Alright brethren, let's go to
Exodus chapter 21. Now we're in, we're at Mount Sinai
here. Moses is receiving the law from
God. The law he's receiving is holy. The commandment is holy and just
and good. because God who gave it is holy
and just and good. You know, the chief attribute
of God is holiness. That's the chief attribute of
God above everything else is holiness. God only does what
is right because God is holy. When I was younger in the faith,
if you would have asked me, I would have said that the most comforting
attribute of God is His sovereignty. I would have said it's because
God's absolutely sovereign. But as God grows us in wisdom
and understanding, we find even greater comfort knowing that
above all, God is holy. And here's why. The comfort in
God's absolute sovereignty is not the sovereignty alone. It's
not knowing that God has power over all things alone. That's
not the comfort in absolute sovereignty. The comfort in his total sovereignty
over all things is knowing that he's holy so that he only uses
that power to do what's right. That's the comfort. You know,
if the devil somehow today was given absolute sovereignty over
all things, it would terrify us. But it wouldn't be his sovereignty
that terrifies us. not his sovereignty alone, it
would be that he's unholy, he's sinful, and so that he would
use that sovereign power for nothing but sinful things. That's what would terrify us.
If the devil were holy, we wouldn't have any reason to fear if he
had all power. See, God's absolute sovereignty
is comforting to us who believe because we know that He uses
that power to do only what is good and right for His people. That's where the comfort is.
So, I want us to see how holy God is and as we look at this
law, we see how just God is and I want to look at law and grace. This is our subject, law and
grace. And we'll compare and contrast
law and grace. We're going to just look at a
few characteristics of the law. There's much more that we'll
see as we go through the law, but we're just going to look
at a few characteristics of the law. But this applies to all
law. If you want to be under law,
if anybody wants to come to God in the law, this applies to all
law right here. And then we'll go and see, we'll
look at Christ and see what it is to be under grace. Now first
of all, let's take a look at the law. Exodus 21, the first
thing we see here is the law is equitable. The law is equitable. Verse 18 says, If men strive
together, and one smite another with a stone or with his fist,
and he die not, but keepeth his bed, I get that, he's been smitten,
but he did not die, but he kept his bed. He was laid up for a
while because he's injured. If he rise again and walk abroad
upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit. Only
he shall pay for the loss of his time and shall cause him
to be thoroughly healed. Now the law is equitable. You
see, this injured man did not die. He didn't die, so the man
that smote him shall not die. He'll be quit. It means he's
not guilty of the law of murder, the law of manslaughter, so he
won't have to pay that penalty. The law won't require something
of him that he's not guilty of. The law is equitable. The exact
amount of wages that this injured man lost and all his medical
expenses, he has to pay the exact amount of all of that because
the law is equitable. The exact penalty owed must be
paid and it shall be paid. That's so with all law, the law
of God. And then we see here the law
shows no respect of persons. Look at Exodus 21, 20. And if
a man smite his servant or his maid with a rod, and he die under
his hand, he shall be surely punished. Notwithstanding, if
he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished, for he
is his money. The law does not regard who the
person is that is smitten nor who the offender is. The law
does not regard our person whatsoever. Before that law we just looked
at, there was a free man who smote another free man. Here
we have a free man smite one who is bound. Here we have a
free man who smites one who is a servant. That means he is a
male. or smites one who is a maid, that means it's a female. It
doesn't specify he can be an Israelite servant or a Gentile
servant. If they die under his hand, he
shall surely be punished. He'll be punished. We saw before the law required
death. He's going to die. But now, look
at this, if the servant lives, yet he's laid up, like the law
we just saw, he's laid up for a day or two, the master shall
not pay for wages lost in that case. Why? Because that servant
is his money. He's already being punished by
the servant being laid up for two or three days. So he don't
have to pay. You see, The point is the law
doesn't feel sorry for the smitten man just because it's a maid
or a servant, a lowly maid or servant. The law doesn't feel
sorry for him. It's not going to make him pay just because
he was injured. Whether it's a servant or a maid,
whether it's male or female, whether it's Jew or Gentile,
it doesn't matter. Whether you're bound, bond, or
free, it doesn't matter. God's no respecter of persons,
so his law's not. It doesn't matter what, who you
are in your person. 2 Chronicles 19.7 says, there's
no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons. And therefore, Deuteronomy 16.19
says, thou shalt not rest judgment. You shall not Do anything that's
not just, thou shalt not respect persons. Not at all. Now, go
with me to Ephesians 6. I just want to throw this in
there. Ephesians 6. We don't have servants and maids
in our day. Closest thing we have to it is
employees and employers. But let me show you Ephesians
6, 5. Grace Grace by the Spirit of Christ
in a believer, mortifying our flesh and producing the fruit
of righteousness in His child. Grace doesn't even give a need
for chastening. You see, this master was chastening
his servant because the servant wasn't doing what he was supposed
to be doing. That's why this whole thing got started. But
where grace is ruling in the heart of the servant or the master,
there's no need for any of this law. Period. Why? Here's what happens. Verse 5,
Ephesians 6, 5. Servants, be obedient to them
that are your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling
and singleness of your heart as unto Christ. not with our
service as men-pleasers, but as the servants of Christ, doing
the will of God from the heart with good will, doing service
as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatsoever good
thing any man doeth, any man, God's not respecting persons,
any man, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond
or free. When you're at your employer,
I don't care how bad the employer is. I don't care if they're rude
and put more on you than you think you ought to have on you.
