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Application & Practicality of Biblical Law

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• Let me just very quickly tell you that the subject that I'm going to be dealing with this week is the subject of biblical law. Now, let me just try to lay out the week for you. Tonight is going to be a very general introductory statement, just where you can see that there is indeed a real difference between God's law and man's law. Tomorrow night will be a little more specific, but Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights are going to be the most specific with the most applications. So I would encourage you to be faithful to each of the meetings because one message is going to be building upon the other.

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• And I think by the time the week is over, at least you'll have an excellent grasp of where we are in this country, not only individually, familially, ecclesiastically, but nationally as well, and why we are where we are. So tonight, if you would please, open your Bibles to the book of Genesis chapter 3, and let's look at the first eight verses. Genesis chapter 3, reading the first eight verses. Genesis chapter 3, beginning with verse 1.

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• "Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die, for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat."

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• "And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden." Everyone in here recognizes this passage as the passage relating to the fall of man. The fall of man is one of the most notable events in history. In fact, all religions record a fall of an original sin of some sort or the other. They may differ as to the account of the fall, but they all record a fall. In fact, it's impossible to explain sin without reference to a fall.

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• If you would hold Genesis 3, but look in your Bibles to Romans 5, and look at verse 12. This is the only way that you can explain sin and rebellion in history. Notice Romans 5 and verse 12. The Word of God says, "Wherefore, as by one man"—and of course, that was Adam—"wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." Now, we know that Adam sinned. And we know that we sinned in Adam. Adam was our federal head. Adam was our representative.

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• And what he did, we did. I've had people tell me, "Brother Weaver, had I been in the garden in that time, had I been in Adam's position, I would not have eaten that fruit." And the truth is, you would have. You would have done exactly the way he did, because Adam was a mutable creature. So the very fact is, Adam did sin, and because of this original sin, sin is now imputed to his posterity. Now, let me just very quickly tell you, there are only three instances of imputation in the Bible. The word imputation literally means to charge to one's account. So there are three instances of imputation. There is Adam's sin to his posterity. That is the first act of imputation.

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• Secondly, there is the believer's sins to Christ. That is the second act of imputation. And thirdly, there is the righteousness of Christ imputed to the believer. That is the third instance of imputation. The one we're dealing with tonight is the fact that Adam's sin is imputed to his posterity. Now, in reality, original sin is one of the easiest doctrines in the Bible to prove. And the reason it's one of the easiest doctrines to prove is because actual sin comes from original sin. In other words, you and I actually sin, we actually do what is wrong.

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• And so all we have to do is this: we trace the fruit back to the root. So the fruit is actual sin, which we have in our daily lives. And it goes all the way back then to the root, which is the original fruit, or the original root, I should say.

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• Now, the Bible says in Romans 6 and verse 23, and everyone in here can quote it, "For the wages of sin is" what? Death. How do we know that we're actual sinners? Because we die. You see, had there not been actual sin, we would not be dying. Had there not been original sin, there would not be actual sin. So the very fact that we die indicates that we are sinners, for the wages of sin is death. In fact, in Romans 5 and verse 14, the Bible tells us, "Nevertheless death reigned even from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression." So the fact is, everyone dies and everyone is a sinner. Now, it is impossible to deny death and sin.

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• Some people have tried it. I remember hearing a story one time about the little boy who came running into the house to his mother. And his mother was one of these individuals that did not believe in sin. She did not believe in sickness. And he came running in. He said, "Mother, Mother, you know that lady down the street that's been sick so long?" She said, "No, no, son. You mean the lady that thinks she's been sick?" Well, he said, "Now she thinks she's dead." Well, you know, it's just impossible to do away with death. There have been some individuals that have tried to deny original sin. Now, what they tried to do was this. They tried to deny the effects and the consequences of original sin. One of those men was named Pelagius. Pelagius said Adam's sin affected no one but himself. And basically, he taught that every man came into this world his own Adam, etc., etc.

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• But the only problem is this. Although Pelagius taught that and Pelagius believed that, guess what? Pelagius died, proving that his theory was very clearly unbiblical. In fact, what the Scripture says is this: "As in Adam, all die." Now, it is not the effects of Adam's sin that I want to deal with tonight, nor even the consequences. Really, what I want to deal with is the sin itself. Now, before I get started tonight, I want to lay down two simple propositions.

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• The first one is this: that God the Creator is the sovereign King and Lord of all. God the Creator is the sovereign King and Lord of all. This was true at creation. It is true today. The Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter 6 and verse 15 concerning the Lord, He is the only potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords. And the word potentate literally means the all-powerful one. So Jesus Christ is the only all-powerful one. He is the King of the reigning kings and Lord of the reigning lords. The Bible says in Daniel chapter 4 and verse 35 that He that is God doeth according to His will in the armies of heaven and in the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay His hand or say unto Him, "What doest thou?" So God is the Sovereign. God is the King.

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• Have you ever stopped to think that without God, Adam would not have had an existence? Without God, Adam would not have had any direction. Without God, Adam would not have had any commands.

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• Now, let me just tell you, the fall of man not only necessitates the doctrine of God, it also necessitates the doctrine of God's sovereignty. You see, the reason I can say that it necessitates the doctrine of God is this: because Adam could not have sinned against a non-entity. Someone had to have a being, had to exist for Adam to sin against. And that someone also had to be the sovereign God because if God was not sovereign, then Adam may have sinned in some area that God did not have jurisdiction over. So since Adam sinned, it not only necessitated the doctrine and the being of God, but it necessitated the doctrine of God's absolute sovereignty.

