you walk in their ordinances. You shall do My judgments and keep My ordinances, and walk in them. I am the LORD your God. And you shall keep My statues and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live in them. I am the LORD"'" (vs 1-5). Then it talks about all of the different sex sins all the way through here: incest, adultery, homosexuality. I'm not going to go through and read all of them.

Verse 24: "Do not defile yourselves in any of these things, for in all these the nations which I cast out before you are defiled." When God cast out a nation, who's judgment is that? God's judgment! {Put in Jer. 18, God judged all the nations all the time in the letter of the law}.

In today's world the question gets down to this. Since God has given authority to the nation, if they enact unrighteous laws, approving homosexuality and homosexual marriage and things like this, He has not given us the authority to execute judgment against them. We end up being like Lot, who was oppressed with all their behavior. Let's leave that as a sidebar here.

Verse 25: "And the land is defiled.…" All the greenie-weenies, the eco movement, want to say that there is global warming. Any radical climate change, who is doing that? God is! What happens when the land is defiled? There are ecological problems! You can expand that to what's happening in the world today.

"...Therefore I visit its wickedness against it, and the land itself vomits out those who live in it…. [that's the action of God] …You shall, therefore, keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, neither the native, nor any stranger that lives among you; For the men of the land who were before you have done all these abominations, and the land is defiled. You shall not do these so that the land may not spew you out also when you defile it, as it spewed out the nations that were before you. For whoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls who commit them shall be cut off from among their people. And you shall keep My ordinance, so as not to do any of these abominable customs which were committed before you, and that you do not defile yourselves in them. I am the LORD your God" (vs 25-30).

Leviticus 20—here we have the stating of the death penalty, which is the administration of death. God has given the administration of death to all nations. Israel was a nation.

Leviticus 20:1: "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Again you shall say to the children of Israel, "Any one of the children of Israel or of the strangers who lives in Israel, that gives any of his children to Molech, he shall surely be put to death... [Think about Solomon and what he did in offering sacrifice to Molech.] ...The people of the land shall stone him with stones"'" (vs 1-2). In other words, the whole community was involved.

Verse 3: "And I will set My face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given of his seed to Molech to defile My sanctuary and to profane My Holy name." Now you take just these verses right here and read the book of Jeremiah.

Verse 4: "And if the people of the land in any way hide their eyes from the man when he gives of his children to Molech and do not kill him, Then I will set My face against that man and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go whoring along with him to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people. And the one who turns to mediums and to familiar spirits to go a whoring after them, I will even set My face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people" (vs 4-6).

Think about King Manasseh, 55 years dealing with familiar spirits, etc. What do we have today? We have the wonderful program of 'Ghost Hunters'! 'Oh, yes, we want to go out and find the spirits.' You go out and find them, they're looking for you and when you get them you're going to be in heap big trouble.

Verse 7: "And you shall sanctify yourselves and be Holy, for I am the LORD your God. And you shall keep My statutes and do them. I am the LORD who sanctifies you" (vs 7-8).

Verses 1-7 cover which of the Ten Commandments? First three and by implication the fourth!

Verse 9 starts with the fifth commandment: "For anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother—his blood shall be upon him.... [sixth commandment]: ...And a man who commits adultery with a man's wife, who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death" (vs 9-10).

Now key that to John 8:1-14, the woman who was caught in adultery and brought and said, 'Moses says stone her.' I think Jesus wrote in the ground, 'Where is the man?' That was a mistrial for lack of evidence, not mercy.

Verse 11: "And the man who lies with his father's wife has uncovered his father's nakedness. Both of them shall surely be put to death... [1-Cor. 5] ...Their blood shall be upon them. And if a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death. They have performed a perversion; their blood shall be on them…. [incest] …If a man also lies with mankind, as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them" (vs 11-13). This is the administration of death.

Verse 14: "And if a man takes a wife and her mother, it is wickedness. They shall be burned with fire, both he and they, so that there may be no wickedness among you. And if a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death. And you shall kill the animal. And if a woman goes up to any animal and lies down with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal. They shall be surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. And if a man shall take his sister, his father's daughter, or his mother's daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness; it is a wicked thing. And they shall be cut off in the sight of their people. He has uncovered his sister's nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity." (vs 14-17). You can read all the rest of them there. That is the death penalty!

