Intro:
1. In the early nineties, the leaning Tower of Pisa began to lean too far. Seeing that the 180-foot-high tower would soon become dangerous, engineers designed a system to salvage the twelfth-century landmark by holding the lean constant.
First the engineers injected supercold liquid nitrogen into the ground to freeze it and thereby minimize dangerous ground vibrations during the work that followed.
Then they plan to install cables to pull the structure more upright. Engineers hope that the underground cable network will pull the tower toward center by at least an inch.
2. Left to itself, our world resembles the leaning Tower of Pisa: tilting and heading to catastrophe. To prevent total anarchy, God establishes governments to maintain order.
Governments and their laws function like the steel cables that will hold the leaning tower. The tower still leans. It's not perfect. But the cables prevent total destruction.
3. Human Government.
Trans: Gen. 8:20-9:17
I. FIRST, THE SUBSTANCE OF GOVERNMENT. 8:20-17
A. A new Promise is given - He will never destroy mankind with a universal flood. 8:20-22; 9:11-17
1. A Verbal Promise. 8:20-22; 9:11
21 And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma. Then the LORD said in His heart, "I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. Genesis 8:21
a. Notice the Explanation - he will not send another for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth.
The interesting thing is it was the same reason God gave for sending the flood in the first place!
"5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 So the LORD said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them." Genesis 6:5-7 (NKJV)
Principle - man's sin is the motivation for both the judgment and mercy of God. God looks at man's sin and it motivated Him to release His wrath; and when God looks at man's sin, it motivated him to extend grace and mercy.
Truth is - some men's sins are met with God's wrath; while other's are met with mercy. Who decides whether there is wrath or mercy? God does!
"14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! 15 For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion." 16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy." Romans 9:14-16 (NKJV)
MacDonald, "All people are condemned by thier own sin and unbelief. If left to themselves, they would all perish. In addition to extending a genuine gospel invitation to all people. God chooses some of these condemned people to be special objects of His grace. But this does not mean that He arbitrarily chooses the others to be condemned. They are already condemned because they are lifelong sinners and have rejected the gospel. Those who are chosen can thank God for His grace. Those who are lost have no one to blame but themselves."
Trans:God never vacates His throne!
Swindoll, "God's calling the shots. He's running the show. Either he's in full control or he's off his throne."
Tozer, "To discuss the authority of Almighty God seems a bit meaningless, and to question it would be absurd. Can we imagine the Lord God of Hosts having to request permission of anyone or to apply for anything to a higher body?
To whom would God go for permission? Who is higher than the Highest? Who is mightier than the Almighty? Whose position antedates that of the Eternal? At whose throne would God kneel? Where is the greater one to whom he must appeal?"
b. Declaration.
(1) There will be Continual Seasons. 8:22
Professor Micahel Oppenheimer, "Global warming is affecting the seasons. Autumn and winter are coming later in many places; spring is coming earlier. If you look at a typical lake or maybe a stream in the far North it melts earlier in the spring and it freezes later in the fall. The very timing of the seasons is changing such that the food sources for some insects and birds are not in the places they are supposed to be when the migrations of these creatures arrive at the place where they are expected to be fed. And so, the very timing of nature and the seasons is being upset by global warming."
I do not know what planet he is living on, but I've been here nearly 60 years and have lived in Michigan; Germany; Texas, and Arkansa - and the seasons have remained the same - and will!
(2) There will never be another Univeral Flood. 9:11
God did not promise there wouldnt be any local floods, but never another universal flood - and there never has been!
In a Peanuts cartoon Lucy and Linus are staring out the window, watching it rain. Lucy says, "Boy! Look at it pour. What if it floods the whole world?
Linus, "It won't. In Gen. 9, God promised Noah that would never happen again. The sign of that promise is the rainbow.
Lucy, turning back to the window with a big smile says, "You've taken a great load off my mind."
Linus, "Sound thology has a way of doing that."