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• So the very first proposition that I want to lay down is this: that God is the sovereign King and Lord of all. The second proposition is this: that a king rules by his law. A king rules by his law. Law is an expression of the king's will. For instance, look in your Bibles to Genesis 2 and verse 16. Genesis 2 and verse 16, the Bible says, "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat." Now, I want to zero in on the word commanded. "And the Lord God commanded the man." The Hebrew word literally means to put under an oath or to put under a charge. So God literally put Adam under an oath that Adam would obey God and listen to God. So Adam then was covenantally engaged to obey God. What was God doing? God was laying down the law for Adam. He is saying, "Adam, this is what you may do, this is what you may not do." Since God is the Sovereign, since God is the Creator, God is the One that lays down the limits and the boundaries.

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• I want you to hold Genesis 3, but turn in your Bibles to Isaiah 33 and look at verse 22. By the way, this passage is where our founding fathers got the three divisions of our government from. That is, the executive, the legislative, and the judicial. And here it is in Scripture, Isaiah 33 and verse 22. The Bible says, "For the Lord is our judge"—that is, the judicial branch. "The Lord is our lawgiver"—that is the legislative branch. "The Lord is our king"—that is the executive branch. "He will save us." Note, God is the king, God is the lawgiver, and God is the judge. So as king then, the sovereign God laid down His law, because He is not only king, He is a lawgiver. And now He is also the judge, and He seeks to enforce His law as well. So God then laid down the law for Adam. God not only laid down the law for Adam, He laid down the law for all of His creatures and all of His creations, that is, the institutions that He ordained.

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• Now, before I go any further, let me just ask a question. Don't answer this out loud. But let me just ask you a question. Let's suppose that our entire governmental structure collapsed tomorrow. And you had an opportunity to rebuild it. What would be the foundation that you rebuilt upon? Would you build upon God's law or would you build upon man's law? I want you to understand those are the only two alternatives. You either have God's law or you have man's law. So God laid down the law. Now, with these two propositions in mind, number one, that God is sovereign, number two, that the sovereign laid down His law, let me ask this question. What was man's original sin?

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• Look at Genesis 2, verse 16 and 17. "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die."

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• Now, let me go ahead and make this statement and tell you what man's original sin was. Then I'm going to show it to you from the Bible. Man's original sin was an attempt at government without God. It was an attempt at government without God. Now, God had said, "Adam, here's your boundaries. Out of every tree in this garden thou mayest reap, but of this one you are not to eat it. I have reserved that one for myself." Now, the tree was not poisonous or evil in and of itself. It could have been any fruit tree. It did not necessarily have to be an apple tree or a pear tree or a pomegranate tree. It could be any tree. The tree would teach the knowledge of good and evil simply because it was forbidden. God had given them His law. And by viewing that tree and contemplating that law, then Adam and Eve could have learned good and evil as God knew it. They would have then been masters of the law and not slaves to sin.

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• But what happens in Genesis chapter 3 is this. The serpent comes along and attempts to remake man in his image. He attempts then to seduce Adam and Eve into sin, into rebellion. And what in the world is the temptation? The temptation is for Adam and Eve to set themselves above God.

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• Now, listen, I'm going to show it to you. How in the world could Adam and Eve set themselves above God? And the answer comes back: by denying God's law and establishing their own law.

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• Now, I want you to understand this whole temptation was this. You don't need God to tell you what to do and how to live. You don't need God to set your own boundaries. Why, you can set your boundaries yourself. You may do whatever you want to do. So when they then were tempted and they obeyed that temptation, they were in essence dethroning God and enthroning themselves. Look in Genesis 3, verse 5. In fact, let's read verse 4.

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• "And the serpent said to the woman, Ye shall not surely die." Watch verse 5, "...for God doth know that in the day that ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened," watch, "and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Now let me give you the force of the word knowing. The Hebrew word has the force, determining. Then you shall be as gods, determining good and evil for yourself. So in other words, you don't need God to tell you what's right and what's wrong. You don't need God to tell you what is good and what is evil. You can be your own God. You can make that determination for yourself. So all you have to do is dethrone God, deny His law, enthrone yourself, and establish your own law.

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• So Satan then casts dispersion upon God as if God was some evil individual trying to keep Adam and Eve from accomplishing and being everything that they could be and they should be. Now look what he said in verse 5. He said, "For God doth know that in the day that ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened." Well, how shall we refer to this? How about the open-eyed view of history? The open-eyed view of history. After they disobeyed, after they sinned, after they rebelled, what does the Scripture say in verse 7? Look down there. "And the eyes of them both were opened." Was the serpent right? Well, yes, he was in a sense. Their eyes were now opened. Now watch.

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• Now, however, they saw things not from God's perspective, but from Satan's perspective. They now did not interpret things in relationship to God. They now interpreted things in relationship to themselves, in their rebellion, in their wickedness. Their eyes were opened, alright, but not to holiness, not to righteousness, not to God's law. Their eyes were opened to sin and rebellion and wickedness.

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• Now, look down in verse 6. The Bible says, "And the woman saw that the tree was good for food." The woman saw that the tree was good for food. There's the lust of the flesh. "And that it was pleasant to the eyes," the lust of the eyes, "and a tree to be desired to make one wise," the pride of life. So it was these three lusts that pushed her to make a rational choice. And the Bible said she took thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband, and he did eat as well.