Matthew 28—we have something here that is very important to understand. When God sets up a sovereign nation, here is an absolute truth: You cannot have two sovereigns within the same geographical territory! I want you to think about the imposition of Sharia law. What you are doing if you accept Sharia law, you are setting up a separate sovereign within the geographical territory. So, this brings up a contemporary question: In Louisiana there was a Muslim who executed Sharia law, also in Texas, killing his daughters—the one in Texas; I don't recall all the facts in Louisiana. They went to the court and said, 'This is part of Sharia law.' When they were told that you have to operate by United States law many people got upset.

But you see the thing is you cannot violate the sovereignty of a nation by bringing in another set of laws that have not been approved. This is going to be the death of the UK (United Kingdom) because there are so many Muslims in there they are demanding three sub-geographical areas be subject to Sharia law and not the law of the UK

When you have a church--which we belong to—who does our allegiance go to first? God the Father and Jesus Christ! Let's see what Jesus told them. Here is a good example of 'precept upon precept, line upon line,' many layered interpretations and understanding within the Bible.

Matthew 28:18: "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.… [whatever the sovereign nation is, God recognizes it] ...Therefore, go and make disciples in all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you…. [nowhere did He give the administration of death] ...And lo, I am with you always, even until the completion of the age'" (vs 18-20).

Today with the influx of Muslims wanting to have Sharia law you can see the problem that it causes. Just imagine all of the Christians going out into the world and having authority to administer the death penalty. That would conflict with the authority that God also gave to the nations. He never gave the Church the administration of death, but He did not do away with His laws.

You have laws and commandments that are set down. The penalty for the law under the letter of the law and the administration of death was laid out in the first five books of the Bible. We just read some of the very specific ones.

What happened when there was a sexual violation (1-Cor. 5), what was the administration of penalty by the Church through Paul? Put him away! Put him out! The highest authority given to the Church is disfellowshipment. That's the highest authority. God will not violate what He has already established that sovereign nations must govern themselves. How well or how badly depends upon them.
We are not to come along and replace their civil authority with the administration of death or any other kind of administration of law. God has delegated that to them, but if they don't do it He reserves it to Himself as you find in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, Who executed the death penalty upon them in the cities because they did not do it. It got to the point that God had to do it.

What if we went over to an Islamic country and set up our laws? What do you suppose the fight is all about with the Muslims today? Just on the news today coming up here, the Afghans took a 14-year-old girl, shot her, because they were educating the girls. What did they say? 'We are justified in doing it because that is western thinking.' Educating women is western thinking. No, educating wisdom is part of what God wants.

Besides, what would make the men so smart if they had nothing but stupid, uneducated women? That brings up a problem. Perhaps that's why there is very little wisdom in the execution of Sharia law because they don't have a woman to say, 'You need to have love, you need to have understanding and quit beating up and killing everybody.' A lot of very interesting sidebars in discussing this.

We've had a little discussion here concerning embassies and sovereignty. Whenever there is an embassy that becomes the equivalent of extended sovereignty of whatever nation occupies the land and the building.

Let's come back and let's read and study 2-Cor. 3 with all of this in mind. This then is the only way to eliminate the Protestant thinking that the laws of God are evil. The laws of God are good and right, to give peace and happiness and long life. Sin is the evil. The administration of the death penalty for the covenant of the letter of the law was to keep law and order in society.

The Church is another matter. We are scattered into all nations. We cannot take with us, and God did not give the authority of the administration of death, but the administration of Spirit for forgiveness, conversion, etc.

2-Corinthians 3:6: "Who also made us competent as ministers of the New Covenant; not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills... [because the death penalty must be invoked] ...but the Spirit gives life." Upon repentance. When there is no repentance, there is no fellowship.

