Justice

Terminal Stupidity

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Law

Genre: Speech

Track: 04

Dictation Name: RR174B4

Location/Venue: ________

Year: 1960’s-1970’s.

[0:00:00]

I’d like to call your attention to the fact that these conferences which have been held for eight years now involve a lot more than you see when you come here. They are due to the untiring work of Elizabeth and Clint Miller, and we all owe them a debt of gratitude for their faithfulness and their zeal for the faith. There is another aspect to these meetings that does not appear as we come here. All through the year, every year, I hear from people who have attended these meetings; some from the other end of the country. And they report that they were impelled by these meetings to start an educational, charitable, or some other kind of activity so that the practical consequences of these meetings have been very great and very extensive.

For this I do want to thank Elizabeth and Clint Miller. [audience applauds them enthusiastically]

Our subject in this section is terminal justice. Our Lord says for everyone shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good. But if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith shall ye season it? Have salt in yourselves and have peace one with another. One of man’s ancient goals is set forth in the myth of king Midas. He attained his gold in that everything he touched turned into gold. But Midas found the gift to be a curse.

Sigmund Freud declared himself to be a new kind of Midas, writing to his friend William Flies on December 22’nd, 1897 Freud wrote and I quote: “I can scarcely detail for you all the things that resolve themselves into excrement for me. A new midas.” Unquote. Men do have their goals, as did Freud and Midas. Men are not always honest about their goals however, as Freud was when he delighted in turning every into excrement. Modern humanism affirms chance in a world devoid of meaning and purpose. This is in part a hypocritical stance because at the same time, evolution is affirmed!

Why not devolution? Why not the steady degeneration of all things? The humanistic views have goals, the world state, communism; the sexual revolution, and so on and on. Humanism has a variety of plans for heaven on earth, which are in fact producing hell on earth. But where are the Christian goals that the church should be proclaiming? The donum superadditum mentality is commonly content with the world of Christ’s enemies with the profession of faith in Christ added to it. This assumes that the humanists are right so far as they go. They only need Jesus added to their world.

In education this means that the public schools and the public school curriculum are good. Good as it is, it only needs bible readings and prayer added to it to bless the whole mess. There is no mandate seen for the regeneration of all things. Others see the biblical mandate of sanctification only in terms of personal devotional living, only in term so giving ourselves and all the world over to holiness unto the Lord. This is set forth for us over and over again in scripture. But pietism has reduced the goals of Christianity to personal dimensions only and surrendered the world to the devil.

Scripture however tells us that God declares that history is moving toward two great banquets. The first, in Rev. 19:17-21 is the day of the vultures and their feast. In this imagery Revelations depicts the end of the dream of babylon, a world order without reference to God and in defiance of him. Instead of establishing order the people of this dream bring in a radical and destructive disorder. It is interesting that in the dictionary of sociology there is no entry for god. But entries for a variety of societal entities, from social to sociometry fills pages 237 to 303. Society is for this perspective the critical and the defining factor.

Emile Durkheim and other sociologists as well have seen the social mind as the definitive factor in influence and or governing the individual mind. We are, in other words, a product of society. They speak of a social mind, although there is no social brain. Some sociologist substitute other terms for the social mind, terms such as public opinion, popular sentiment, and popular will. Frederick E. Lumley defined social order in these words and I quote: “In general the term refers to the totality of human relationships and culture of any given area or time. The consolation of social institutions. Critically the reference is to a certain quality, mainly the smooth efficient logically aesthetic and ethical interactional functioning of individuals and groups within any such totality. It is a condition comparable to the health in the individual, it is not the same as peace for conflict may be orderly, it is not the same as organization for organization always requires an amount of complexity not necessarily bound with order.” Unquote.

Now if you’ve learned something from that definition, please tell me.This is not a definition of social order but a description and an evasive one at that which tries to cover all bases. We are not told what happens when the validity of the ethical or moral is denied. This same dictionary of sociology sees ethics as morays, as a human product. As a socially created order. If this is true, how can we define good and evil even on relativistic terms? Because ‘one man’s good may be another mans evil’. How can we call one thing order and another disorder with this kind of relativism?

When definition breaks down so too does society, because there is then no good or evil, only every man doing what which is right in his own eyes. We have then a culture society in which every man is his own God and law! And then the ethics for lawlessness of lamek prevails. That depicted in Genesis 4:23-24. The feast of the vultures represented in Rev. 19:17-21 tells us of the end results of an anti Christian world in which men espouse a radical conflict of interests and see no God given order.

We see the conflict of interests exalted into a philosophy in evolutionary faith and in marxism, we are often told by people that this is a dog eat dog world which sets forth the same faith... we know this is a God created world, and though fallen, it shall be made new.

As against this view of the future, Revelation gives us another, a depiction of the marriage supper of the lamb. In Revelations 19:1-9. It’s foundation is set forth in the great proclamation. Allelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth! The contrast of the feast of the vultures is a dramatic one. A marriage represents love and community, the two made one. It is an occasion of joy and feasting. A feast of vultures represents death, an end to life. Whereas, a wedding represents life and future births.

History ends for those whom vultures devour, it enters into a fruitful phase for those who marry. It means entrance into the Godly order spoken of by the prophet Isaiah who said in Isaiah 2:2-4 “2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

3 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.

4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”

The goal of history is God’s terminal justice, and there is nothing that man can do to alter that course.