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• Now, let me explain to you at this point, here is the great contradiction. Here is the great battlefield, reason versus faith. Now, let me explain that statement. When I say reason versus faith, I am not saying that our faith is unreasonable. I am not saying that we are illogical. In fact, the Christian faith is the most reasonable and the most logical explanation of reality there is. So, when I say reason versus faith, I'm not saying that we should be dummies going around saying, "I believe, I believe," with no foundation for what we believe.

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• The Bible doesn't teach that at all. Because our faith is based upon fact and reality. Well, when I'm talking about reason versus faith, what I'm referring to is this.

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• Now since the fall of man, man has established his reason, his thinking ability, he's established his mind in opposition to God. And his mind, by nature, is contrary to God. That's what the Bible says in Ephesians 4, verse 18. That men are ignorant of the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their own heart. So you and I who believe have a rational, logical faith. Why? Because we have submitted our minds to the Word of God.

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• Well, what about the unconverted individuals? No, their mind is their God, which I shall explain a little bit later. So the reason or the act of reason in man's fall and the act of faith involved in man's restoration are fundamentally pitted against each other. Now listen carefully. Individual men, peoples, and nations seek to become gods by virtue of their own fallen nature. You say, "Brother Weaver, how do men, how do nations seek to become God?" It's very simple. By establishing their own law system, by establishing their own law order based upon human reason instead of submitting to the law of God. So the heart of fallen man's contention with God is his own reason and his own law order which is founded upon his reason. Now listen, man's kingdom, man's law order is established by following his own reasoning ability. God's kingdom, God's law order is established by obedience to His law.

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• Now, these two systems are diametrically opposed to each other. Now, it's very easy many times to discern which system that someone embraces. For instance, let me give you some illustrations. You can go into the marketplace or go to the courthouse or go to the college or go to the grocery store, wherever you want to go to meet people. And you begin to talk about certain sins. And inevitably, the person you're talking to is going to say something like this.

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• "Well, I don't see anything wrong with it." But the Word of God condemns it. "But I don't see anything wrong with it." You see, it doesn't matter that the Word of God condemns it to them. They have their own law based upon their own reasoning ability. And since they don't see anything wrong with it, then it must undoubtedly be all right. Some years ago, I was flipping through the TV trying to get some news and I came upon one of these talk shows and I despise them.

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• I never listen to them. But this one, I stopped just for a moment because the talk show host was interviewing a teenage girl who had become a movie star. And the teenage girl was living with a married man. And even the talk show host, as ungodly as he was, he asked this young teenage girl this question. "Well, don't you think that's wrong? That you're living with a man who's married to someone else?" And this young girl gave the classic answer. Here it is. "It may be wrong for others, but it's all right for me." You know what she just got out of her mouth?

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• "I am my own God. I establish my own law system. I determine what is right and what is wrong. I don't have to listen to God. I don't have to obey Him. He doesn't set the rules for me, I set my own rules." So when you hear someone say, "Well, it may be wrong for someone else, but it's not wrong for me," they're saying, "I am my own God."

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• You know, Christians are a little different. We would never come out and say something like that. You know how we get around things? Someone begins to say something in the Bible and we say it a little more piously, but we say, "Well, I haven't been convicted of that yet." I got news for you, folks. It doesn't matter whether you've been convicted or not. If it's in the Word of God, God's Word is right and you're wrong. You're to obey His law. You're to obey His Word. It's not based upon whether or not you understand it or comprehend it or have been convicted of it, it's there. Another thing we say is, "Well, that's not the way I see things." Or, "It really doesn't matter what God says, I see things a little different."

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• One of the latest ones, and I've heard this in many churches. You begin to talk about God's Word, God's Law, God's Righteousness, God's Truth, and inevitably some Christian or some pastor is going to say, "But we do things a little differently here." What are they saying? They're saying we don't need God. We don't need His Law. We don't need His Word. We are our own law.

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• Now listen, as soon as Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, as soon as they ate it, they ceased to obey God. As soon as they ate it, they established a law system other than God's law system. As soon as they ate it, they established another order rather than God's law order. How did they establish it? By denying and disobeying God and doing their own things. You see, obedience is the key to establishing God's kingdom and God's law order. And disobedience to God is the key to establishing man's kingdom and man's law order.

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• Now, let me try to explain it like this. You and I can see this very simply when we're dealing with individuals. Here's Adam and Eve. God had laid down the law. God said, "Thou shalt not eat of this tree." And here come Adam and Eve. And they ate of the tree. What have they done? They disobeyed God. They've established their own law system. They said, in essence, "God's not going to tell me what to do."

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• "I'll do what I want to. I'm my own God." Listen, it can be a member of your family. It can be a member of your church. They can fall into grievous and open sin. And you can go up and confront them. Maybe it's adultery. Maybe it's drunkenness. It doesn't matter what it is. And you say, "Look, what you're doing is wicked and wrong." And they say, "Well, hold it right there. Back up. It may be wrong for you, but it's all right for me."

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• See, you and I can understand that. We can see it as long as it is related to individuals. OK. Well, let me ask a big question. What about nations? What about nations? I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Galatians chapter 6 and verse 16. Galatians chapter 6 and verse 16. Watch this passage very carefully. Galatians 6 and verse 16. What about nations? You see, if God is our God, then we will personally obey Him. So if God is our personal God, then we will personally obey Him. Now listen, if God is our God nationally, then we will obey Him as a nation. Now, let me explain. Look in the book of Galatians chapter 6 and verse 16.

