We'll be reading the first 12 verses. Acts 25, if you are using a pew Bible, starts on page 1511 and then very quickly turns over to 1512. Page 1500. 11 and as I'm saying quickly turns over to page 1512. Here now the Word of God from the book of Acts chapter 25 starting in verse 1. Now when Festus had come to the province after three days, he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem. Then the high priest and the chief men of the Jews informed him against Paul, and they petitioned him, asking a favor against him that he would summon him to Jerusalem. Well, they lay in ambush along the road to kill him. But Festus answered that Paul should be kept at Caesarea and that he himself was going there shortly. Therefore, he said, let those who have authority among you go down with me and accuse this man to see if there is any fault in him. And when he had remained among them more than 10 days, he went down to Caesarea. And the next day, sitting on the judgment seat, he commanded Paul to be brought. When he had come, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood about and laid many serious complaints against Paul, which they could not prove. Well, he answered for himself, neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I offended in anything at all. But Festus, wanting to do the Jews a favor, answered Paul and said, are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and there be judged before me concerning these things? So Paul said, I stand at Caesar's judgment seat where I ought to be judged. To the Jews, I have done no wrong as you very well know. For if I am an offender or have committed anything deserving of death, I do not object to dying. But if there is nothing in these things of which these men accuse me, no one can deliver me to them. I appeal to Caesar. Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, you have appealed to Caesar? To Caesar you shall go. of congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, we're going to use our text, as our text today, Acts 25 verse 11, which Paul says, if I am an offender or have committed anything deserving of death, I do not object to dying. And we're going to use that as our chief text, as it were. But we're going to be looking at a variety of other texts today as we consider this theme. Well, the title of the sermon, as you know, is When Is It OK to Kill Somebody? The theme of our message today is the Bible gives permission to kill a person under three circumstances. We have already, my friends, as we've been considering the sixth commandment, thou shalt not kill, we've already seen that the Bible teaches the preciousness of life. And Lord willing, next week we'll be considering that with regard to the issue of abortion, and then the following week also dealing with the implications of that. Overwhelmingly, the Bible celebrates life. God is a God of life who has given us life, and killing somebody without warrant, without cause, is a serious sin. However, the general rule, thou shalt not kill, does have three exceptions. Now even in human law there can be specific exceptions that modify the general rule. So you have a code book or you have a constitution or whatever and it has the general provision and then there will be some specific provision that sort of carves out an exception. And so it is with God's law. This principle of having exceptions to the general rule is certainly true with regard to the law of God. And of course, the reason why we know that is because the Bible tells us that. These are not simply our own ideas now. These are obvious examples, obvious teachings with regard to this. Now, I'm sure you may remember, those of you who were here last week, remember when I said, when I was sort of teased what we're going to do, we talked about what we're going to do going forward in terms of the messages. Next week, of course, we're going to be considering the question, Is it ever OK to kill somebody? And I heard somebody at the back say, no. And I said, well, not exactly. That's what we're going to be considering today, the three exceptions. Those three exceptions are capital punishment or public justice, capital punishment or public justice, Necessary defense, necessary defense, and just war. And so those are your three exceptions. Now in terms of public justice or capital punishment, let's look at the biblical data. Now look with me at Genesis chapter 4. Right after the fall of man into sin, Right after the fall of man into sin, of course, you remember Cain and Abel. And so, of course, what happened? Children, what happened? Cain killed his brother Abel. In verse 15, well, verse 14, we'll start in verse 13. Cain said to the Lord, my punishment is greater than I could bear, surely. You've driven me out this day from the face of the ground. I shall be hidden from your face. I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth. And it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me. And God says, the Lord said to him, therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him. And what's the implication of all this? The implication is that there is this understanding that if you kill somebody, that your life would be forfeit. That's capital punishment. That's the implication of that. And look at verse 24 as well. starting in verse 23, then Lamech said to his wives, Ada and Zilla, hear my voice, wives of Lamech, listen to my speech, for I have killed a man for wounding me, even a young man for hurting me. