Matthew chapter 5, and tonight
we'll be looking at verse 38 down through verse 43. The Scripture says, You have
heard that it hath been said, an eye for an eye, and a tooth
for a tooth, But I say unto you that ye resist not evil, but
whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him
the other also." Now, the title of the message tonight, The Law
of Justice and the Attitude of Grace. The Law of Justice and
the Attitude of Grace. Now, as we've studied the Lord's
Sermon on the Mount here, Let us be reminded what the Lord's
purpose is in this first part of the sermon. The purpose of
the Lord in this sermon is to manifest to us the impossibility
of the law. He is going to manifest and to
expose to us the true nature of the law. The true nature of
the law. And so as you study this and
as you read this, know this, this is not a new law. What He's
telling us here is not something that He's adding to the law. He is only expressing to us the
real meaning of the law. In every one of these verses,
we've seen that. We've seen that murder is not
just actual killing, but it is the thought of hatred in the
heart. We saw that adultery is not just
the act of fornication, but it is rather the thought of adultery
or the lust of the heart. And we saw that taking an oath,
that when we take an oath, that it's to be fulfilled. as Christ
and God have taken an oath. Well, this is also true of this,
that sin is not just an outward action, but rather inward thoughts
and motives. And remember, that sin is always
produced from where? From the heart. It says, from
the heart, Christ said. Come thoughts, evil thoughts,
adulteries, murders, fornication. It's the heart of man. And man
by nature, as we saw on Sunday, man by nature, Solomon said,
is full of evil. Man is full of evil by nature.
He's depraved and set towards sin so that he cannot and will
not obey the law of God. Therefore, Jesus said in Matthew
chapter 19, when the disciples asked the question, they said,
who then can be saved? Remember when that rich man came
to Christ and he went away? And they were wondering if Jesus
said it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
than for a rich man to enter into heaven. And they said, well,
then who can be saved? And Jesus said what? It is impossible
for men. With men, it is impossible to
save yourself. But with God, all things are
possible. And therefore, Jesus said it's impossible for men
to save themselves because He knew the old nature was set at
enmity against God. Paul said in Romans, that the
natural man receiveth not the things of God, for he is not
subject unto Him, neither indeed can be. He can't be subject to
the law of God. The nature of man can't. And
so here again, We are faced with another law that we have broken. Here it is. Here's another one
in a long list of laws that we all have failed. An eye for an
eye and a tooth for a tooth. Now this, I want us to look first
of all at this law. This law, and for time's sake,
I want you to write this down. I want you to look at these later
because I don't have time to read all of these texts to you.
And I want you to get them so you can look up this law later
and see what I'm saying is true. I love you, and I know you love
me. Don't take my word for it. Look it up yourself. Look it
up for yourselves. In Exodus 21, verse 24, Leviticus
24 and verse 20, Deuteronomy 19, verse 21. I'll say it again. Exodus 21,
verse 24. Leviticus 24, verse 20. And Deuteronomy 19, verse 21. All three of these passages of
Scripture say, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. That's what it says. In all three
places. Now what all these things have
in common in all three of these patches of Scripture is that
they are not talking to the individual person. They're not talking to
the individual person. Every one of these references
has its context pointed to the judges of the nation. This was for the judges of the
nation. And God said, an eye for an eye
and a tooth for a tooth. The magistrates that were set
above the people were to arbitrate and this law was to keep order. That's what this law was for.
This law was to keep order. And it was for the magistrates.
Now, why was this law necessary? Why was this law given to the
magistrates and necessary to say an eye for an eye and a tooth
for a tooth? Well, because of sin. Because
of sin in man, this law was given and needed. You see, God, who
will ultimately destroy sin, has also in time determined to
keep sin in check. And He is determined to do this
by appointing kingdoms and governments and people and magistrates so
that man is kept in check. You see, governments are a tool
of God. They're a tool of God. Look in
Romans chapter 13. I'll show you this. Romans chapter
13, beginning in verse 1. Romans chapter 13 and verse 1. It says, Let every soul be subject
unto the higher powers, for there is no power but of God. The powers
that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth
the power resisteth the ordinance of God. And they that resist
shall receive to themselves damnation, for rulers are not a terror to
good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid
of the power? Do that which is good, and thou
shalt have praise of the same. For he is a minister of God unto
thee for good. But if thou do that which is
evil, be afraid. For he beareth not the sword
in vain. For he is a minister of God and
a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." You see,
the governments that we have, even in our day, are set up and
ordained by God. And if we resist the powers that
be, we resist God. And now, I'll tell you what,
people gripe about our government right now. Do you understand
what government Paul was under at this time when he wrote this?