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• He says this, "And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them and mercy upon the Israel of God." Now let's go back just for a moment. "And as many as walk according to this rule." The little word rule is very important. It's where we get our English word canon from. C-A-N-O-N, not C-A-N-N-O-N. C-A-N-N-O-N is the type that shoots. The Greek word is kanon, canon. We talk about the Old Testament canon, or the New Testament canon, or the canon of Scripture. And the word canon literally means a rule, a standard, or a measuring rod.

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• Now look what the apostle said. "And as many as walk according to this rule, to this standard, to this measuring rod, peace be upon them and mercy upon the Israel of God." Now watch this. If God is our God personally, we will obey Him personally. If God is our God nationally, we will obey Him nationally.

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• Now, that does not mean that everyone in the nation has to be a Christian. It's just like if you have a Christian school, that does not mean that everyone in that Christian school is a Christian. What does it mean? It means then that school is run by the principles in the Word of God based upon the Christian religion. So how in the world can you determine who is the king of a nation? How can you determine who is the God of a nation?

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• And the answer is, you examine that nation's laws. You examine its theory of laws. You examine its customs. So if our nation, then, is a Christian nation, it means our laws are going to be based upon the Word of God.

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• Now, let me make a statement that may surprise you, but yet it's very clearly taught in Scripture. A government may submit to God and be His true minister of justice and be a true deacon and be a true servant and obey Him and honor Him and worship Him. In fact, that is one of the reasons why God set government up, according to Romans chapter 13. In Romans 13, verse 4, the civil ruler's called the minister of God, it is the word deacon, or diakonos, it's where we get our English word deacon from. It means a servant. God ordained civil government to be a servant. The same verse, he's called the revenger, ekdikos, that is one that exacts righteousness out of. Verse 6, once again they're called ministers. This time it's the Greek word leitourgoi, it's where we get our English word liturgy from, which is a public worship. So God has ordained civil government to be His servant, to be His exactor of righteousness, and to be His public worship. Now it is possible for a government to submit to God and obey God and become God's servant exactly the way God has ordained.

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• But it is also equally possible for a government to rebel against God and deny God and set up a humanistic, rationalistic law system. Now, listen to me carefully. A government that seeks to act autonomously or independently from God, from His Word, and from His law, does not just merely become a wicked, rebellious, humanistic government. It does become that.

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• But it becomes more than that. Listen, it becomes a rival God. How does it become a rival God? Because it makes its own laws and it forces its people to obey those laws contrary to God's law. And it takes the tithes and the obedience and the honor from the people to itself, thus subverting the true worship and honor of the one true God. A government that turns from God and His law does not just become a wicked, humanistic government.

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• It is that, but it's more. It actually becomes a rival God.

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• Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to Psalm 94. And as you turn there, let me remind you of what God said in the book of Isaiah 42, and I believe verse 8. He said, "I am the Lord. Beside me there is none else, and my glory I will not share with another." God will brook no rivals. Look in Psalm 94, if you would please, in verse 20.

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• Let's read it, and then let me go back and explain it just a little bit. Watch this question that is asked. "Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee which frameth mischief by a law?" "Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?" Now, first of all, I want you to note it is a throne. So it is speaking of government, it is speaking of rulership, of power. "Shall the throne of iniquity," so it is a wicked government, it is a wicked throne, it is a wicked power. So the question is, shall a wicked civil government have fellowship with God, watch, when that wicked civil government frameth mischief by a law?

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• Let me kind of paraphrase that. First of all, let me tell you what the word mischief literally means. It means sin. So here's the question. Shall a wicked civil government have fellowship with God when that wicked civil government makes sin legal? Now, here's my question. Is it legal to murder in America? Well, of course it is if you do it before the baby's born. Is it legal to steal in America? Well, of course it is if you're a congressman. Or a politician. Or into socialism. You follow me? It's legal. You read Frederick Bastiat's book, The Law, where he distinguishes for you the difference between legal and illegal plunder. You say, you may steal legally. Is it legal to be a sodomite in America? Yes. In other words, what wicked civil governments do that are rival gods, they make sin legal. Now the question is asked, shall a wicked civil government, who is making its own law that's contrary to God and God's law, shall that wicked civil government have fellowship with God? What's the answer?

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• No. Why? Because it is a rival God.

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• Now the problem that we have is this. Not only do most Americans not view government thusly, most Christians do not even view government thusly. And why not? I'll tell you why. Because such a wicked, humanistic government does not come out and announce, "Look, folks, I'm God. Worship me or else. Obey my laws or else." If a government did something like that, not only would every Christian flee, but many unconverted would as well. So what the government does is this, it assumes its powers, it lays its claims, it encompasses its citizens slowly and in stages so as to not to frighten or alarm everyone. It lays the groundwork slowly and surely and deliberately until it has assumed total control. Now, let me tell you something, folks. If a government claims to be God, it must demonstrate that it is God by demanding obedience and by demanding tithes.

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• I remember I was in a meeting out in Arizona. Senator Wayne Stump was speaking. And he stood up behind the pulpit, he said, and he was a big man. He said, "I've been asked to speak on government. You ask me, Senator Stump, what is government?" He said, "I'll show you." And he reached in his jacket and he pulled out a .357 Magnum and laid it on the pulpit.

