When To Break The Law

INTRO.- ILL.- A policeman pulled over a car, walked up to the driver’s window, and asked the man if he knew why he was pulled over. "No," the man replied.

"You failed to stop at the stop sign," the cop explained.

"But I did slow down!" the guy argued. The cop shook his head. "You are required to stop. That’s why they’re called stop signs." The man started to get belligerent. "Stop, slow down -- what’s the difference?"

The cop pulled out his baton or stick and said, "I can show you. I’m going to start hitting you with my stick. And you tell me if you want me to stop or slow down."

I think this story really applies to our town because I have seen more people drive through stoplights in our town than anywhere I have lived. And when people run through red lights it’s not because of road rage, it’s simply because they are in a hurry and they don’t care anybody else, AND THEY HAVE NO REGARD FOR THE LAW OR THE LAWS! But it’s not just the laws of the road that people break; it’s all kinds of laws.

I’ve heard it said that laws are made to be broken. Is that so?

Brothers and sisters, can you imagine what it would be like to live in Jonesboro, AR, with no laws? No traffic laws? No laws of any kind? It would be horrible to say the least. We would be afraid to leave our homes to do anything, knowing that anybody could do anything bad to us at any time.

And then if you were to magnify this lawless city throughout the entire Unites States you would have nothing but chaos. NO, WORSE YET, YOU WOULD SOON HAVE NOTHING. The people of the world would destroy one another.

The law is good. And God’s law is good. It was given for the purpose of restraining evil and commending good behavior.

Rom. 7:7 “What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, ‘Do not covet.’” The laws of God and the laws of man teach us what is right and what is wrong.

ILL.- Moms and dads tell their infant or toddler, “no, no!” And there is a reason for that. If mom and dad didn’t say “no” how would the child ever know if something was wrong?

I Tim. 1:8-10 “We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine.”

The law of God is good if used properly. And our man-made laws are good if used properly. Of course, there are those who are always trying to twist the laws in order to get around them or else benefit themselves.

ILL.- The application blank for a new driver’s license had the question, “Have you ever been arrested?” The applicant put down, “No." The new question was: “Why?” The applicant put down, “Never been caught.”

We all could fall into this category. I suspect if we were completely honest we would have to admit that we have broken some law and at some time in our lives.

PROP. - As we think about the law of God let’s consider two thoughts:

1- There is SOMETHING greater than the law

2- There is SOMEONE greater than the law

I. THERE IS SOMETHING GREATER THAN THE LAW

GT. What’s that? GT means greater than. And it’s been said that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

ILL.- For example, a house is worth more than the value of the individual pieces of wood, sheetrock, drywall, wiring, etc.

A Rembrandt painting is worth far more than the canvas and the paint that were combined to make the picture.

A whole baseball team is more valuable than any individual team member. But in this text, it’s just the reverse.

We tend to think of God’s law as being the total of everything we are to do in life and nothing is greater. BUT THERE IS SOMETHING GREATER ACCORDING TO JESUS!

Matt. 12:1-4 “At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath." He answered, "Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.”