Wake Up America Seminars * * August 3, 2018

Wake Up America Seminars * * August 3, 2018

Something to Ponder New Mini Article by Larry Wilson

Thoughts on the Pope’s New Decree Abolishing Capital Punishment By Larry Wilson

On August 2, 2018, the Catholic Church published notice that Pope Francis decreed (in May) that the death penalty is “inadmissible” under all circumstances. According to AP writers Nicole Winfield and Simone Somekh in the article Pope Seeks to Abolish Death Penalty, Changes Church Teaching, “The new teaching, contained in Catechism No. 2267, says the previous policy is outdated, that there are other ways to protect the common good, and that the church should instead commit itself to working to end capital punishment.”

While church organizations are free to believe whatever they want and free to make up whatever rules they wish to live by, all Christian organizations should make a determined effort to live within the gospel established by Jesus, the founder of His church (Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 5:23,24; 1 Timothy 3;15) and the author of His gospel (Mark 1:1; Romans 1:1-3,9; Galatians 1:11,12; Hebrews 12:2)!

As I understand it, Pope Francis has issued a decree that is contrary to the gospel of Jesus. Please consider the following: After the flood, Jesus spoke to Noah saying, “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.” (Genesis 9:6) Capital punishment is not man-made, it is a decree that came from the mouth of God. About 900 years later, the Lord spoke again about capital punishment. Whenever a murder occurs, “The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against his brother, then do to him as he intended to do to his brother. You must purge the evil from among you. The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” (Deuteronomy 19:18-21)

“Anyone who kills a person is to be put to death as a murderer only on the testimony of witnesses. But no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. Do not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer, who deserves to die. He must surely be put to death.” (Numbers 35:30,31) Capital punishment is a difficult doctrine because there is room for error. Juries can be misled because prosecutors can hide (and have hidden) information that would set the defendant free. Therefore, in some cases, capital punishment can become a miscarriage of justice. Does a miscarriage of justice nullify God’s decree? Does man’s imperfection justify defying God’s decree? Did Jesus abolish capital punishment when He was on Earth? No.

Capital punishment is a matter of corporate justice. The difference between justice and revenge is simple. Justice occurs when a third party investigates a wrong and according to the law, administers punishment commensurate with the crime. Revenge occurs when the offended party takes matters into his/her hands and without regard for lawful justice, punishes the offender according to passion. Contrary to what some people think, the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:38 do not abolish justice. In fact, Jesus said that individuals should not use “an eye for an eye” to justify revenge. The responsibility for carrying out the corporate demands of justice is granted to the authorities which God has appointed. Therefore until justice is served, we should turn the other cheek: “Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. On the contrary: ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:19-21) “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.

Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing.” (Romans 13:1-6) Finally, if you still think that capital punishment has been abolished, consider the seven last plagues in the book of Revelation. During the Great Tribulation there will be no justice for God’s saints. The saints will be abused and violated in every possible way: “He [the beast] was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation.” (Revelation 13:7) The pope’s ban on capital punishment will be abandoned. Millions will be killed (Revelation 6:9-11) and there will be no one to seek justice for them. However, Jesus will rise up and become their justice. He will personally kill everyone who harmed His innocent saints with the seven bowls. The death of the saint’s predators prior to the Second Coming has nothing to do with Hell which will occur after the resurrection of the wicked a thousand years later. The killing of the saint’s predators will be based on the words that Jesus gave to Noah. Pope Francis has made a grievous mistake and more than a billion Catholics will unfortunately think his gospel is the gospel of Jesus.

Larry Wilson

Scripture Thought for the Day

Matthew 5:3-12
"Blessed are those who are spiritually needy. The kingdom of heaven belongs to them.
Blessed are those who are sad. They will be comforted.
Blessed are those who are free of pride. They will be given the earth.
Blessed are those who are hungry and thirsty for what is right. They will be filled.
Blessed are those who show mercy. They will be shown mercy.
Blessed are those whose hearts are pure. They will see God.
Blessed are those who suffer for doing what is right. The kingdom of heaven belongs to them.
"Blessed are you when people make fun of you and hurt you because of me. You are also blessed when they tell all kinds of evil lies about you because of me. Be joyful and glad. Your reward in heaven is great. In the same way, people hurt the prophets who lived long ago.

Comments
Tim & Carol: Tim & Carol called into the office to let Larry know that they are praying for him. Their Bible study is continuing to grow and be an encouragement to all who attend. The attending Bible students are really taking ahold of Larry’s Bible prophecy teachings.
Glenn: Please tell Larry my wife and I are praying for him. I always have fond memories of attending the Fort Walton Beach seminar. I was so blessed to attend and hear all of Larry Wilson’s teaching.
Prayer Requests
Paul G.: Paul has passed away this past week. Please pray for his wife, Wanda, children and grandchildren as they deal with their loss.
Larry Wilson: Please continue to pray for Larry. He deals with a gradual decline from Bulbar ALS but continues to fight the good fight of faith. He continues to be an encouragement to the Wake Up America family as he is able.
Skip Rash: Skip has been diagnosed with an abdominal aortic aneurism. This is very serious. He has been to the ER on the 16th and the 31st of July. Pray for the doctors to take the best approach to help him get better and ultimately heal from this condition.
WUAS News
Larry Wilson’s Wake Up Report (WUR) & Book Archive: As we stated last week, we have updated the WUR & Book Archive. It is available on DVD for $5.00. Please feel free to call in and order your copy! For those that don’t know, you can also download all of these files from the Wake Up America website. We have a full webpage of downloadable articles, books and charts by Larry Wilson titled Bible Prophecy by Topic. Here are a few links to files that are on the DVD:
2000-2018 Daystar & Wake Up Report Articles PDF
2000-2016 Miscellaneous Bible Studies PDF
Jesus’ Final Victory book on PDF
Skip Rash: Thanks’ to Skip Rash, we have available for free use hundreds of Bible prophecy slides. Please feel free to use these for your Bible study groups and let us know how you utilize them.
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Please Note:
The information gathered for this WUAS NewsWatch is from many internet sources and is meant to keep readers informed of news relating to end time prophecy. Inclusions of links or quotations do not signify approval of the content or authors of the information by this organization.