Prayer is always proper; it is double proper in time of trouble. The Word of God says, "And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me" (Ps. 50:15). - John R. Rice [World-Wide War and the Bible, pg. 54]
Exodus 20:13 says, "Thou shalt not kill," clearly meaning that no individual has the right to take killing into his own hands, for a personal grudge. But the same passage of Scripture continues, and in the following chapter, verse 12, the Lord says, "He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall surely be put to death." God plainly commands the death penalty in the next chapter after He gave the commandment, "Thou shalt not kill." See Exodus 21:15-17. So it is quite clear that God put the death penalty in the hands of organized society. And the New Testament teaches exactly the same thing. Romans 13:4 tells us that the ruler "is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid: for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath on him that doeth evil." - John R. Rice [Dr. Rice, Here is My Question, pg. 81]
In Genesis 9:6 God commands, "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man." The government should act for God in executing murderers, says the Scripture. Again in Exodus 21:12 God commands, "He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall surely be put to death." And in the New Testament the same God, who has not changed His principles a particle, says the rulers are God's agents in executing punishment on criminals, that the ruler is "the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath on him that doeth evil" (Rom. 13:4). This is why we pay taxes to the government. God says, "For this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing" (Rom. 13:6). You should not go by your ideas about whether it is right to put murderers to death, but go by the Word of God. - John R. Rice [Dr. Rice, Here are More Questions, pg. 528-529]
A war-torn world sighs with its burdens and sins. Come, Lord Jesus, Come! The Saviour must take away His own for a honeymoon in Heaven. Then upon the earth shall be great tribulation. The greatest armies and the greatest battles and the greatest persecution, the greatest suffering will take place with half the population of the earth being killed. And then Christ shall return to fight the last battle and reign on the earth and we shall have at last, at long, long last, peace on the earth! - John R. Rice [World-Wide War and the Bible, pg. 55-56]
When I find that I am part of this sinning, warring, hating, dying world, then I cry out like David, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me" (Ps. 51:5). David meant no slur at his mother's name. It was no sin when David's parents in the holy bonds of marriage came together and David was conceived and later born. These parents were fulfilling the divine command to multiply and replenish the earth. David means no reflection on marriage or parenthood, but simply that despite the love and tenderness of his godly mother and the integrity of his great father, Jesse, yet the taint of sin was impregnated with the horrible wickedness of the race of which he was born!
So it is with me, and with you, doubtless, dear reader. - John R. Rice [World-Wide War and the Bible, pg. 70]
What is wrong with the world? It is not social maladjustment, not economic dislocation, it is not that certain classes are "underprivileged." What is wrong with the world is SIN---black, hellish, Christ-rejecting, God-hating, Bible-denying, Holy-Spirit-blaspheming, hating, murdering, thieving, lying, adulterous SIN! - John R. Rice [World-Wide War and the Bible, pg. 76]
What man needs is not a New Deal. What man needs is a NEW HEART. The social gospel saves no souls, patches together no families broken by divorce, makes no criminals honest, makes no harlots pure, makes no drunkards sober. Those things require a change of heart. The so-called social gospel would put perfume on a skunk, but would not change his nature. It would teach a rattlesnake etiquette but would not change the poison of his bite. The so-called social gospel would tie a pink ribbon around a mad dog's neck, but would not cure his hydrophobia! The so-called social gospel would feed a man's belly and clothe man's back when what man needs is a refuge and cleansing and new life for his sin-cursed soul! - John R. Rice [World-Wide War and the Bible, pg. 76-77]
The new-fangled, man-made, so-called "social gospel" does not meet man's needs. The man who preaches it and pretends to preach the Bible is a lying hypocrite and ought to be dragged from the pulpit. Any reader of this message who sits in the pews and listens to it and supports such folly should "come out and be separate, and touch not the unclean thing" (II Cor. 6:14-18). He bids Godspeed to the evil deeds of such unbelievers and is sinning against the Bible and against God and against the souls of men! The only Gospel that will do this sinning race any good is the Gospel of individual redemption by Jesus Christ, who died to save all who will trust in Him. - John R. Rice [World-Wide War and the Bible, pg. 77]
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