Sound theology says God always keeps His promises!
"Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. There has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses." 1 Kings 8:56 (NKJV)
2. The Visible reminder of the promise. 9:12-17
Rainbow - you can imagine how frightening it would be every time it rained - so God gave a visible sign of his promise.
There is a book by William Styron entitled Sophie's Choice. It tells the story of a young Jewish woman who survived one of the German death camps. She was confronted with a choice as she entered the camp. This choice is not talked about in the early pages of the book. It comes out only in the end. But when you get to it you know that it alone explains the agony of the earlier pages.
As Sophie entered the death camp she had two children with her. One of the guards, apparently on a whim, told her she could keep one child but would have to let the other go off to the furnaces to die.
This marred the mother irredeemably, and in the end she committed suicide because she was not able to cope with the past. There are people who have wounds like that—people who have suffered loss and tragedy.
Boice, "God makes signs of beauty to say, "I know that life is filled with tragedy. Sin is ugly. But I am the God of beauty. I am the God who is able to overcome these things, and I call you away from them to myself."
At the end of the Bible, in Revelation, we have a picture of God sitting on his throne around which is a rainbow. Look forward to that and let God's beautiful sign minister to your soul."
This life is full of storms but in the end, the Bible declares:
"And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald." Revelation 4:3 (NKJV)
B. The renewal of the old Program. 9:1 (1:26, 28)
Having children is one of God's blessings to us!
"3 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward. 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one's youth. 5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate." Psalm 127:3-5 (NKJV)
A group of expectant fathers were in a waiting room, while their wives were in the process of delivering babies. A nurse came in and announced to one man that his wife had just given birth to twins.
He said, "That’s quite a coincidence I play for the Minnesota Twins!"
A few minutes later another nurse came in and announced to another man that he was the father of triplets. He said, "That’s amazing, I work for the 3M company."
At that point, a third man slipped off his chair and laid down on the floor and began sobbing. Somebody asked him if he was feeling ill.
He said, "No, I happen to work for the 7-up company."
C. A new Phobia. 9:2
2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand.
Before the Fall man and animals lived in harmony - but now animals must fear man for their very survival. Fallen man is cruel.
Detroit's zoo director hired four new security guards—to protect the animals from man.
In the past 2 years there, a baby Australian wallaby left the protection of its mother's pouch and was stoned to death; a duck died with a steel-tipped hunting arrow in its breast; a pregnant reindeer miscarried after firecracker-hurling youths bombed the frantic animal into convulsions.
Visitors have dropped lighted cigar butts on the backs of alligators, laughing at the reptiles' reactions as the ashes burn through their skin. Finally, the zoo's male hippopotamus choked to death when someone responded to his open-mouthed begging for peanuts by rolling a tennis ball down his throat.
D. A new Provision.
You deserve a break today! Before this man was a vegetarian, now man can eat meat - as long as he drains the blood.
Morris, "The reason for this change was due to the greater need for animal protein in man's diet in view of the neutrient-impoverished soil of the post-flood world and the much more rigorous climatic conditons. A second reason may have been to emphasize the great gulf between and and the animals."
I have meat-lovers Pizza every Friday for supper! I view it as health food. Bruce Cameron has a Colum, I saw this the other day:
Q: My wife says I should cut down on meat, and eat more fruits and vegetables.
A: Your wife just doesn't grasp logistical efficiencies the way you do. Look, what does a cow eat? Corn. And what's corn? A vegetable. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass. And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of slop.
E. A new Punishment. 9:5-7
The days of Cain killing Able and living to tell about it are now over. If you take a life, you lose your life.
1. This is to demonstrate that Creation is Precious. 9:6
"Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man - man still retains the image of God. Ja.3:9
2. Demonstrates that Citizens should be Protected.
"13 Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme, 14 or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good." 1 Peter 2:13-14
3. Demonstrates the need for Crime Prevention.
It stops repeated offenders and scares would be murderers.