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• Needless to say, he got everyone's attention. He picked it back up. He said, "This, dear friend, is government without God. It is nothing but pure, raw, undiluted power." That is a tyrannical government, but the reason we don't see it is because the government comes along and does this in stages. You say, "Well, Brother Weaver, what are the stages?" Let me give them to you tonight. How is it that our government becomes a rival God to the one true and the living God without us ever becoming aware of it? By stages, and the very first stage is what I'm calling the seductive stage. And I'll show you even that very word in the Bible in just a moment. The seductive stage. In this stage, your government begins to seduce men away from the truths which define the one true faith. And in so doing, they are endeavoring to draw men away from the worship of God and get men to idolize or to worship the government. You say, "Brother Weaver, how in the world could they get men to idolize or worship the government?"

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• I'll give you an illustration in just a moment. But they do so in such a way that is very practical, very reasonable, and very economical. And yet, it's idolatry.

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• Now, everyone in here that has seen the news knows that two nights ago, a tornado swept through central Florida. 38 people were killed, six are still missing, 250 injured, homes demolished. Who are the first individuals to come and say, "Don't worry, we'll take care of you"? The federal government. I heard one person say on the news night, "It's all we've got." Folks, if the federal government is all we've got, we are in deep trouble.

  #57 | 39:52 to 40:37 | cleaned

• But let me tell you, did you realize when Grover Cleveland was around, there was a state that had a huge disaster and they asked Grover Cleveland for funds and he said no. If the Christians of this country will not help their neighbor, the nation is not worth saving anyhow. And of course, the Christians took care of it. The point I'm trying to make is this. What government does is very slowly, very surely gets us to pay total attention.

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• It doesn't matter if it's floods. It doesn't matter if it's droughts. It doesn't matter if it's hurricanes or tornadoes. Everyone cries instantly and immediately to the federal government.

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• Now, let me just show you some of the ways that government draws us away from the one true faith. If I were to mention the word evolution. Let me tell you something. If evolution is true, the Bible is a lie. Now, if the Bible is true, evolution is a lie. And yet, would you please tell me, who is it that promotes evolution more than anyone else? It is the governments, state and federal. They teach it in government schools. It's mandatory.

  #60 | 41:27 to 42:08 | cleaned

• Now, folks, listen to me. Is it any wonder that our kids grow up acting like animals when they think they came from animals? And they try to make it so reasonable and so logical that the kids just automatically accept it. Look what has happened in our country as to morals. It's our own government that has kicked God out of schools, of government, city, county, state, federal. And what our government is trying to do today, it is trying to have morality without God. Is it any wonder that kids go around murdering their parents and murdering each other and shooting each other at school when they are taught there are no absolutes, when the Ten Commandments are taken down where they cannot be seen?

  #61 | 42:11 to 43:09 | cleaned

• And the one court said, "We need to take them down unless somebody see them and believe them and follow them." How horrid. They had rather someone take an AK-47 and go in and murder 15 or 20 of their fellow students than to believe "Thou shalt not kill." But when you kick God out, when you kick the Bible out, you kick that morality. And we have been seduced from the true faith of what's right by denial of God in His Word. Let me give you another one. And I could really dwell on this one for hours, and that is economics. We have been seduced from real money. Man, we'll pull out some of this green stuff and we say, "How much money do I owe you?" That, dear friend, is not money.

  #62 | 43:10 to 44:08 | cleaned

• This is a note, this is an obligation of debt. Money, according to the Bible, is silver and gold. Money, according to the Constitution, is silver and gold. "No state shall make anything but gold and silver legal tender. Congress shall have the power to coin money and to regulate the value thereof." Not print it, but to coin it. And the point I'm trying to make is this. Do you realize that our grandparents and some of our parents, the practical law of our grandparents, hardly ever went into debt for anything?

  #63 | 44:11 to 44:43 | cleaned

• If they wanted something, they saved up, and they bought it, and they paid cash with it. Our founding fathers despised debt. Our grandparents despised debt. But today, we are a debt-oriented people. We can't live without credit cards. We can't live without charge accounts. I heard a statistic the other day that surprised me. The average American, the average American owes 7,000 bucks on his credit card.

  #64 | 44:44 to 45:13 | cleaned

• Psalm 18 and 20 and 30, and you begin to think, at 21% interest? We have become a debt-ridden society. Why is it we no longer have real money? We have been seduced from money. We've been drawn away. The Bible says in Proverbs 22 and verse 7 that the borrower is slave to the lender. Let me tell you something, folks. You go down to that bank and you borrow $20,000 to buy you that new Cadillac, you become a slave of that bank until you pay it off. You're not working for yourself, you're working for the bank. It's just that simple. So, we have been literally seduced.

  #65 | 45:15 to 46:02 | cleaned

• Now, you know, it may surprise many people to find out, and I could go another hour on this one thought, but it may surprise many people to find out that the leading proponents of idolatry in the Bible was civil rulers or civil government. It was civil government that forced idolatry upon the people. Let me give you an illustration. Look in your Bibles, the second Kings, chapter 17 and verse 21. Second Kings, chapter 17, verse 21.

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• 2 Kings 17, verse 21. Listen to what the Bible says concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat. Here it is. 2 Kings 17, verse 21. "For he"—God—"rent Israel from the house of David, and they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king." Watch. "And Jeroboam draved Israel from following the Lord and made them sin a great sin." Now, the Bible says Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord. Now, the word drove in the Hebrew is nedarba.