Verse 7: "Now if the ministry of death, which was engraved in stones, came into being with glory... [it did because God gave it personally] ...so that the children of Israel were not able to gaze upon Moses' face because of the glory of his face, which glory is being set aside." Not set aside the law, but the glory and the administration of death for the Church is being set aside. But what replaces it?

Verse 8: "Shall not the ministry of the Spirit be far more glorious?.... [Why? Because it leads to eternal life!] ...For if there was glory in the ministry... [or administration] ...of condemnation, to a much greater degree the ministry of righteousness overflows with glory. And even the ministry of condemnation, which had glory, was not glorious in this respect, because of the surpassing glory of the ministry of life." (vs 8-10).

In other words, when there is repentance and forgiveness, receiving of God's Holy Spirit, God is the One Who is administering this directly through His Church, to individuals. That is far greater because every one of us can think of some of the things that we have done in our lives and if we have not done something worthy of death under the letter of law, the wages of sin is death! God takes care of that.

But where there is mercy and forgiveness, that gives an opportunity to change, to grow, to overcome, and all of those things that is glorious. In other words, isn't it far better to have someone who repents and their lives change and they love and obey God in the Spirit, rather than to have it where they commit a crime and you go out and execute them? Yes, indeed!

Here comes the tricky point here, v 11: "For if that which is being set aside came into being through glory, to a much greater degree that which remains is glorious." That is, the laws of God, the spiritual application of them. You can put in there Rom. 7, that we are to obey in the Spirit, etc.

Verse 12: "Now then, because we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech; For we are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face, so that the children of Israel could not gaze to the end upon the glory that is now being set aside. But their minds were blinded..." (vs 12-14).

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The comment was made, which is important, concerning the administration of death and the different nations. Let's see how God was going to do it through Israel. Once God, in this covenant that He made with Israel agreed to have Israel do it, then God had to follow with that covenant whether for good or whether for bad. The covenant is more important. Covenant is an absolute thing before God. Here's what God told Moses to tell the children of Israel:

Exodus 19:4: "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you unto Myself. Now therefore, if you will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a Holy nation.… [For what purpose? To take God's laws to the other nations of the world!] ...These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel" (vs 4-6).

After Moses reviewed the Ten Commandments in Deut. 5, let's see what God says here in chapter six to reinforce what He said there. God knew that they wouldn't do it. The closest that they came to it was during the first part of the reign of Solomon. That was the closest they came to it.

Deuteronomy 6:1: "Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which the LORD our God commanded to teach you so that you might do them in the land where you go to possess it, that you might fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you, and your son, and your son's son, all the days of your life, and so that your days may be prolonged. Hear therefore, O Israel, and be diligent to observe it, so that it may be well with you, and that you may greatly multiply, as the LORD God of our fathers has promised you, in the land that flows with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel. Our one God is the LORD, the LORD. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words which I command you this day shall be in your heart" (vs 1-6). Teach them to your children, write them on the doorposts, and so forth.

Let's come back to Deuteronomy 4:1: "And now, O Israel, hearken to the statutes and to the judgments which I teach you, in order to do them, so that you may live and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers gives to you. You shall not add to the word which I command you; neither shall you take away from it, so that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you" (vs 1-2). Then He reminds them of what happened at Baal Peor.

Verse 4: "And you who held fast to the LORD your God are alive, every one of you, this day. Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you should do so in the land where you go to possess it. And you shall keep and do them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes and say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people'" (vs 4-6). They were then to teach the other nations the laws and commandments of God.

And they would say, v 7: "'For what nation is so great whose God is so near to them, as the LORD our God is, whenever we call upon Him? And what great nation has statutes and judgments that are so righteous as all this law which I set before you today?" (vs 7-8).

Just like Israel did not fulfill its commission in taking them to the world, now God has solved the problem with the New Covenant that first of all He's going to prepare people that have the character and love of God and then He's going to make them spirit beings to help administer the Kingdom of God. So, that is God's ultimate solution.

Now they failed to do that, therefore, we end up like the nations of the world. Even the Church, you read Rev. 2 and 3 with the seven churches, even they got involved in things that they should not do, bringing in religious practices of other religions and following the things that God said not to do, so God had to correct them.