He was under Nero. Nero, one of the worst Christian
haters and persecutors in the world. And yet he said, Nero
was ordained of God. And he said, if you do well,
if you obey the laws, what's the problem? You're not
going to have any problem. It's when you do evil. God has
set these men so that when men do evil, He checks sin. by these people. So God has ordained
the rule of government as a means, and He sets up kingdoms and puts
down kingdoms and uses them as a tool to administer justice,
and this is the justice that they are to administer, an eye
for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. I tell you, I thank God for the
nation that we live in now. We live in a very good, and I
say it's the most just nation in the world, and that's the
best I can say for it. Because it's not truly just, is it? We
don't find true justice here in this world. You see, our justice
system used to be better than it is, isn't that right? I mean,
used to, it may have been an eye for an eye, but now it seems
like an eyelash for an eye. It seems like that there's no
real justice. It seems like that the criminal
is the victim. And they prosecute them like
this. So our system, though may be
good, it still lacks. I was talking to Cheryl about
this, and she said, well, maybe our life will be like Mexico.
And I said, well, that's going the opposite direction. That's
a tyranny, and we don't want that either. Either one are just
as bad as the other. You see, God says there's a middle
ground, there's a right road, and this is justice. That's what's
right. And I'll tell you what, there's
not a happier nation than a nation whose rulers are just. The people
feel safe when the rulers are just. When the rulers aren't
judged, do we feel safe? No. No, we don't. Because they're
not following the precept of God, that God has given them
to execute His sword to those that would be evil. Now, this
is here to prevent also excessive judgment and lax judgment. This
law is to prevent both of them. It says you need to administer
judgment rightly. And it shows here the righteousness
of God and His law. You can look at this text and
you can see that, hey, if God says an eye for an eye, then
He is just. He's saying, let the punishment
fit the crime. Let the punishment always fit
the crime. That's words of a just man. That's
words of a just God. He is just and will only demand
what is fitting the crime. So that's the law. That's the
law in a nutshell. Now, number two, I want us to
see the true nature of this law now. This law, the true nature
of this law. The Pharisees, when Jesus was
speaking to these people this day, when He said, you have heard,
remember, they didn't have the written Word that we have. The Old Testament, only the magistrates
carried copies of the written text. So the individuals, they
had to sit and listen to the priests or the scribes tell what
the Scripture said. So Jesus said, you've heard.
You've heard this. An eye for an eye. But see, the
Pharisees, they used this in a very aggressive way. Because
they thought that this was meant for individuals. They thought
that this law was for everybody. Every individual Jew, they believed,
had the right to demand what they thought to be right in judgment. So like Bob, if I accidentally
chopped off your hand, you know, the Pharisees would say, hey,
Bob, you need to go over there and cut off his hand. You need
to do what's right. You need to go over there and
you need to individually work this out with him. You need to
take what's rightfully yours. And so they would encourage others
to do this. They call this the law of retribution. That's what they called it. The
law of retribution. That if one commits a crime against
another, the victim has the right to exact payment. But again,
this was not written, this law was not written for individuals,
but for magistrates. You see, it would have been good
if I did that to Bob, it would have been good if he would have
taken me to the court. Or if he would have turned me
over to the magistrate. Then I would have been able to
adhere to what they had said. This is because the nature of
man is not just. You see, we're not just. We can't determine what's right. When you get hurt, do you think
that you have a just mind? When someone hurts you, do you
think you have a rational mind to determine what's right? No.
You see, if someone comes and plucks out my eye, I want both
of theirs. If someone cuts off my hand,
I want both of their hands. Why? Because I want more than
what's just. You see, I don't want justice,
I want revenge. Isn't that right? That's revenge. If someone attacked my family,
do you not think I would be passionate? Do you not think I would be angry?