  #67 | 46:42 to 47:09 | cleaned

• It literally means spontaneously, abundantly, willingly, freely, voluntarily. So Jeroboam the son of Nebat willingly, freely, and voluntarily drove the people into idolatry. Why would a king, why would a civil ruler do that? Look back in your Bibles to 1 Kings 12, and I'll show you his reason behind it. 1 Kings 12. And let's begin reading there with verse 26. 1 Kings 12. Verse 26. The split has come.

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• Rehoboam has kept the two southern tribes. Jeroboam has the ten northern tribes. 1 Kings 12. Verse 26. "And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David. If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah." Watch. "And they shall kill me and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah. Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem."

  #69 | 47:45 to 48:17 | cleaned

• "Behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. And this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one even unto Dan."

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• Now what did he do? He said, "If this people continues to go back down to Jerusalem and worship God truly, then you know what's going to happen. Their heart is going to turn back to Rehoboam because he's of the lineage of David and I'm not. And guess what they're going to do? They're going to kill me. I'll lose my life. I'll lose my kingdom. I'll lose my position. I'll lose my power."

  #71 | 48:28 to 48:50 | cleaned

• Now, note what the Bible says. "Whereupon the king took counsel." He purposely, deliberately, willingly set up these two golden calves and said, "These be thy gods, O Israel." He pushed idolatry upon the people. Why? To save his own hide. His own position, his own power, his own kingdom, and that was it. He was looking out for number one. Now folks, let me tell you. If you think that a corrupt ungodly politician is really looking after your best interest,

  #72 | 48:51 to 49:36 | cleaned

• I've got a bridge I need to sell you. Because I can assure you, every politician that is a politician that's not a statesman, every politician wants one thing, and that's to stay in power. Look in your Bibles to 2 Kings chapter 21. Let me show you another illustration. I could multiply these. We'll look in 2 Kings 21, beginning there with verse 8. 2 Kings 21, verse 8. Watch.

  #73 | 49:38 to 50:13 | cleaned

• Here's what God tells the people. "Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers." Now watch this qualification. "Only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them." Now, God says for my people to be safe and prosperous and unmoved, they'll have to do one thing. What's that? Obey me. Ah, but watch verse 9. "But they hearkened not." They wouldn't listen to God. "And Manasseh"—that is King Manasseh—"seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel." Now, here's King Manasseh. Manasseh was the son of Hezekiah. Hezekiah was a good king. Manasseh was the most wicked king in Judah. And the Bible said he seduced the people to commit more sins and to be more vile than the people that God destroyed and drove out from before the children of Israel.

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• Now, the word seduced here literally means to vacillate, to reel, to wander out of the way, to stagger back and forth.

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• Now, how in the world did Manasseh seduce the people? Let me tell you how. He seduced the people by passing his own laws that were contrary to God's laws. In other words, he made it easy for the people to sin and difficult for them to obey God. He made it easy for them to do wrong and difficult for them to do what's right. You know, we say in America, we have freedom of religion. But do you know how our ruling elite define freedom of religion? They define it like this. You have freedom to think what you want to think as long as you keep it between your two ears. They don't define it as freedom to act and freedom to obey, you see. No. But here's what is happening in America. You see, there are a lot of Christians that know what's right and what's wrong. They know what God demands, but they also know what our humanistic rival God has instituted as law. And what our government says is contrary to what God says.

  #76 | 51:28 to 52:42 | cleaned

• And here are the people. What are they doing? "Well, I won't obey God, but I don't want to go to jail. I won't obey God, but I don't want to lose everything I've got. I won't obey God, but, but, but..." What are they doing? They're vacillating. Until guess what? They do nothing. They have been seduced. They have been taken away and drawn from the one true faith. You see, folks, the first stage in establishing an alien law system is to seduce the people away from the old established law system. So, the very first stage is that of seduction. The second stage is that of vilification and ostracization.

  #77 | 52:43 to 53:35 | cleaned

• That is, you ostracize them. The word vilify means to make fun of, to ridicule, to mock, to ostracize. You cut them out in a little group over here. In other words, you pick out your target group. You begin to make fun of them. You vilify them and then you ostracize them. You cut them off. Let me tell you something, folks. Real Bible believing Christians have been vilified and ostracized in this land for years.

  #78 | 53:35 to 54:11 | cleaned

• All you've got to do is turn on a TV program and you watch if there is a pastor on there or a religion on there. If you see a Hollywood movie, if there is a preacher on that Hollywood movie, usually he's a whoremonger or a thief. In other words, he's ridiculed. He's made fun of. In other words, there's no one going to show real, genuine Christianity. In fact, one New York district attorney who was prosecuting two pro-life Christians, and the reason they were on trial is the only thing they did was they prayed in front of an abortion clinic. And so as he was prosecuting them, he said in the courtroom that they were rabid Christians. Look up the word rabid in your dictionary.

  #79 | 54:15 to 55:05 | cleaned

• It means fanatical, fierce, furious, insane, raging, rampant, virulent, violent. So any Christian that stands for God and God's truth is pictured and portrayed as someone who is absolutely insane. He's a violent individual. Especially if you believe in the Second Amendment. I mean, that seals it right there. I mean, you're a fanatic of the worst kind. Let me tell you something, folks. Nero used exactly the same tactics.

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• In Rome, he blamed everything on the Christians. It was the Christians that burned Rome, according to Nero. So the second stage is vilifying and ostracizing. After you begin to seduce the people away as a whole, then you pick out your target groups and you vilify and ostracize. Number three. Here's the third stage, and that is criminalization of religion or religious practices. Criminalization of religion or religious practices.