How do we live in this world? I just heard of a case this morning, a case of discrimination won by a woman who was openly fired and told so by her boss because he wanted to hire a homosexual man for the position from San Francisco. She took it to court and she won sexual discrimination. Rather than going to judgment, they settled out of court to the tune of $750,000. That should last her a day or two.

How do we live in the world when we're confronted with this? You have to keep your own righteousness! Let's see how the world became this way and the world's religions became this way. Christianity of this world is anything but the Christianity of the apostles. We are going to begin emphasizing more and more restoring original Christianity for today. That's what people will be interested in.

Very interesting, because the first chapter of 2-Peter tells us then how we grow in grace and knowledge to receive the Divine Nature and to be resurrected and serve God. That's through His Spirit and the Word of God.

This tells us the difficulties involved, 2-Peter 2 1: "But there were also false prophets among the people, as indeed there will be false teachers among you... [That's why Paul wrote in 1st & 2nd Tim. the importance of doctrine. Doctrine is the teachings of Christ.] ...who will stealthily introduce destructive heresies..." They come in and you don't know. Remember the parable of the tares and the wheat. They look alike to a certain point.

We saw that blossom in the large Church of God that got taken down. Everyone thought everybody believed the same thing until one day—BANG!—after there were enough of them in there they stealthily snuck in, that had all of these doctrines and they began to change everything from top to bottom.

"...personally denying the Lord who bought them, and bringing swift destruction upon themselves.… [Did it happen? Was the demise of that church swift? It took a few years, but that was pretty quick!] ...And many people will follow as authoritative their destructive ways; and because of them, the way of the Truth will be blasphemed" (vs 1-2). Abolishing the law! That's blaspheming God and the law.

Verse 3: "Also, through insatiable greed they will with enticing messages exploit you for gain... [Rather than teach you to become a son and daughter of God. To perpetuate their own organization, to perpetuate what they are doing.] ...for whom the judgment of old is in full force, and their destruction is ever watching."

Here is why he is writing this. What do we do about these terrible things that go on? We keep our cool; we stay close to God. Now is not the time to change the world. We do not have the administration of death to enforce it. Only God does.

Here's what God does, v 4: "For if God did not spare the angels who sinned... [Sooner or later the judgment is coming—isn't it? Yes, indeed!] ...but having cast them into Tartarus... [a place of restraint or imprisonment] ...delivered them into chains of darkness to be kept for the judgment; and if God did not spare the ancient world..." (vs 4-5).

Think what it was like for Noah living in a society where every imagination of every human being there was only evil from their youth up and all the things that they were doing. Remember Jesus said, 'As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of man.' So they were doing many of the same things that we're doing today.

"...but saved Noah, the eighth, a preacher of righteousness, when He brought the Flood upon the world of the ungodly" (v 5). God took care of it. We have to put it all in God's hands. That's why in our prayers if you have difficulty at work, you say, 'God help me in this situation.' If there's someone particularly coming after you, you ask God to take care of it, because if they're an enemy read some of the Psalms about how God will take care of the enemy. He'll do it; He will take care of it. You can't take it into your own hands.

Even within the Church when there was a lot of pressure against, in particularly me, but Dolores and I, because we were standing for the Truth within the Church of God. Those in authority wanted to get us out of the Church. So, we withstood them; prayed about it; fasted about it. And right when they were ready to bring the guillotine down upon us, God took care of it.
The evangelist who was in charge of church administration was fired. His henchman who was like one of the Mafia executioners was fired. They were the ones after us. God took care of it. For a while there was peace within the Church and for a while things were better. We put it all in God's hands.

Let's read here about poor Lot, v 6: "And having reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, condemned them with a catastrophic destruction, making them an example for those who would be ungodly in the future; and if He personally rescued righteous Lot... [Remember how he was rescued. 'Get out of here quickly.'] ...who was oppressed by the lawless ones living in licentious conduct" (vs 6-7).