I would be upset? Do you not think that I, for
one minute, would not want to take more from those people who
hurt my family? Of course I would. Why? Because
I'm not just. My nature is not just. And so,
this is why God imposed this law. So that we would not seek
revenge ourselves. And so therefore, Jesus Christ
expresses to us the nature of the law as it should be in the
heart of everyone who's a victim. When something or someone affects
you or hurts you, Jesus Christ is telling you, an eye for an
eye is not your business. What's your business is what's
taking place in the heart. The law demands of you, not an
eye for an eye, but it demands of you, resist not evil. That's what Christ said. But
I say unto you, resist not evil. Now, I'm going to tell you a
couple of things that it's not, what He's not saying. What does
that mean, to resist evil? What is that? Well, first of
all, this is not teaching against the right of government to exact
justice. I've already explained that.
The Scripture teaches that the government was set up by God.
God set up the government to exact His will to keep men in
check. Yet some take this passage to
mean pacifism. Pacifism. Some people actually believe
that Jesus is saying that we're not supposed to have policemen,
that we're not supposed to have armies, that we're not supposed
to have judges. We're to just let evil men do
whatever. Well, that's not what he's teaching.
That's not what he's teaching at all. We know that from the
passage in Romans 13, that God has set up judges, that God has
set up magistrates for His own purpose and will. Number two,
this is not teaching that Jesus is adding anything to this law.
He's not adding this to the law of an eye for an eye. But rather,
He is showing us that the individual's part in this law is not retaliation,
but to show love and grace. That's what he's telling us.
He's not telling us not to resist evil so that he's adding to us
another law. Friends, our nature is so inclined
to legalism. There's no telling how many years
I've looked at this passage of Scripture and seen this as something
I need to do, rather than seeing this as something that I can't
do. But Jesus is not teaching that
and He's not teaching that we are not to resist sin, Satan,
or false religion. James 4, 7 says, resist the devil
and he will flee from you. So He's not talking about resisting
Satan. In 1 John 2, chapter 2 and verse 1, it says, little children
sin not. So He's not telling us not to
resist sin. And in Galatians 1.8, he says,
Though I, an angel from heaven, preach another gospel to you
than that which we have preached, let him be accursed. And remember,
what did Paul do in Galatians to Peter? He resisted him, didn't
he? He resisted him to the face.
And so we are to resist sin. We are to resist Satan. We are
to resist false teaching. So that's not what Jesus is saying
by resist not evil. Then what is he saying? The best
one for this is Romans 12. Flip over to Romans 12. I think the best illustration
of this text is in Romans 12. The Apostle Paul, I think, says
it best. Romans 12 and verse 17. Paul says this, "...recompense
no man evil for evil." That's what Jesus is saying. He's saying,
resist not evil. He's saying, repay no man evil
for evil. Provide things honest in the
sight of all men. If possible, as much as lieth
in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, here it
is again, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath.
For it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith
the Lord. Jesus is teaching us that the
law specifies that we are not to give place to revenge or to
avenge ourselves, but rather to give wrath to where it belongs. Where does wrath belong? Who does it belong to? Who's
the only one that can justly give wrath? God. Then what in the world are we
doing trying to be angry and vengeful at people? You see,
the law is against our anger and vengeance because God is
the avenger, the avenger of the unjust, not us. It belongs in
the hand of God. It is our nature to ask for revenge. It is the nature of the law that
tells us to be just and that God is the only one that can
give that. And to obey the law, we must
fully and completely resist the evil of revenge. And in faith,
rely upon God to avenge us from all our adversaries. Alright.
Who here has relied upon God absolutely to avenge you from
every adversary without you trying to avenge yourselves? See the impossibility? Can you
see that? Someone slap you in the face?
I'll let God take care of that. Oh, you will? Well, that's good
if you can do that. Your pastor has a tough time
with that one. That's difficult. So Jesus here is teaching that
we are to patiently The law is teaching us to patiently yield
ourselves to those who do us harm. First of all, to those
who do us bodily or emotional harm. Whosoever shall smite thee
on the one cheek, on the right cheek, turn to him the other
also. We are injured by another person.