Here's what the Scripture says to do. You work with fear and
trembling, having your heart singly set on the Lord Jesus
Christ as Christ being your employer, that you're working for Him.
And you serve in Christ from the heart, not to men. and know
that the Lord is going to cause His child to receive what's right,
whether your bond are free or whatever your state is. Look
at the next thing, verse 9. And ye masters do the same things
to them. You treat them just like He just
said servants to treat the master, forbear threatening, knowing
that your master also is in heaven and he is their respective persons
with him. You see, that's what the Spirit
of God works in the heart of his child. You can sit here and hear this
and say, well, that's what I ought to do. Yes, that's what you ought
to do. But I'm telling you, if you ever put in a situation where
you're the employer or the employee, and if you're an employer and
you've got an employee who's not doing as he ought to do,
if the Spirit of God's going to have you do this, if God's
going to have you do this, He's going to put it in your heart
and you're going to do it. That's right. He's going to produce
this fruit in his child. And if we go against it and do
the opposite of it, it's not very long that a believer can
go before the Spirit of God smites you in your conscience and says,
hold up here. Back up. Fix this. Treat this man like he ought
to be treated. That's what the Spirit of God
works. You see, the law doesn't work it. The Spirit of God works
it in our heart. Now go back with me over here
to Exodus 21. So first we saw the law is equitable, it demands
an exact payment. Secondly, we saw the law does
not respect the persons. It doesn't matter who you are,
what your state in life is. Thirdly, the law is just. Look
here at verse 22. If men strive, two men are fighting
each other, and they hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit
depart. That means she delivers early.
And yet no mischief follow. That means both mom and infant
are fine. He shall be surely punished according
as the woman's husband will lay upon him, and he shall pay as
the judges determine. If the judges determine that
the husband's requirement is just, then that's what he pays.
They may say it's not enough and put more on him, or they
may say it's too much and put less on him. But whatever they
say is just and right, that's what he'll pay. And if any mischief
follow, Then thou shalt give, that's saying if the mother or
the baby or both die or are injured. It says, then thou shalt give
life for life. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth,
hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for
wound, stripe for stripe. And if a man smite the eye of
his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish, he shall
let him go free for his eye's sake. Whoa, that don't seem fair. I mean, all the servant lost
was the eye, and I gotta let the servant go entirely? It's
just. How do I know that? The law said
it. The law said it. It's just. Look, verse 26, I mean verse
27, And if he smite out his manservant's tooth, or his maidservant's tooth,
he shall let him go free for his tooth's sake. The law is
just. The law is just. Whatever it
says is just and right, because God is just and right. And here
we see next, the law reaches all lawbreakers. Even a man's
animal. The law reached even to a man's
animal. That's showing us none of us here are going to escape
the law. It reaches to every lawbreaker. Look here in verse 28. If an
ox gore a man or a woman that they die, the ox shall surely
be stoned. The ox will be killed. And his
flesh shall not be eaten, but the honor of the ox shall be
quit. He doesn't owe anything. His
ox did it. But if the ox were wont to push with his horn in
time past, and it hath been testified to his owner, and he hath not
kept him in, but that he hath killed a man or woman, the ox
shall be stoned, and his owner also shall be put to death. He
knew this was a dangerous ox, he did nothing about it, so he'll
be put to death too. Look, if there be laid on him
a sum of money, and He shall give for the ransom of His life
whatsoever is laid upon Him. That's what we're going to see
in a minute when we come to grace. There was a sum laid upon God's
people and we couldn't pay it. But there was another, God's
own Son who was willing to pay and to ransom us from the law,
Christ Jesus for His people. Now look here, verse 31. It says,
whether he hath gored a son or he has gored a daughter, according
to this judgment shall it be done unto him. According to this
law, it will be done unto him, no matter who it is, if the ox
shall push a manservant or a maidservant. He didn't even kill them, he
just pushed them. Here again, the law is no respecter of persons.