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold. But again, it's an affirmation, is it not? It's a recognition of the fact that there is such a thing as capital punishment, even in the world relatively soon after the fall of man. This was a, we almost say, an instinctive understanding. Now what about the post-flood world? Look with me at Genesis chapter 9. Genesis chapter 9, verses 5 and 6. Surely for your lifeblood, this is the Lord speaking, surely for your lifeblood, speaking to Noah, I will demand a reckoning from the hand of every beast I will require and from the hand of man, from the hand of every man's brother I will require the life of man, whoever sheds man's blood. By man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God he made man. And then again, you see this later in the book of Genesis, in Genesis chapter 40. Genesis chapter 40, verse 22, in which we have the example of the baker, the chief baker of Pharaoh. Remember that Joseph told the dream of the butler and the baker. And what did he say was going to happen to the baker that his head would be hung up as it were, and that's what we read in chapter 40, verse 22, but he, that is Pharaoh, hanged the chief baker as Joseph had interpreted to them. Then we come into the period of the Mosaic case laws. That is to say, we have the Ten Commandments given to us through the hand of Moses, and then we have the case laws, or the application of that, of the Ten Commandments to society. And so in Exodus chapter 21, in Exodus chapter 21 and verse 12, we read, he who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. And verse 14, but if a man acts with premeditation against his neighbor to kill him by treachery, you shall take him from my altar that he may die. So he can't claim the mercy of God. Or we could say, he can't claim, well, I'm a believer. I'm trusting in God for my salvation. That's good. But you're still going to die, you see. There's a price to be paid in terms of God's economy with regard to the current society. That's what it's saying there. Even take him from my altar that he may die, that he may be put to death. If you look at Leviticus chapter 24, Leviticus chapter 24 and verse 17, whoever kills any man shall surely be put to death. Numbers chapter 35, we had this passage read last Lord's day. with regard to the cities of refuge, where if there was an accidental death, a person could flee and be spared, and had to stay there, though, until the death of a high priest. But even in that, if you look at Numbers 35, verse 21, starting in verse 20, if he pushes him out of hatred, or while lying in wait, hurls something at him so that he dies, or in enmity and hatred, he strikes him with his hand so that he dies, The one who struck him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him. And then Deuteronomy chapter 19. Deuteronomy chapter 19 verses 11 and 13. Deuteronomy 19 verses 11 and 13. But if anyone hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises against him and strikes him mortally so that he dies and he flees to one of these cities, verse 12, then the elders of his city shall send and bring him from there and deliver him over to the hand of the avenger of blood that he may die. Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel that it may go well with you. So we see in not only the post-flood world, but now during the Mosaic administration, very clearly capital punishment is taught. But we also have this in terms of the New Testament, do we not? In Romans chapter 13, Paul is talking about the civil magistrate. And he says in verse four, for he is God's minister or servant to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid. For he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. And, of course, we have our text for today, very clearly. Acts 25, here Paul has been accused by the Jews, and he's been able to argue his case so far, and Festus now comes into the position of authority there, and Caesarea Philippi goes to Jerusalem, and the Jews accuse Paul again, and so now at Caesarea Philippi, you have this accessaria, you have this accusation by the Jews. So Paul says, I stand at Caesar's judgment seat where I ought to be judged. To the Jews, I have done no wrong, as you very well know, for if I am an offender or have committed anything deserving of death, I do not object to dying. But if there is nothing in these things of which these men accuse me, no one can deliver me to them. I appeal to Caesar." But Paul is recognizing the power of the civil magistrate, that if he had done something worthy of death, he should be put to death. Or going back to Romans 13, as Dr. Cromendam, Ms. Ames, and my professor at Covenant College, Bible professor, big six-foot, ten-inch Dutchman, with a heavy Dutch accent, as he would say in looking at Romans 13, the sword is not there to tickle you with. It's to prod you perhaps, but in an extreme example, it is there to put you to death. And that's what the Bible teaches. So by way of application, let us say, first of all, that this is God's standard for justice. We are told, you are not to pity the one who has murdered an innocent human being. Such a person has caused much grief. And more than that, he has also destroyed someone who is made in the image of God. You're not to pity. Your eye is not to pity such a person. It is true, of course, that only God has the authority to put someone to death. But the point that is often forgotten when we say, well, we shouldn't play God. Well, no, that's right. We shouldn't play God. But we should carry out his rules. The point that is often forgotten is that God expects men to carry out the sentence which he has established