Jesus is not telling us not to defend ourselves. He's not saying,
don't put up your hands to defend yourself. That's just foolish.
I've seen people try that and, you know, it just looks foolish.
You said you're getting beat. That's not what he's saying.
What he's saying is after you've been hit. See, it's easy to maybe
even put your hands down, let somebody beat you up. But then
after is the problem, isn't it? When we've already been hit.
It's then that the anger begins to boil. It's then that we look
and long for revenge. for people that have hurt us
physically. But Jesus says no. That's not
the law. The law is turn the other cheek
and give him the other one to hit as well. It means that we
are to forgive and to forget. You see, forgiving, we all do
that every once in a while. Oh, but forgetting. That's altogether
different, isn't it? Usually bearing the hatchet easy,
but we always leave the handle sticking out, don't we? Ready
to grab it every moment to pull it out. Jesus Christ said if
you were to obey the law, you must forgive and forget. You
must forgive and forget. But most of our injuries are
not physical. We, most of us, don't get beat up. Most of our
injuries are emotional. They're internal. We get hurt
by people's words or by their actions. Some people smite us
with their words and they try to ruin our name and our character. And friends, to defend your character
is okay. You can defend your character,
but you cannot defend your character at the expense of the person
who tried to ruin it. Jesus says, Resist not evil. Give no thought of vengeance
or revenge. Number two, the loss of an estate.
If any man will sue you at the law and take thy coat, let him
have thy cloak also. The words, sue at the law, they
do not mean as an open court. But what they do mean is to strive
or contend with someone for your coat. In other words, you get
and held up. Somebody puts out a gun and says,
your money or your life. How many people try to wrestle
with that? I heard of a man that got shot
and killed because he wouldn't give him his wallet. Man, if a man wants your money,
give it to him. Let him have everything. And
then take, hey, I've got a ring in my pocket that you didn't
notice. Here, take that too. Take that too. And then, when
he's taken everything you have, the law says, don't think evil
of him. Don't think evil of him. When
he's taken everything you've got, and you've given him what
he didn't even know he could take. Then don't think evil of
him. Don't try to avenge yourself
to him. So when we lose our money or
someone steals something from us that rightfully belongs to
us, we're not to try to take vengeance. We all have had something
material and physical that someone's taken from us, and it's our nature
to long to take it back. I see that in my kids. I see that in my kids. My son
will go in my daughter's room, grab something, and what does
she... She didn't even know it was gone. And the next thing
you know, when she looks and sees it's gone, what is she going
to do? She runs in there and grabs her stuff plus some of his stuff
and takes it back to her room. She wanted revenge. She wanted
to get him back. Jesus Christ said, if we are
to obey the law, we are not to take vengeance when someone takes
something that belongs to us. Let us bear patiently with those
who steal and rob from us." Number three, those that have done us
wrong in liberty. It says, "...whosoever shall
constrain thee to go a mile, go with him too." I don't know
how many times I've heard messages from that and people say constrained
means to ask. That's not what that word means.
It means to force you to go a mile. See, it's altogether different,
isn't it? Someone asks you to go a mile and you go with him,
and then you go with him too. That sounds polite. This is someone
who is forcing you to do something that you have a right to decline. It's not liberty. He is making
you do this. How many of us have had bosses
that required more of us than what our job stipulated? Everyone has had that. Everyone's
had a boss that said, no, you need to work late and I'm not
going to pay you. Oh, I've got to get him. I know,
I felt that way. I know. I know what we feel. We feel like we need revenge. When people compel us to go one
mile, the law says, no, go with them two. Don't go with them
just one. Go with them twice is the law.
Bear with it. And don't try to avenge yourself. Christ says, if we are forced
to labor one mile, let us labor two without saying a word. And number four, in giving, we
are to be patient. Now then, say one man has done
all this to us. He slapped us in the face. He
took our coat. Now he's making us work for him
for free. And he comes to your door and he knocks on your door
and he says, hey, I need a piece of bread, I'm hungry. How do
you feel? Feel like giving him a piece
of bread? Feel like giving him something to drink? Christ says,
give it to him. That's what the law demands.
The law demands you give it to Him. You love your neighbor as
yourself. That's what the law demands.