The law reaches all lawbreakers. He just pushed a manservant or
a maidservant. He shall give unto their master
thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned. The ox
shall be stoned. Verse 33, If a man shall open
a pit, or if a man shall dig a pit, and not cover it, and
an ox or an ass fall therein, the owner of the pit shall make
it good, and give money unto the owner of them, and the dead
beast shall be his. And if one man's ox hurt another's,
that he die, then they shall sell the live ox and divide the
money of it, and the dead ox also they shall divide. Or if
it be known that the ox hath used to push in times past, and
his owner hath not kept him in, he shall surely pay ox for ox,
and the dead shall be his own." You see, the law reached even
to animals, to all these different animals. It reached to the maidservant,
and it reached to the maid and to the servant. It reached to
sons and daughters. It reached to the master. Everybody
the law reached. Everybody. So that is telling
us any and all who break the law of God shall suffer the curse
and condemnation of the law. God will by no means clear the
guilty. By no means. There's a lot more
we'll see in the law as we go through. I'm not gonna go through
every single law, but I'm gonna try to lump them together and
show you what, because that's what it is. They have them lumped
together and they show you things they have in common. And that's
how we can look at the law and study it. But that's what I will
see a lot more, but what we saw in these few judgments right
here, the law's equitable, the law's no respecter of persons,
The law is just and the law reaches to all law breakers. There's
one more thing that we see here. It's just not said. And we see
it from the fact that it doesn't say it. What about the man who
does not break the law? What about the man who does not
break the law? Did you see anything in here that the law demands
of the man who has not broken the law? He's innocent. He's
righteous. He's kept it. I didn't see anything
about that man. That's because the law has nothing
at all to say to a righteous man. Nothing. Go over to 1 Timothy
1.9 and look at this. Paul says there, there's some
who, verse 6, Verse 6, it says, verse 5, the end of the commandment
is charity. That's what we've been studying
on Thursday nights, that agape love, that love that's of God.
the supernatural spiritual love that God puts when He creates
a new man within His people. The end of the commandment is
charity out of a pure heart, a new heart, a good conscience
and faith unfanged. That means faith which works
by love. From which some have swerved
and turned aside to vain jangling, desiring to be teachers of the
law, understanding neither what they say nor whereof they affirm. But we know that the law is good
if a man use it lawfully. Now look, knowing this, the law
is not made for a righteous man. The law is not made for a righteous
man. You can drive from here all the
way to the west coast. If you're doing the speed limit,
the law won't say a word to you. You won't have a police officer
stop you, not for that. for that. Who is it made for? For the lawless, those that break
it. and disobedient, for the ungodly,
for sinners, for unholy, profane, for murderers of fathers, murderers
of mothers, manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves
with mankind, for men-stealers, for liars, for perjured persons,
if there be any other thing that's contrary to sound doctrine according
to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed
to my trust." So the law only speaks to them who are under
the law. That is, lawbreakers. That's
who the law speaks to. Now who is that? Who is that? That includes every person who
believes not on Christ, who is not under the covenant of grace.
That's who it includes. Let's go to Romans chapter 3.