John McRae -- Michigan/Florida. Life for murder of 8-year-old boy. Pedophile. Paroled 1971. Convicted of another murder of a boy after parole, in Michigan 1998. Charges pending on 2 other counts in Florida.
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John Miller -- California. Killed an infant 1957, convicted of murder, 1958. Paroled 1975. Killed his parents 1975. Life term 1975.
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Michael Lawrence -- Florida. Killed robbery victim. Life term, 1976. Paroled 1985. Killed robbery victim. Condemned 1990.
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Charles Crawford -- Missouri. Life term in 1965 for murder. Paroled 1990. Convicted of murder again in 1994.
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Jack Ferrell -- Florida. Committed Murdered 1981. 15 years to life, 1982. Paroled 1987. Murdered again 1992. Condemned 1993.
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Timothy Buss -- Murdered five-year-old girl. Sentenced to 25 years in 1981. Paroled 1993. Murdered 10-year-old boy. Condemned 1996.
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Arthur J. Bomar, Jr. -- released from prison in Nevada on parole in 1990. Bomar had served 11 years of a murder sentence for killing a man over an argument about a parking space. Six years later in Pennsylvania, Bomar brutally kidnapped, raped and murdered George Mason University star athlete Aimee Willard.
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Dwain Little -- Oregon. Raped/Stabbed 16-year-old girl. Life term 1966. Paroled 1974. Returned as Parole Violator 1975. Again Released 1977. Then shot family of 4. Three consecutive life terms for rape and murder 1980.
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Arthur Shawcross (The 'Monster of the Rivers') -- Released after serving a 25 year sentence for a child murder, turned to murdering prostitutes. At least 10 in all. Now serving ten consecutive sentences of 25 years to life - 250 years in all.
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Chad Allen Lee -- Convicted of capital murder. Sentenced to other than death. Released and went on murder spree. Murdering Linda Reynolds, a pizza delivery person, and 9 days later robbed and murdered David Lacey, a taxi cab driver. Lee then robbed a mini-market 7 days after than. Shooting the owner, Harold Drury, multiple times without reason.
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Scott Lehr -- Convicted of capital murder. Sentenced to other than death. Later released. After release, between Feb 91 and Feb 92 lured 10 different female victims, between the ages of 10 and 48-years-old, into his car. Raping and beating them unconscious, stripped and adandoned them in the desert. Three of his victims died in those acts.
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James Erin McKinney -- Convicted of capital murder. Sentenced to other than death. Later released. Then murdered Christine Mertens in a home invasion robbery. Later murdered James McClain in another separate home invasion robbery.
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Michael Murdaugh -- Convicted of capital murder. Sentenced to other than death. Later released. After release murdered David Reynolds. Beating him to death. When 'dumping' the body, Murdaugh severed Reynold's head and hands, pulled out his teeth, and buried the body parts.
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Charles Daniels -- was convicted and sentenced to Life for the 1965 rape and murder of a Louisiana woman. Later having his sentence commuted, he was release. And he again killed another woman, 32-year-old Debbie Tatum.
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Howard Allen -- murdered an elderly woman.. Opal Cooper, in Aug 1974, and was sentenced to 21 years in prison. By January 1985, less than ten years after being incarcerated, Howard Allen was released. On May 20, 1987 Howard Allen broke into the home of eighty-seven year old Laverne Hale, and savagely beat her to death. Six weeks later Allen struck again. On July 13, 1987 Howard Allen knocked on the door of Ernestine Griffin. At lunchtime the following day she was found murdered. On June 11, 1988 Allen was found guilty was found guilty of Ernestine’s murder.
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William Coday Jr. -- convicted of murdering 19-year-old Lisa Hullinger in September 1978. After spending just 15 months in a German prison, he was released. In April 2002, he was convicted of having murdered Gloria Gomez on 13 July, 1997.