Our lord tells us plainly, ye are the salt of the earth, but if the salt hath lost savor wherewith shall it be salted? It is therefore good for nothing but to cast out and trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world, the city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Powerful words, encouraging words, and also frightening ones. The first of these verses, verse 13 tells us what happens to salt that has lost it’s savor. I learned that years ago on the Indian reservation. We salted meat for winter use and I would put up a crock or two of trout and other things. Then the brine, very salty, could not be poured anywhere where you grew anything because it would prevent growth. You put it on a path; on ground that was unproductive, to be trodden under foot of man. And God says to his church, I will pour you out if you are salt which has lost it’s savor to be trodden under the feet of the nations.

Regeneration is new life and power, hence, like salt the Christian is the preserving power in this world, without him society degenerates and disintegrates. He is also God’s light in this world and among men. Without light men cannot live, work, nor move, nor exist. Spurgeon said on verse 13, and I quote: “Thus he speaks to those who he enrolls in his kingdom, in their character there is a preserving force to keep the rest of the society from utter corruption. If they were not scattered among men the race would petrify, if they are Christians only in name then the real power is gone. Nothing can save them. And they are of no use whatsoever to those among whom they mingle.

There is a secret something which is the secret of the believers power, that something is savour. It is not easy to define it, but yet it is absolutely essential to usefulness. A worldling may be of some use even if he fails in certain respects, but a Christian who is not a Christian is bad all around, he is good for nothing the Lord says. As utterly useless to anybody and everybody, utter rejection awaits him, he will be cast out and trodden under foot of man. His religion makes a footpath for fashion or for scorn as the world may happen to take it. In either case it is no preservative for it does not even preserve itself from contempt.” Unquote.

Let the world hate you for the power in you, but let it not despise you as irrelevant. There is a related statement concerning salt in Mark 9:49 which I read earlier. Our Lord speaking of judgements says everyone shall be salted with fire. This is not a popular text, nor a common text for sermons. It is however an important text because it tells us that among other uses fire not only destroys it also purifies. Fire can kill a man and burn down a house but it can also refine and purify gold and silver. And we are told by the prophets that the Lord tries every man by which is meant, he refines them with fire! To be salted with fire means to be subjected to God’s purifying or destroying judgement.

Our God is a consuming fire, if we do not receive God’s purifying judgements we shall receive his destroying fire. The conclusion of Mark 9:49 reads “And every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.” This is a citation from the laws of sacrifice from Leviticus 2:13. It means that our services under God must have the purification of tribulation and judgement. In Mark 9:50 our Lord says further, salt is good, but if salt hath lost it’s saltiness-- wherewith shall we season it? Have salt in yourselves and have peace one with another.

Our lord in these verses associates salt, the preserving power, with fire the purifying agent. And he says that we must be salted or preserved by fire or judgement. On this basis he adds that we must have salt, the salting of fire in ourselves to be at peace one with another. Our redemption and God’s power in and through uus requires the purification of his judgements. This means that when His sovereign redeems us his law his justice then becomes used by God to guide, teach, judge, and purify us.

So that we progressively undergo the experiences which he uses for our growth, for our sanctification. terminal justice represents a process of judgement and purification. In God’s terminal judgement we are told that the books shall be opened; there will be a full, final, and perfect settling of all accounts. A terminal and perfect justice. Concerning the course of the united states in this century, justice, Macklin Fleming the California justice of a few years ago wrote, and I quote:

“The phrase “the irrelevance of guilt” is one used by Lord Diplock of the British house of lords, in referring to the American rules of criminal law that require suppression of all evidence obtained by unlawful, improper, or irregular means. Suppression of evidence lies at the heart of the concept of perfectibility as much as any single rule it has led to the shift of emphasis in a criminal proceeding from the determination of the guilt or innocence of the accused to the determination of the correctness of the procedure used in his prosecution. In this latter determination guilt becomes irrelevant.” Unquote.

The irrelevance of guilt is due to the humanistic belief in perfectibility. This leads to an emphasise on what Justice Fleming calls “the determination of the correctness of the procedure.” Unquote. This is like saying that murder, rape, and theft are fine conducted according to the proper rules. Whenever a society denies that there are absolute God given laws for men to live by they will then give undue weight to man made procedural rules.

The lord God forbids murder. The U.S. supreme court says that evidence improperly obtained is illegal and a murderer can go free. As a result in american courts the murderer routinely goes free because God’s law is denied in favor of the edicts of the U.S. supreme courts. For the church God’s grace, his son’s atonement and word are simply a donum superadditum and hence their impotence. For the humanistic world God’s grace or law or justice is not even a donum superadditum, it is irrelevant! But all those who declare God to be irrelevant to their lives or their world are in due time shelved as totally irrelevant by the Lord God of hosts. Terminal justice comes to history from beyond history. It is from the Lord, everyone shall be salted with fire. Everyone! That includes us! So that we might better serve him.

So that we are not salted with fire for our destruction. Saint Paul tells us according to the grace of God which is given unto me as a wise master builder. I have laid the foundation and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble... every man’s work shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. The biblical word justice is also translated as righteousness. The two words are the same in scripture.

Righteousness is not something that primarily or essentially from courts of law. Just as sin and death came because the first Adam tried to be his own God and law, so life and righteousness--justice come because the last Adam Jesus Christ had as his life’s premise the declaration: “Lo I come in the body and in the book it is written of me to do thy will O God.” This must be our faith. Our declaration and the mainspring of all human action. As we face an evil world our being cries out for justice and we are told “Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness, or justice, for they shall be filled.”

Terminal righteousness. Terminal justice is God’s goal for history and it must be our goal also. grace is a gift which confronts us with our sin, even as grace regenerates us and makes us a new creation. For if any man be in Christ he is a new creation. We as God’s new creation are salted with fire, that we might serve him who declares I am come to send fire on the earth. By his terminal justice there shall be according to his promise, new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. Thank you. [audience applauds]

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