To them the law is administration of sin and death. That's what
Paul called it. Administration of sin and death. And he, which laws is he talking
about now? People want to see, you know,
men are bad lawyers by nature. And he's always trying to look
for a loophole in the law to get, to keep ourselves under
the law. That's the insanity of it. Don't
walk into that fire, you're going to die. Well I'll show you, I'm
walking into it. That's what we are by nature. Paul said, you desire to be under
the law, do you not hear it? Oh yeah, we're going to be under,
we don't care what you say. But the Lord, when He gives you
a heart, men want to divide the law. They want to split it up
and say, well now that's talking about the ceremonial law, but
now it's not talking about the moral law. Paul said, the law
graven on stones. Which one was that? He said it's
a ministration of sin and death and it killeth. That's what He
was given for. What does He mean? Here's what
He means. Romans 3.19. We know what things soever the law saith,
it saith to them who are under the law. That's the only one. To them who are under the law.
That every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become
guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the
law, there shall no flesh be justified in His sight, for by
the law is the knowledge of sin. Let me say something real quick.
Because men will say, oh yeah, see that's talking about justification,
that's not talking about sanctification. In Galatians, the Judaizers were
saying they need to be under the law for sanctification. Read
first part of Galatians 3. Paul said, are you now made perfect
by the flesh? They were saying you grow and
grow more perfect by being under the law by the works of the flesh.
But when Paul talked about it, he didn't say whoever of you
is sanctified by the law, you're falling from grace. He said whoever
of you that are justified by the law, you're falling from
grace. If you try to be sanctified under the law, you're trying
to be justified under the law. That's what God says. That's
how God sees it. So however God sees it, that's
how it is. So that's how it is. So whether
you're talking about justification or sanctification, the law is
going to condemn you. It's going to condemn you. If
you've never cast your care on Christ, and you're sitting here,
listen to this word right here. John 3.36 says, He that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath, listen now, the wrath
of God abideth on him. You don't want to meet God that
way. You do not want to meet God that way. You don't think
God will have mercy on me because you are a preacher, you are my
daddy. My mother and my daddy, they
are believers. I got lots of believers in my family. What
do we just say about the law? No respect of person, no matter
who you are. Law is going to require the exact
equitable punishment that you owe it. The law is going to be
just. Law is going to have no respect
to your person. and the law is going to reach
you. It's going to get you. Don't worry about that. It will.
Give me your undivided attention now. I pray God to give you grace
to believe on Christ. Let's look at grace now. Look
at grace. Christ Jesus was made flesh and
made under the law to redeem His people from the curse of
the law. That's what we saw this morning. Look over at Romans
5. Romans chapter 5. He came and so he went to the
cross and I've said this to you many times. He's actually on
that cross, that is love and that is the positive fulfillment
of the law. That is a man loving God and
his brethren as himself. He's laying down his life for
both. There's the positive fulfillment and he's doing it by bearing
the sin of his people and paying the negative side of the law
for his people. So you have the precept and penalty
all wrapped up right there in this act of the cross and what
He's doing on the cross. And when the spotless Lamb of
God, who knew no sin Himself, who was holy and righteous Himself,
when He was made to bear the sin of His people and He stood
before God before the law, the law was equitable. The law was
equitable. It demanded an exact payment
for every sin of every chosen child of God. It was equitable. No more, no
less. Romans 5.16 says, Not as it was
by one that sinned, so is the gift. Adam committed one transgression
in the garden. And when he committed that one
transgression in the garden, everybody who would be born of
Adam, sinned in Adam, and died because he represented his family. Christ didn't just come to pay
for one sin, He came to pay for all the sins of His whole family,
of everybody that should be born of Him. Romans 5.16 it says here,
For the judgment was by one offense to condemnation, but the free
gift is of many offenses unto justification. The law is equitable. It requires an exact payment
and He paid it all. He paid it all. And then the
law showed no respect of persons. Go to Romans 8 and look at verse
32. The law showed no respect of persons. That was the Son
of God on that cross. That's God in human flesh. Surely God would show a little
bit of leniency when sin was found on His Son. Surely. Romans
8.32 says, He spared not His own Son. He spared not His own
Son. He delivered Him up for us all.
For all who Christ represented. For all who Christ was laying
down His life for. For all the sheep that Christ
said, I'm laying down my life for. The point I want you to
get there, He spared not His own Son. Do we think He's going
to show leniency to me, a sinner, a vile, God-hating wretch, when
here's the holy, spotless, perfect Son of God? When sin was found
on Him. The only reason God did not spare
Him is because He was bearing the sin of His people. That's
the only reason. God will not spare. He will not
clear the guilty. He will not. He showed no respect
to the person. The law is just. The law is just. Christ said, my God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? And he answered it, for thou
art holy. And I'm a worm and no man. That
was justice. That was a just wrath being poured
out. A just condemnation. A just curse. He was doing that justice. That
was justice. And the law reaches to all. That means on that cross, each
and every one of God's elect was crucified when our substitute
drank the dregs of the cup of the fury of God's wrath. Every
single one. Romans 7, if you look there at
Romans 7, it says, I mean Romans 6, It says there in verse 6, Knowing
this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin
might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For
he that is dead is freed or justified from sin. Who does that apply
to? Every single one of God's elect.