in his word. If you shed man's blood, your blood is to be shed. Indeed, you could argue that Genesis 9-6 that we looked at in terms of the image of God seems to imply that it is precisely because man is made in the image of God that man is capable to exercise capital punishment. There is that sense of that. So it is true that only God has the authority to put someone to death. But remember, God has established the rules. And a failure to execute someone deserving of death is a way indeed of playing God. by thinking that we are wiser and more compassionate than he is. This is God's standard for justice. And indeed, innocent blood cries out from the land to be avenged. If men do not execute judgment, God surely will. So this is God's standard for judgment. Secondly, by way of application, the biblical view of crime and punishment fits well with the doctrine of total depravity. It fits well with our understanding of total depravity. Now, modern notions would say that man, by means of education and training, is reformable. But God's word recognizes the essential badness of man, his essential wickedness, and the necessity to protect society against violent offenders. This is God's wisdom. This is God's judgment. We must follow his view of crime and punishment. Thirdly, by way of application, there is no permission, let's be clear, There is no permission for mob justice as in lynching. There must be a proper administration of justice with protections and orderly process. Lynching of even a guilty person is still murder and must be rejected and indeed those who carried out being guilty of murder should themselves be executed. Another example, by the way, of lynching is the idea of necklacing. Do you know what necklacing is? You take a tire, you fill it with gasoline, you put it on a person's neck, and you light it on fire. That's called necklacing. You know who practiced that in South Africa? The African National Congress. There is indeed no permission for mob justice as in lynching, as in necklacing, or terrorist activities. In 1831, Nat Turner led people to murder about 50 others. He was a terrorist. John Brown. 1859, plotted against the people of the Commonwealth of Virginia and was properly hung for his treason against Virginia and his murderous activities. Indeed, he was a murderer in Kansas as well. In the 20th century, we think in the early part of it, we think of British suffragettes in Portsmouth. 1913, who set off bombs that killed people. We think later then of the IRA, the Irish Republican Army, and its murderous terrorist activities. Or the explosion of the King David Hotel in 1946 by Zionists. Or in our own country, we think of the SDS, or the Weather Underground, the Society for a Democratic Society, and the Weather Underground, and people who set off bombs and killed policemen and so forth. And in the 21st century, of course, we can think of the 9-11 attacks, September 11, 2001, and also of riots by hateful people that were something other than mostly peaceful protest in the streets. There were many people killed, many buildings burned down, many people attacked and many people killed in our streets, in Minneapolis and other places four years ago. There is no excuse for these murderous activities. God is judging. So, public justice, capital punishment, but carried out by the proper authority. But then secondly, what about necessary defense or self-defense? And notice, since it is not malicious, it is therefore not within the scope of the prohibition. There's no someone's coming after you. You have a right to defend yourself. Self-preservation is a natural instinct. And therefore, it does reveal God's will. Naturally, if two people are in a struggle and one must die, it should be the one who is the aggressor. And God's word declares such a person to be innocent. Look at Exodus 22, Exodus chapter 22 and verse two, Exodus 22 and verse two. If a thief is found breaking in and he is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt for his bloodshed. And so the Bible clearly then provides for the idea of self-defense. So capital punishment, self-defense, and now thirdly, what's the third exception? Just war, just war. Now nations have the right of self-defense just as individuals do. This might even necessitate striking first if an enemy's forces are massed on the border. If you have a country that engages in what is called a general mobilization, even if they haven't struck yet, it's the equivalent of someone who has a gun pointing at you. You have to assume what? That it is loaded and that person intends to use it. So when we talk about just war and just defense then, It could even be in certain circumstances where someone is simply threatening, even if the actual violence has not taken place, you have the right of self-defense. But let us be clear that no country should seek to expand its borders at the expense of another country's territory. Now let's look at some of the biblical data for this. First of all, Judges chapter 20. Judges chapter 20, verses 27 and 28. Judges 20. So the children of Israel inquired of the Lord. The ark of the covenant of God was there in those days. And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of my brother Benjamin, or shall I cease? And the Lord said, go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into your hand. God clearly is providing for the possibility of war. 1 Samuel chapter 14. 1 Samuel chapter 14. 