See all those things going on. Wherever you work you may come across some people like this and you have no other choice but to work with them because you do not have the administrative power to change it. If it gets so bad, you can just ask God to provide you with another job. If it really gets harassing, then you can complain to the boss. There are many different avenues that you can use within the administration of this world today to get that taken care of. If it's not taken care of, then you walk away and let God take care of it. You can do nothing else. That's what we eventually had to do.

Verse 7: "And if He personally rescued righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the lawless ones living in licentious conduct; (for that righteous man, dwelling among them...)" (vs 7-8). Just like we are today. We're dwelling among them. We watch television; we listen to some of these judgments; we see what happens in government on every level and we think, 'How can they do this?'

"(...through seeing and hearing their lawless activities, was tormented day by day in his righteous soul)" (vs 7-8). He should have put it more in God's hands. Lot could have moved out of Sodom, but I think he would have had a hard time persuading his wife to do so. That's why she was turned to a pillar of salt.

Verse 9: "The Lord knows how to rescue the godly out of temptation, and to reserve the unrighteous to the day of judgment to be punished." God collects all of the unrighteous to take care of them all at once. What do you think the return of Christ is going to be all about? That very thing there!

Verse 10: "But particularly those who walk after the flesh in corrupting lust, and hold in utter contempt the lordship of God. They are audacious and self-willed…." Look at what they did when the angels came to rescue Lot. They came banging on the door. They had a riot out in the street, all the homosexual gangs out there. 'Oh, we've got fresh flesh,' they thought. 'We've got two new men. Let's introduce them to the initiation rites of Sodom.'

They came banging on the doors. Lot tried to plead with them and you could see that he really needed more conviction in his life, but God still had mercy on him. The angels had to pull him back from the door, strike them all with blindness and shut the door. Then in the morning the angels could barely get them out. He sent to his sons-in-laws, saying, 'Come on, let's go.'

I think the sum total of all of those that Abraham bargained for, Lot and his wife and his two daughters and his sons-in-law came to a total of ten. That's my opinion and thought on the matter. It doesn't mean it was so. Look at what happened to get him out of there. The angels were ready to take him out and they told him, 'Flee to the mountains.' He said, 'I don't want to go to the mountains. Here's this little city, can't we go there?' They said, 'Okay, go there.' They went over there, but the catastrophe was so terrible that they eventually went to the mountains anyway. His wife looked back, turned to a pillar of salt.

So look at all the things that happened there. What we have to do in this world is put ourselves in God's hands and say, 'God, You know how to deliver. This is the problem I'm faced with.' Ask God to help you with it. Ask Him to change the circumstances. Ask Him to give you wisdom, give you understanding on what to do and He will do it.

Verse 10: "But particularly those who walk after the flesh in corrupting lust, and hold in utter contempt the lordship of God. They are audacious and self-willed. They are not afraid to blaspheme the Divine powers, whereas angels, who are greater in strength and power, do not bring a railing condemnation against them before the Lord. But these—as irrational brute beasts, born to be caught and destroyed—blaspheme those things of which they are ignorant, and shall be utterly destroyed in their own corruption" (vs 10-12). We have to leave it to God!

Sometimes we have to stand back and we have to say, 'I wonder what's going to happen to places like the parts of San Francisco that are occupied fully in open nakedness—certain parts of the city.' Just wait. God's judgment will come. AIDS didn't convict them, beware, maybe something else will happen. That's God's judgment. But for my part, since I can still choose where to live, I choose not to live there.

Verse 13: "They are bringing upon themselves the reward and unrighteousness, while finding pleasure in satisfying their lustful desires day by day. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their own deceptions, while feasting together with you." Coming into the Church, we saw that. So, he transits.

Verse 14: "Having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, they are engaged in seducing unstable souls, having a heart trained in lustful cravings—cursed children Who have abandoned the straight way. They have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who lived the reward of wickedness" (vs 14-15). Then it says the donkey took care of him and rebuked him. We won't go through the rest of it, but that shows how it has to be sometimes in the world.

How do we live with people in the world like that?

• What does God say?
• Are those counted as enemies?
• They are enemies of God!

Let's see what God says we are to do. Who knows, remember this, as long as there is life, there is hope. As long as there is repentance and your good example, who knows what may happen.