Every one of His people. Our old man died. Look back at
Romans 5.19 now. For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many
be made righteous. By Christ's obedience, all his
people are made righteous. Moreover, the law entered Why? That the offense might abound.
That you might see what a sinner you are before God. But where
sin abounded, grace did much more abound. Oh, aren't you thankful? Grace did much more abound. That as sin hath reigned unto
death, even so shall grace reign through righteousness unto eternal
life by Jesus Christ our Lord. And grace reigned indeed. Grace
reigned indeed. He sent us the Gospel like we
saw this morning. And because you are sons, God
sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts crying, Abba,
Father. And we were born again and we
beheld what great things God had done for us so freely. Chose
us freely by His grace. Redeemed us freely by His grace.
Regenerated us freely by His grace. Oh, we saw grace much
more abounded over sin. And we rejoiced in what God did
for us. Look at Romans 6.1. What shall
we say then? Shall we continue in sin that
grace may abound? Believer, Paul says, how can
we? How can we? Have you ever seen
a dead man do anything? I've never seen a dead man do
anything. That's what he's saying. We're dead. Before God, we're
dead. Our old sinful man has been slain. He can't continue in sin before
God, before the law. He can't. And we're alive unto
God by Christ's resurrection. And the Spirit of Christ in you
will not allow sin that's still in our flesh to dominate our
inward man anymore. So he says in Romans 6.14, Sin
shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the
law, but under grace. Christ condemned our sin in the
flesh. He condemned the condemnation.
And now the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us. Look back at Romans 3 verse 31. Do we then make void the law
through faith? God forbid, yea, we establish
the law. Men jump on that. They say, see
there, we're still under the law. Oh, we don't make void of
the law simply because we believe. We're still under the law. We're
still under the law of Mount Sinai. They just don't keep reading. The chapter division was put
there by the translator. They just don't keep reading
it. Here's what all this means. We who believe, we who've been
born of God and brought to faith in Christ by His irresistible
grace, we have established the law in perfection. In every jot
and tittle, we've dotted every I and crossed every T, we have
a righteousness that far, far, far, far exceeds the righteousness
of the scribes and the Pharisees. Remember Christ said, except
your righteousness exceed theirs, you can't enter the kingdom.
We have a righteousness that far exceeds theirs, nothing they
even came close to, remotely. We did this apart from our works.
We did this without laying one hand to the law. Now listen to me, just like Abel,
just like Enoch, just like Noah, just like Abraham did, 430 years
before the law was given at Mount Sinai. 430 years. Paul said,
could that law make void the covenant of grace that God had
made with Abraham? Absolutely not. He had already
established the whole law of God and the law had nothing else
to say to Him 430 years before the law was given. Well, how
did they all fulfill the law and how did we fulfill the law
in such righteousness? Read Romans 3.31 again. Do we then make void the law
through faith? God forbid. Yea, we establish
the law through faith. through faith. Look on, read
on. What shall we say that Abraham, our father, is pertaining to
the flesh is found? For if Abraham were justified
by works, he hath whereof the glory, but not before God, for
what says the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it
was imputed to him for righteousness. So then, That's how we establish
it through faith. That's why we saw in Romans 8,
1, there's therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus
who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. Why? Because the Spirit of life in
Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death.
We've been born of God. Now, we're led of the Spirit
And Paul said, and if you're led of the Spirit, you're not
under the law. Now we walk in newness of Spirit, not in the
oldness of the letter. Every single regenerated believer
does that. Every single regenerated believer
does that. It's not something we try to
do. It's a fact. We're led of the Spirit. What
does that mean? Go to Matthew 5. Matthew 5. It means we're under the rule
of Christ. We're under the rule of Christ.
