Liberty from the Sword Martin G. Selbrede Law and Liberty Tour February 23, 2013 Church of the King McAllen 7401 N. Ware Rd McAllen, Texas
We have a choice: 1. Liberty from the sword 2. Liberty to the sword
If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them I will give peace in the land neither shall the sword go through your land. Lev. 26:6 Peace is a byproduct, a result, of something else: justice and righteousness. Justice, justice shalt thou do! Deut. 16:20
Upon all the glory shall be a defence. Isaiah 4:5 Where God isn t glorified, that nation is on its own! Attacking faithful Christians in your culture perforates what godly defense you have.
Peace is a covenantal phenomenon. When a man s ways please the Lord, even his enemies are at peace with him. Proverbs 16:7 The mighty are taken away without human hand. Job 34:20 Note the kingdom of Byzantium s long tenure.
Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine Jeremiah 34:17
Take away her battlements, for they are not the Lord s. Jer. 5:10
Nations (including America) routinely violate the Biblical laws concerning warfare. Deuteronomy 28 is therefore triggered.
Some of God s laws concern: 1.Age for military service 2.Possession of invasive force 3.Scorched earth policy 4.Realpolitik (power politics) 5.Preemptive war policy
Ezekiel 13:10-16 Don t believe the whitewashers! Zechariah 9 A Tale of Two Kings
Do not think that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. Matthew 10:34 fling or cast peace (same word as casting pearls before swine) No sudden imposition of peace. Isaiah 57:21
And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Isaiah 2:3
First, verse 3: the law goes forth Then verse 4: Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war ever more. The permanent cessation of war (liberty from the sword) follows the Law (see also Psalm 72:7)
For verily I say until you, until heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, until all be accomplished. Matthew 5:18
For verily I say until you, until heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, until all be accomplished. Matthew 5:18
For verily I say until you, until heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, until all be accomplished. Matthew 5:18
Fulfilled (v. 17) is plerosai, meaning exact opposite (alla) of abolish (kateulosai) Accomplished (v. 18) is genetai, to put all the jots and tittles into full realization.
Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Matt. 6:10
God will be King in the world when all shall subject themselves to his will. We are not here treating of that secret will by which he governs all things, and destines them to their end What we here speak of is another will of God namely, that of which voluntary obedience is the counterpart; and, therefore, heaven is expressly contrasted with earth, because the angels do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word (Psalm 103:20). We are, therefore, enjoined to pray that as everything done in heaven is at the command of God, and the angels are calmly disposed to do all that is right, so the earth may be brought under his authority, all rebellion and depravity having been extinguished. Calvin s Institutes, 2:190
Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Do YOU pray this in faith?
Two types of swords: EXTERNAL INTERNAL
Karl Marx has a solution to poverty: CLASS WARFARE So the sword proceeds from inside the nation, against its own citizens, in the interest of attaining a Marxist utopia.
The Lord God has a true solution to poverty: THE POOR TITHE Unlike solutions offered by humanism, Karl Marx, or the fictional Captain Nemo, God s solution actually solves the problem. Let s see how
Christ applies the Law in Mark 10 with the rich young ruler: Do not defraud (apostereseis) Greek translation of term used in Exodus 21:10, Deut. 24:14, and Mal. 3:5 in regard to depriving or withholding from the needy. Contrast the rich young ruler with Zacchaeus!
Obey God s law on the tithe and you shall have no more poor among you Deut. 15:4 I have written to Ephraim concerning the wonderful things in my law, but they were esteemed a strange thing. Hosea 8:12 But we do things man s way, repudiate God s way, and launch an expensive war on poverty that has become a colossal failure.
And of the increase of His government and peace, there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. Isaiah 9:7 (more and more upon His shoulders)
Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. Isaiah 42:1-5
They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. Isaiah 11:9 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they all shall know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them... Jer. 31:34
What precedes the verse that says, And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they all shall know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them...? I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. Jer. 31:33, Heb. 8:10, 10:16
The permanent cessation of gospel proclamation is taught (Jer. 31:34), as an apparent result of the Great Commission being fulfilled. The permanent cessation of war is taught (Isa. 2:4, 9:7, Psalm 72:7) The connection? The Great Commission enjoins teaching all things that Christ commanded.
But we know that the law is good if used lawfully. I Tim 2:2 St. Paul magnifies the law regarding sanctification, but condemns it as a way of justification. For do we make void the law of God through faith? Nay, God forbid. Rather, we establish the law. Romans 3:31
Isa 45:22-23 God keeps His vow that the command for all the ends of the earth to be saved will be fulfilled. His word doesn t return unto him void not even the Law, which was given to be kept, not to be broken perpetually billions of times every moment across the globe. Only a Christian can keep the law of God (the greatest commandment requires unfeigned love of God)
And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places. Thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations. And thou shalt be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of the paths to dwell in. Isa. 58:12 Whoso shall do and teach the least of the commandments shall be called great in God s kingdom. Matt. 5:19
A bruised reed shall he not break, and a smoking flax shall he not quench, till he leads justice to victory. Matthew 12:20 Christ leads JUSTICE to VICTORY
Liberty from the Sword Martin G. Selbrede Law and Liberty Tour February 23, 2013 Church of the King McAllen 7401 N. Ware Rd McAllen, Texas