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Corey R. Barton -- In 1983 he murdered 16-year-old Shari-Ann Merton. He received 18 years in prison. He was released after serving 9 years and 8 months. In November 1998, he murdered 27 year-old Sally Harris of North Carolina.
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Jack Henry Abbott, who had murdered a fellow prison inmate, was released early from a Utah prison. On July 18, 1981, six-weeks after his release, Abbott stabbed actor Richard Adan to death in New York.
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Wayne Henry Garrison, 42, was convicted of 1st-degree murder in the death of Justin Wiles 13, of Tulsa. As a teenager, Garrison had killed two children in Tulsa. Police earlier said the circumstances of those killings were similar to Justin's death.
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Leroy Schmitz -- convicted of strangling his live-in girlfriend in 1986, during an argument. He was sentenced to 18-20 years for that homicide. He was later convicted of murdering his wife, in Whitefish, Montana in 1999.
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Vernon Sattiewhite -- In 1977, Sattiewhite had been sentenced to five years for a murder but was paroled two years later and granted clemency. In 1984, he was convicted of robbery and sentenced to two years in prison but was paroled after less than six months. Soon after he murdered his ex-girlfriend, Sandra Sorrell.
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Zeno E. Sims -- sent to prison for eight years for the murder of a 24-year-old-man. Released on parole, in Kansas City, he then murdered DeAntreia L Ashley, a 15-year-old-girl, after a minor traffic accident.
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Arthur James Julius -- convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. In 1978, he was given a brief leave from prison, during which he raped and murdered a cousin. He was sentenced to death for that crime and was executed on November 17, 1989.
All because the Government disregarded God's commanded of Capital Punishment.
Today our Government is corrupt and has no regard for God or His Word. Life is no longer precious as murders are set free and unborn babies are legally slaughtered at abortion clincs; Citizen are often overtaxed and subject to intimidation; Crime is unpunished by a court system that has lost its appeite for justice.
Government is getting bigger and bigger and our individual freedoms are getting smaller and smaller.
When Confucius was passing the foot of Mount Taishan in a horse cart, he saw a woman bending over a new grave, crying brokenheartedly. He stopped the cart and asked his disciple Zi Lu to go up and find out what had happened.
Zi Lu walked up to the grave, and asked, "Madam, we heard you cry. Something very sad must have happened."
The woman raised her head and, still sobbing, said, "A few years ago my father-in-law was killed by a tiger. Later, my husband was also killed by a tiger. Now it is my son who is killed by a tiger. How could I not feel sad?"
When Confucius heard what the woman said, he asked, "Since there are tigers here, why didn't you move somewhere else?"
The woman answered, "This is an out-of-the-way place. The tyranny of the government cannot reach us."
Confucius sighed and said to his disciples. "You must remember: A tyrannical government is worse than man-eating tigers."
Con:
1. Yet for all that, Government is ordained by God, and told to Obey, Pay, and Pray for our leaders.
2. We can make an impact on our government through prayer, voting, making our voices heard against that which is wrong.
3. John Calvin involvement in politics was great. He sat on the city council and demanded that things be done. Kids were falling off balconies into streets. He had a law passed that required that balconies be built with railings. He established a chamber of commerce to bring employment opportunities to Geneva.
The last letter written by John Wesley, the evangelist was to a member of Parliament, urging, under God, that he vote for the bill to eliminate slavery.
In America, Charles Finney, a famous evangelist, had words to say against racism. He said that the reason revival would not come to this land, was because the churches were racists in attitude.
John Knox insisted that the government of Scotland be operated for the benefit of the people, not of the sovereign. It was a revolutionary idea to Queen Mary, and she would have none of it.
But, finally, John Knox took Scotland with an evangelical faith and a new kind of government that made it the most productive. It was because he got involved in Christian political action.
Johnny Palmer Jr
StrugglingThruScriptures.ning.com
spurgeonwannabe@yahoo.com