What does that mean? We walk by faith. We walk by
faith. We trust Christ for all righteousness. We trust Christ to have totally
put our sins away. We trust Christ to have made
us accepted of God so that we don't have to add anything. Nothing
else is needed to be done. We trust Him and look to Him. Walking by faith means we're
led of Christ. We look to Christ, we learn from
Christ and we are moved by Christ. Remember Paul said, the life
that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son
of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. It means I live
by the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself working
in me both to will and to do of His good pleasure. All my
fruits produced by Christ, the Spirit of the Lord. That's right. And he says here, walking under the rule of Christ
means we're constrained by His love for us. We see His great
love and that's what motivates us and that's what moves us and
that's what constrains us to do what we do. It's His love
for us. And here's what He produces in
His child right here. Matthew 5.38. Christ said, you've heard that
it had been said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. That's just what we heard, isn't
it? Now if you want to live under the law, and you demand from
those that offend you, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a
tooth, you want exact payment, you want it to be strict, you
want it to be with no respect to persons, you want it to be
equitable, you want it to be just, okay then, but that's how
you're going to be judged. The exact same way. The exact
same way. But here is where Christ brings
us under grace. But I say unto you, I say unto
you that you resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee
on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. That doesn't
mean we're a doormat. That doesn't mean we just let
people run all over us. What it means is we seek to live
unto God with a clear conscience as peacemakers. Because the Spirit
of Christ, our peacemaker, constrains us to do so. Where do you get
this? Where do you learn to live like
this? He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
yet He opened not His mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the
slaughter and as a sheep before his shearers is dumped, so he
opened not his mouth. Did you learn that looking at
the law? When we were looking at the law,
did you learn that looking at the law? I didn't see that looking
at the law. Now this is the end of the law,
but the law didn't teach us that. grace and truth came by Christ
Jesus. And you only learn this looking
to Christ, walking by faith, looking to Christ. He said, I
gave my back to the smiters and my cheeks to them that plucked
off the beard. Go to 1 Peter 2.19. Here is where
He brings you. You know, you are walking and
somebody does something that you have not done anything to
anybody and they do something to you and It's offensive because
you didn't do anything to deserve what they did to you. And you have a sinful man of
flesh in you that rears back and wants to cold cock them because
of what they did. That's just in you and that's
in me. We're lying if we say that's not in us. But you have
that and I have that. But the Spirit of Christ in His
people mortifies that sinful flesh. and He strengthens that
inner man and He makes you to do what He tells you to do here.
This is what He said. This is verse 19. This is thank-worthy. 1 Peter 2.19. This is thank-worthy
if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it if when
you be buffeted for your faults you take it patiently, but if
when you do well and suffer for it you take it patiently? That's
acceptable with God. For even here unto where ye called,
because Christ also suffered for us." That's where we learn
this. Leaving us an example that you
should follow his steps, who did no sin, neither was guile
found in his mouth, who when he was reviled, reviled not again,
When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to
him that judgeth righteously, who his own self bare our sins,
and his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sin, should
live unto righteousness by whose stripes you're healed. For you
were a sheep going astray, but you're now returned to the shepherd
and bishop of your soul. What about that sin that stirred
up in me? That sin that stirred up in me
of my old man? That sin is enough to send a
thousand men to hell. Yes, it is. He said, but if we confess our
sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You see, when you sin, we have
an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and
He is the propitiation for our sin. You see, He mortifies the
flesh, that sinful flesh, and He strengthens the inner man,
And you may not do it for a while. You may go on in bondage to your
sinful flesh for a while so that He shows you, you can't deliver
yourself from it. You may be reviling back, reviling
back, reviling back, but then the Spirit of Christ is going
to cause you to hear, maybe hearing this message today. Somebody
needed it. And He'll strike you in your
heart and mortify that sinful flesh. And He'll give you a strength
in your inner man and you'll say, I'm stopping that. And you'll go to God and pour
out your heart and say, Father, Father, please forgive me. Christ didn't do this. He didn't
do this and He didn't do it because He loved me. This is how I was
saved. I'm not showing this person love
by acting this way. If I try to talk to them about
Christ now, they're not going to hear me because of the way
I've treated them. Oh, forgive me, Father. You see what we're
saying here? This is being under grace. Go
back to Matthew 5. We're walking by faith. We remember that God had a lawsuit
against us. and a rightful lawsuit. Yet Christ
laid down His life for us so that He could robe us in His
garment of righteousness. And so now for His great love,
His great love constrains us so that, verse 40, if any man
sues thee at the law to take away your coat, let him have
your cloak also. You see that? Before it ever
even gets to that point, he's saying, when we see something
going sideways, the Spirit of Christ compels you, constrains
you in your heart to say, well, brother, it's not that big a
deal. It's just, you know, I don't want to put more love
over stuff than I do over another human being. I'm going to, we're
going to fight, fall out, two people fall out over a coat and
a cloak. It's not worth that. And I see
how Christ laid down His life under the law for me to robe
me. I'm not going to not robe you. I'm not, you need something.