1 Samuel 14 and verse 37. So Saul asked counsel of God, shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you deliver them into the hand of Israel? But he did not answer him that day. And so we find then in terms of, we find then in terms of this, that God clearly, again, in his word is revealed. The point is, even though he didn't answer Saul right then, the point is it was naturally assumed, it was naturally assumed, that yes, it is possible to go to war. And chapter 23, verses 2 through 4, chapter 23 of 1 Samuel, verses 2 through 4, Therefore, David inquired of the Lord, saying, shall I go and attack these Philistines? The Lord said to David, go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah. But David's men said to him, look, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines? Then David inquired of the Lord once again. And the Lord answered him and said, arise, go down to Keilah, for I will deliver the Philistines into your hand." Now we see also then in 1 Kings chapter 22, in 1 Kings chapter 22, verses 6 and following, and the king of Israel gathered the prophets together about 400 men and said to them, shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to fight or shall I refrain and so forth. So they said, go up, for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king. Once again, the assumption here is that there is the possibility of going to war. And so the biblical data are clear. The Bible is clear that, yes, there is such a thing as just war. But we must remember, we must remember We're going to pause here just a second. We're going to pause here just. Well. What's that? OK. Well, for those who are listening of this on tape, we had a shooting here that has interrupted our service for about 10 minutes or so. And the police may show up while we've resumed the service. So if we have to interrupt it again, y'all will know. But we're all fine. And we're all OK by the grace of God. So I was talking then. Let me resume where I was. I was talking. By the way, this is such an appropriate sermon for today, right? Talk about just defense, right? So, and I'll make application of that. All right. So, capital punishment we've talked about. We've talked about just or self-defense and now just war. And so we've given some examples of this in scripture that nations do indeed fight from time to time. But notice that the principle, we should follow the principles of what is called just war. This goes back to Augustine, Saint Augustine, who lived in the 300 and 400s AD. And among the principles that you follow, in a sense it's almost common sense I suppose, but these are the principles or some of the principles. One is what we call proportionality. That is to say, if someone, you know, sinks your patrol boat, that doesn't mean you suddenly bomb them with nuclear weapons, okay? That would not be the law of proportionality. So, you do a response that is proportional to whatever the offense is. Also the likelihood of success. Isn't this what Jesus said? If you have 10,000 men and you're being faced, if you're a king with 10,000 men, you're being faced with 20,000 men. Well, you better go and make peace with that king before he gets there because he's going to, he's going to defeat you. And so the idea, okay, is there a likelihood of success? Also, it should be conducted by lawful authority, which goes back, by the way, to the whole thing we were talking about earlier with regard to capital punishment, so that things like lynching and so on, these things are obviously not done by lawful authority. And it's very similar to what we talked about with regard to revolution. You know, may God keep us from having to go there. I'm certainly not calling for anything like that. But certainly throughout history we have seen the need from time to time of revolution. But the whole idea there is you don't do it on your own. You do it how? By means of authority, by means of the lower magistrates that interpose and protect the people from a tyrant. So conducted by lawful authority and also not deliberately targeting civilians. In other words, not what we call total war, but rather targeting those that are combatants rather than civilians. Now I have three observations and then I have four points of application. So the first observation is this. Nations do and ought to exist. Nations do and ought to exist. This is implicit, you see, in the whole idea of what we're talking about here. The attempt at one world government was condemned at the Tower of Babel, where the peoples of this world tried to gather together all in one and, of course, in rebellion against God. But there's also, you know, the old saying, Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. The more power that you have without there being a check and balance, the more tendency there is for this kind of a tyrannical rule. And so the attempt at one world government is simply not biblical on any number of grounds. including the fact that in point of fact God has established the various nations. As a matter of fact, Acts 17 speaks of God establishing the bounds of the various nations. The bounds of the various nations, in other words the various ethnoi or people groups. Revelation 21 speaks of the nations, again the peoples, the ethnoi, bringing their treasures into the kingdom. Nations do and ought to exist. Secondly, the gospel is the only answer to warfare. The gospel is the only answer to warfare. In Galatians 3 verse 28, in Galatians 3 verse 28, We read, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. This is how we are brought together as one through Christ. We see this in Ephesians chapter two as well. For he himself, Jesus, he himself is our peace who has made both one, both Israel and Gentiles, both one. and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in his flesh the enmity that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that he might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity." What is that body? It is the church. It is the kingdom of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. In revelation 22 and verse two, and I, I quote this on the book on the cover of the book on race relations. I wrote revelation 22 verse two in the middle of the street and on either side of the river was the tree of life, which bore 12 fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. And here's the key. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. That's the point. You want to deal with the hatred, with the enmity, it comes through the gospel of Jesus Christ. And then again, this is what we see in Isaiah chapter two. In Isaiah chapter two, verses one through four. Isaiah two, verses one through four. We're starting in verse two. Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways and we shall walk in his paths for out of Zion shall go forth the law. and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations and rebuke many people. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Neither nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. But on what basis? On the basis of the Lord establishing the peace through the peace of the cross. That's the point. And so the gospel then is the only answer to warfare. Number three, by way of observation. But until the time of millennial peace, nations will still need to have strong militaries. Nations will need to be able to defend themselves. They will need to have a strong border to protect against invasion. And indeed, it is a biblical duty for nations to have sufficient military strength for protection. In the same way that a father needs to protect his household from invasion of the home and it would be a dereliction of duty otherwise, even so, the nation's rulers must defend against invasion. Now, four points of application. The first is this, do not, Celebrate vigilantes and terrorists. Do not celebrate vigilantes and terrorists. Those who would take the law into their own hands, do not celebrate them. They are murderers. They are antinomians. They are against the law of God. Do not celebrate such people. Number two, pray. that we might be kept from engaging even in these necessary killings. Now, isn't that amazing that that was one of my points of application given what happened here this evening? Now, look, if one of those young men came in with a gun and one of us had a gun, or some other weapon, you better believe it. I'd expect you to use it. I'd expect you to use it. As I used to say to my college classes, they were so upset, oh, we can carry guns on the campus. I said, no, no, no. If one of the bad guys comes in, I want the young lady on the front row with her Glock to pull it out and protect me as I hide behind the computer. So, it is necessary. But pray, pray, even though you might be called upon to kill somebody else, but pray that you might be spared that, because it is never a pleasant or preferable thing to do. Isn't that amazing? That was one of my applications tonight. Number three, recognize the role of the Lord Jesus in these three items. In war, the Lord Jesus is the one portrayed as the one who smites his enemies. It's a picture. War, in a sense, is a picture of Jesus going forth to war. When engaged in self-defense, The Lord, Jesus, walks with you and protects you. I remember hearing a police officer at Covenant Presbyterian Church, a member of Covenant Presbyterian, saying how as he shot and killed a man, an armed man about to go into a neighborhood where he could be a threat, that he really felt the Lord's hand upon him in directing that bullet. And the Lord Jesus, then, the Lord Jesus walks with you and protects you in matters of self-defense. And with regard to capital punishment, again, we are reminded of God's justice and of Jesus's justice on Judgment Day. Recognize the role of the Lord Jesus in these three items. But finally, remember, the Lord Jesus himself was put to death. And so I would like to ask the rhetorical question then, was his execution just or unjust? Was it right or was it wrong? Was it just or was it unjust? The answer is, yes, it was both. Yes, it was unjust. It was the most wicked action in human history. As Acts 2.23 says, you, Peter says you, by wicked hands have crucified and slain the Lord of glory. It was unjust, positively wicked, but it was also just. because God imputed our sin to Jesus and thus put him to death. As the prophet or as the poet has said, but the cruelest stroke, blow that struck him was the stroke that justice gave. Jesus justly was put to death, the just for the unjust. And our only hope for life, therefore, is if we have faith in Him and His sacrificial execution. Amen. Will you please stand for prayer? And Father, we have sensed Thy presence with us today. We thank Thee for protection, not only from the physical harm, but Lord, we also sense from the spiritual harm, from the devil himself and his demons. We thank Thee, Lord, that Thou has kept us safe, Thou has protected us, and in doing so, Thou has knit our hearts together in love. So be pleased, our Father, to continue to surround us with thy love and thy protection. And continue, O Lord, to apply thy word to our hearts and to our society, as we long for the day when the nations will learn war no more. So hear this, our prayer, we pray in Jesus's name. Amen.