  #81 | 55:42 to 56:16 | cleaned

• Now, I'm going to show you from the Bible in just a moment how our government can get rid of every pastor in the country with one stroke of the pen. That is every godly pastor, and that's the only kind they're interested in getting rid of anyhow. You see, folks, government does indeed know how to criminalize religion and religious practices. Do you remember back in First Kings chapter 17 and 18, there was a king and queen by the name of Ahab and Jezebel? Guess what they did?

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• They made it unlawful to be a prophet of Jehovah in the land of Israel. They killed all of God's preachers. Obadiah took a hundred of them and hid them by fifty in a cave. That's the only reason they weren't killed. It was legal to be a prophet of Baal. If you were a prophet of Baal, you ate at the king's table. But if you were a prophet of Jehovah, you were either killed or hidden in a cave to have your life spared.

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• And eating bread and water. Why? It was against the law to be a prophet of Jehovah. Go back and read about Jeroboam II. You'll find him mentioned specifically in the book of Amos. Amos, the prophet, comes along and he preaches against Jeroboam II. He preaches against the wicked kingdom that he has. He prophesies that God is going to kill him and destroy his kingdom. And guess what? In Amos chapter 7 and verse 10, Amos, the prophet, the preacher, is charged with conspiracy.

  #84 | 57:24 to 57:55 | cleaned

• That's the growing charge today, folks. Everybody is charged with conspiracy. Do you know we have conspired in this room? Well, we conspired just by me preaching and you come and hear me preach. You know the word conspiracy actually literally means? Con is a preposition which means with and spire means to breathe. When you conspire, you breathe with someone because you agree with them. You've gotten together. So the charge was Amos and God had gotten together to pick on poor old Jeroboam II just because he's a reprobate. And you know what the priest, the state preacher told Amos?

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• He said, "You better get out of here. You go down to Judah and you prophesy. You don't preach here. This is the king's court. This is the king's house. This is the king's worship place. If you hang around here, we're going to kill you. You better make it while you can make it, boy."

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• Now, I want you to turn in your Bibles to First Peter, chapter four. I want to show you this and explain this to you. It is so simple for government to get rid of every godly man with one stroke of the pen. You say how? Well, there are two terms you need to really learn. These two terms are mala in se, M-A-L-A I-N S-E, it's two words, and mala prohibita.

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• You will find these in Black's Law Dictionary, Bouvier's Law Dictionary, any good law dictionary. Mala in se just simply refers to that which is evil in and of itself, like adultery, murder, kidnapping, sodomy, those things are evil in and of themselves. They're wicked in and of themselves. Mala prohibita only refers to something being evil because man prohibits it. Now, let me just give you some illustrations. Here you are going down Wade Hampton Boulevard, and there's a speed limit sign that says 45.

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• And you look down and, oh my, you're doing 46 1/2. Here's my question. Have you become inherently evil in and of yourself just because you've done 46 1/2 instead of 45? No. What if you're doing 55? Does that make you evil in and of yourself? No.

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• Now, you might get a ticket. But did you get the ticket because you were evil in and of yourself? No. Only because man prohibited it. You might drive just as safely at 55 as you could at 45. You follow what I'm saying? Here's another sign that says, "Stay off the grass." If you come over and walk on the grass, does that mean that you're inherently evil in and of yourself because you've stepped on the grass? No, you've only become evil because you have violated some prohibition of man.

  #90 | 1:00:42 to 1:01:10 | cleaned

• That's like, file this form, don't file this form. You remember Congressman George Hansen? He went to jail for four or five years because he failed to file a form. You remember that? It really wasn't because he failed to file the form. He also wrote a book, Against the IRS and Time to Harass Our People. The prosecuting attorney, the United States District Attorney, his name slips me right now, you can see his face, had not filed the very form himself. Most of the congressmen had not filed that form. But yet Hansen was singled out. And he went to jail for about five years because he failed to file a form. Now, because he failed to file a form, was he wicked in and of himself? No. It was just wrong because man said, "We don't want you to do it."

  #91 | 1:01:10 to 1:02:05 | cleaned

• It was man's law, not God's law. Now, I want you to look very closely at this. Because I'm going to show it to you in the Bible. Look in 1 Peter chapter 4 and let's begin reading with verse 12. Peter writes, "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you. But rejoice inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye, for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you."

  #92 | 1:02:06 to 1:02:42 | cleaned

• "On their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified." Now, verse 15 is a mala in se verse. He says, "But let none of you suffer as a murderer or as a thief or as an evildoer or as a busybody in other men's matters." Those things are evil in and of themselves. Now watch verse 16. Here's a mala prohibita verse. "But if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf." Now, God said, "Don't you suffer because of mala in se. Don't you suffer because you do something because it's evil in and of itself, violating my law." But, he says, "If you suffer as a Christian because you violate man's law, don't be ashamed." Let me tell you something, folks. To get rid of God's preachers in America, all that has to be done is to have a law passed that the preachers say, "We cannot obey that law."

  #93 | 1:02:43 to 1:03:43 | cleaned

• Out of conscience toward Christ and His Word. And guess what happens? We're then criminals. Based upon mala prohibita. Just that simple. Just that simple. I could tell you of preachers that I know that have been in jail all across this country. Some are still in jail. Some had to flee even the state of Kentucky because Louisville, Kentucky was trying to make them to take a license from the city in order to preach. And when they refused, they were thrown into jail.