This will kind of give us a little summary of this as well, Matthew 5:37—God says: "But let your word be good, your 'Yes' be yes and your 'No' be no…" Whenever you promise something to God, remember this verse right here. Whatever your problem to overcome, especially if there's any addicting quality to your sin.

For example, if you're being overcome with alcoholism and you say, 'I'm not going to drink another drop except for Passover,' you better make that 'no' be no continuously. What you affirm to, let your 'yes' be yes continually and don't look for an excuse to 'fudge' on it even though something may happen where it would look like it would all right to do so. Remember your 'yes' and remember your 'no.'

Verse 38: "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth'… [What is that? The administration of death and judgment] …but I say to you, do not resist evil; rather, if anyone shall strike you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also" (vs 38-39). Then some say when you've done that, what do you do after that. You slug them in the belly real hard. That's not what it says.

Verse 40: "And if anyone shall sue you before the law and take your garment, give him your coat also.... [settle it] ...And if anyone shall compel you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to the one who asks of you; and do not turn away from the one who wishes to borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you... [Here's how we are to handle these problems. We can stay away from them, but that doesn't mean we should not pray for them.] ...love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you" (vs 40-44).

Didn't Jesus go through all that Himself? Yes, indeed He did! Verse 45: "So that you yourselves may be the children of your Father Who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." That's how we are to handle it.

Then He expands it, v 46: "For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not the tax collectors practice the same thing? And if you salute your brethren only, what have you done that is extraordinary? Do not the tax collectors practice the same thing? Therefore, you shall be perfect... [that is the goal, to become spiritual character] ...even as your Father Who is in heaven is perfect" (vs 46-48). That's the whole overall goal.

How do we deal with people who are living in gross abominable sins in their lifestyle in the world around us? We have to put it in God's hands in every way! God will take care of it. God will intervene. Go through some of the Psalms in your prayers and ask God to deal with it. Let Him execute the judgment. Let Him take care of them. Let Him bring about what He desires. Then when He does:

• acknowledge God
• thank Him, stay close to Him
• know that He has helped you

We're going to have, coming down the road, a lot of difficult times in the future because more and more this world is worshiping Satan the devil and hating Christians of all kinds whether those who are just nominal Christians in the world or those who are true Christians indeed.

That's how we have to follow it. I know that's kind of a long way around it, but the simple thing would be to take judgment in our own hands. But that's not what God wants. We put them in God's hands and His judgment against them is better than what we can do.

I have experienced that in many different ways during our lives, our family, my wife and I and children, things within the Church, things within the world. That's how we have to live our lives. That's why prayer and study are so important.

You want God to help you? Then you have a relationship with God.

• you pray
• you study
• you need to overcome
• you need to change
• you need to grow

Don't sit back and rely on anything that you have done as something that God has to recognize because of how good you have been.

That doesn't mean on the other hand, you get down and out on yourself and say, 'Oh, I'm good for nothing. I'm nothing but a sinner, I can't do anything.' Remember what Paul said: I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me! That's how we have to do it!

Scriptural References:

• 2-Corinthians 2:17
• 2-Corinthians 3:1-5
• 1-Corinthians 1:29-31
• 1-Timothy 1:12-14
• 2-Corinthians 3:6
• Genesis 9:5-6
• Leviticus 18:1-5, 24-30
• Leviticus 20:1-17
• Matthew 28:18-20
• 2-Corinthians 3:6-14
• Exodus 19:4-6
• Deuteronomy 6:1-6
• Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 4-8
• 2-Peter 2:1-15
• Matthew 5:37-48

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• 2-Corinthians 11
• Colossians 2
• Exodus 21-23
• Jeremiah 18
• John 8:1-14
• 1-Corinthians 5
• Romans 7
• Deuteronomy 5
• Revelation 2-3

Also referenced, Books:

• The Royal House of Britain: an Enduring Dynasty by W.M.T. Milner
• Judah's Sceptre and Joseph's Birthright by J. H. Allen

FRC:lp
Transcribed: 10-29-12
Formatted: bo—10-30-12

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