Let's don't go to law. Let's don't go to law. We're
in the grace. We're in the grace. We behold
His super-bounding grace, how it much more bounded, and this
compels us far more than any man can compel us. Verse 41,
Whosoever shall compel thee to go among, go with him too. Give
to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of
thee, turn not thou away. What's he given to you, brethren?
We cursed him, he blessed us. We hated him, he did good to
us. We despitefully used Him, He
ever liveth to make intercession for us. And of His fullness we've
received grace for grace. Doesn't that constrain you to
want to be gracious above all to your brother and
your sister? But not only them, to all men. And so we don't have a respect. This is our aim. This is the
new man right here that we delight in. This is all the word of our
Lord that we delight in. But we depend on Him entirely
to make us do this. He produces this fruit. It's
called fruit of righteousness which is by Jesus Christ to His
praise and His glory. That's Philippians 1. He's the
one that works this. But we, above all, love our brothers
and our sisters in Christ, but we try to live peaceably with
all men. Show respect to persons to no
man. Look at this, verse 43. You've heard it's been said,
thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. I say,
until you love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do
good to them that hate you, pray for them that would despitefully
use you and persecute you, that you may be children of your Father
which is in heaven. For He makes His Son to rise
on the evil and on the good. He sends His reign on the just
and on the unjust. For if you love them which love
you, what reward have you? Do not even the publicans the
same? And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more
than others? Do not even the publicans also?
He's not saying there's anything common about grace. Grace is
not common. Grace is toward God's elect,
particularly, affectionately, irresistibly, and works in them
alone. But He's saying here, but as
far as just being good to all men, God's good to all men. And so that's what He's saying
to us. And here's what constrains us.
Herein is love, not that we love God. But He hadn't treated me
right! Here in His love, not that we
loved God, but that He loved us. And gave His Son to be the propitiation
for our sins. You see? We cursed Him. He loved us. This is what constrains
you. That old man will come rearing
his head. Oh, anybody talks to me like
that, I'm going to give them the what for. They're not going
to talk to me that way. Here in His love, not that we
love God, but that He loved us. He sent His Son. You want to
talk about mortify the flesh. Our Lord, He just looked at Peter
and Peter melted. Be ye therefore perfect, even
as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. In Christ we're perfect,
brethren. In Christ we are perfect. But
we can't be perfect in this body of flesh. What does he mean here?
He simply means, brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. Have not
respect. If somebody comes in here dressed
fine, and we're going to shower them with all type of favor,
and another man walks in here poor, and we're going to treat
him differently. No. No. Why? Has not God chosen
the poor of this world? Rich in faith. See, we see something. We're
ruled by love, and we're ruled by grace. Because everything
is this, we look and we see how great Christ gave himself, what
a great sacrifice he gave and how he laid down his life. And
so, yes, above all to our brethren we do these things. These things
are above all to our brethren because we are one, we are of
the same household, the same spirit, the same faith, the same
family. But it means if it be possible
as much as life in you, live peaceably with all men. And toward
your brethren be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving
one another, even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you.
Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children. See, that's
grace. That's the difference between
law. Now you want law? None of this applies. None of
this applies. You want law? Cut and dry. cut
and dry, equitable, no respect to persons, just, reaches to
everybody, everybody's guilty. But just know this, Christ is
going to go on to say there, before you start trying to get
the beam out of your brother's eye or the speck out of his eye,
know you got a cross tie in yours. And one of us is not guilty.
So if we want to come to God in the law, we're going to pay.
I don't want to come that way, do you? I want to be under the
rule of grace and walk by love, by faith. Thank God He sent His
Son. Let's come now. This table that
we're going to observe today is to remember the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, you've heard the gospel
preached.