  #94 | 1:03:44 to 1:04:25 | cleaned

• Not one time, but several times. So I'm saying, folks, the third stage is when government begins to criminalize either religion or religious practices. By the way, if you have noticed some of the proposed legislature, especially I believe it's H.R. 1685, it had been changed. They have already appointed someone to go around investigating religious persecution. They have literally already made a czar of religion in America. And once religion is criminalized or practice is criminalized,

  #95 | 1:04:29 to 1:05:20 | cleaned

• God's people can be easily incarcerated. Here's the fourth stage, and that is what I'm going to call confrontational or out and out persecution. This is where the anti-God, anti-Christ, anti-Bible program becomes apparent to everyone. This is the period when tyrannical government attacks individuals just because they want to be different. Just because they want to live by the dictates of the Word of God. Just because they want to be viewed as politically incorrect.

  #96 | 1:05:24 to 1:06:00 | cleaned

• Look in your Bibles, if you would, to Matthew chapter 23. Here's a time and look what our Lord says in Matthew 23, beginning there with verse 34. Matthew 23, verse 34. He says this, "Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets and wise men and scribes, and some of them ye shall kill and crucify, and some of them ye shall scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city."

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• Let me tell you something, folks. When it becomes open day, open hunting season every day on God's people and God's preachers, it is what we know as the confrontational stage or the out and out persecution. And I want to tell you, if you haven't noticed how God's people and God's preachers are being attacked, you need to sit up and pay attention. Now, I want you to listen. I want to try to draw this together for you and make a couple of applications. I'll develop it more this week, but I want you to listen.

  #98 | 1:06:29 to 1:07:09 | cleaned

• There can only be two law systems. God's law system or man's law system. You have no other choice. William Penn, the Quaker, the founder of Pennsylvania, said it like this. "He that refuses to be ruled by God condemns himself to be ruled by man." I want you to understand this. There can be nothing but total war between God-centered and man-centered law orders, between God-centered and man-centered kingdoms. There can be nothing but total war. Why? God said, "I am God and beside me there is none else."

  #99 | 1:07:12 to 1:07:55 | cleaned

• "I will not share my glory with another." God is the only God there is. Government is not God, man is not God. We've got to understand that when we turn from God, we establish an alien law order and an alien system that's based upon humanism and rebellion.

  #100 | 1:07:55 to 1:08:25 | cleaned

• Now, let me make these applications, first of all. Nations are like individuals, especially since they're made up of individuals. As an individual, you either obey or disobey God. It's that simple. Nations either obey or disobey God. You either recognize God or you don't recognize God. Nations either recognize God or they don't recognize God. It's that simple.

  #101 | 1:08:26 to 1:08:53 | cleaned

• Secondly, listen to me carefully, man does not exist for the state. Marxism, Communism, Communitarianism are all wrong. Man does not exist for the state. In fact, if you take the Scripture seriously, civil government exists for man. God ordained government, why? For the punishment of evildoers and for the protection of the good doers. Man doesn't exist for government. Government exists for man. Government has to be God's minister, God's servant, God's deacon. That's why God ordained it and established it. And just as man is required to obey God, so is government. You see, we understand an individual is required to obey God. We understand a family is required to obey God. We understand a church is required to obey God. How is it that some of us think that governments are not required to obey God? Government is just as much an institution of God as the family is and as the church is. And God holds all accountable.

  #102 | 1:08:55 to 1:10:11 | cleaned

• Thirdly, and I want you to look in your Bibles to Proverbs 11. I want you to see this one last passage, Proverbs 11. I want you to understand, as we read this, that governments or nations do not have souls. You say, "What are you talking about, Brother Weaver?" Well, you and I are going to face God and be judged by God in eternity as such. But nations and governments are judged by God in time and in history. I want you to look at this passage, Proverbs 11, verse 31.

  #103 | 1:10:12 to 1:11:02 | cleaned

• "Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth," that is paid back. Now, it is true that we do not get every blessing and every reward that God is going to give us in the earth, but we get many of them. We get plenty of blessings and plenty of rewards. He says, "Behold, the righteous shall be paid back in the earth, much more the wicked and the sinner." God said, "If I give my people what they deserve in time, in history, in the earth, how much more will I give the wicked what they deserve in time, in history, in the earth?"

  #104 | 1:11:02 to 1:11:42 | cleaned

• So the nations that disobey God and establish their own law systems and set themselves up as rival gods shall be judged and destroyed by God. Now, one last thought, and that's this. The way to establish God's kingdom, the way to establish God's law order is by obedience. The way to establish man's kingdom, humanism, and man's law order is by disobedience. You disobey God and obey man. Folks, the issue comes back down to this. Who is God? God or government? God or man? And the issue comes back down. Will you be ruled by God's law or will you be ruled by man's law? There's no other choice. If God is God, and He is, then let us love Him and serve Him and obey Him.

  #105 | 1:11:46 to 1:13:22 | cleaned

• Peter said it like this in Acts chapter 5. When confronted with man's laws that were contrary to God and His laws, Peter said, "We ought to obey God rather than man." Why? Because God is supreme, and He rules by His law, and His law is supreme. Let's pray. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we thank Thee for Your love, for Your Word, for Your truth. And Lord, we must confess that all of us have attempted to rule ourselves and rule our families and run our lives without reference to Thee and without reference to Thy Word. And Lord, our country is doing that and has been doing that. And we've sinned against Thee. May we repent and bow to Thee and to Thy Word and obey Thee in every area. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T04:31:24Z