You give to Him that is hurt. And I'll tell you what, it's
easiest to forgive us to give bread and our things to people
that love us, isn't it? Well, friends, wicked, vile men
do the same thing. What reward have you then? If
you do the same as wicked men. So it is required of us to give
to those who have taken from us without expecting any return. Now then, here's the question.
Who here has done all of those things? Without exception. I'm not talking
one instance. I'm not talking one time that
you bit your teeth and bared through giving something to a
man who hated you. I'm not talking about that. I'm
talking about giving of your whole heart to a man who hates
you and has abused you, who spit on you. You see, the law demands
this of us. These are not requests. These
are demands. Who here has done these things? I know that we have all desired
revenge. I know that when we've been hit,
we've desired to hit back. I know that when we've been stolen
from, we desire to take back. How do I know that? Because I'm
just as wicked and as vile as you are by nature. We all have. We all have broken this law. We all stand guilty before God. And there is only one, there
is only one in all the world who has ever fully done these
things, and His name is Jesus Christ. Jesus said, I have come
to fulfill the things. I'm going to tell you, you can't.
I am right now fulfilling all these things that I'm telling
you. And I want us to see how Jesus did this. When we see an eye for an eye
and a tooth for a tooth, I want you to see, first of all, the
justice of God. God is just. He demands payment
for sin. What is the payment for sin?
Eternal death. The Scripture says, "...the soul
that sinneth, it shall surely die." And because God is eternal,
so every sin against God deserves eternal justice. You see, God
cannot and will not excuse our sins. Just because you can obey
these things doesn't mean that God is not going to exact justice
for them. He will. Or He has. God cannot accept any excuses
for sin. If we have sought revenge and
not trusted in God to take vengeance, then what have we done? We've
robbed God of what is His. We by nature deserve the justice
of God. An eye for an eye, hell for every
sin. This law of not resisting evil, is owning that the wrath of God
belongs only to God. And it was fulfilled in Christ.
It was fulfilled in Christ. You see, He alone is the only
one who's ever turned His cheek after they've smitten Him. Flip
over to Isaiah 50. Isaiah chapter 50. Isaiah chapter 50, and let's
look at verse 5. This speaking of the Lord Jesus
Christ, He said, The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was
not rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave my back to
the smiters and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair.
I hid not my face from shame and spitting. For the Lord God
will help me, therefore shall I not be confounded, therefore
I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be
ashamed." Can you not see how he turned his back to the smiters?
And the Scripture says, "...as a lamb before her shears is dumb,
so he opened not his mouth." Do you not think that Jesus Christ
had a right to stop them? If anyone did, He did. And what
did He do? He was smitten on the cheek,
and He turned His other one. He turned His back to the smiters,
and they exacted what we owed to God. He who was God of very God, who
had commanded the sea to part, and who had commanded the heavens
and the earth to come forth, at His word He took upon Him
the form of a servant who is Lord of all." And because God
would save and elect people, because God would not write His
people a bill of divorcement, His elect who sold themselves
for iniquity. Isn't that what we have done?
Isn't that what we have done by nature? We sold ourselves
to iniquity? He was not rebellious and God
opened His ear. He became the servant of God. He took upon Him the form of
a servant. He was a willing servant and He turned His back to the
justice of God and gave His cheeks and hid not His face from my
shame. You see, it was our shame, it
was our sin that ripped His flesh. And you
know what He did, Bob? He set His face like steel, like
a flint toward my sin, and He endured the wrath of God
in my stead. Not a word. Not a word. Is that not marvelous? Is that
not something that gives you pause to think about sin and
the cost? It should. He had His face turned for our sins,
and yet did He not turn the other cheek of grace to us? Did He
not turn the other cheek of grace our way? Did He not and does He not still
extend forgiveness to us? Yes. Yes, He does. Number two, He did not give us
what we deserved who robbed God of His glory. He gave us more. He gave us more. We by nature contended with God
to rob Him of His glory. How do we do that? By trying
to merit God's favor. Anyone who tries to merit God's
favor by their works is robbing God of His glory. And we all
strive to rob God of His glory by our works or by our will to
be accepted of Him. But because we are sin through
and through, we could not meet the demands of God's glory. no
matter how hard we tried. And to think we can only brings
God's glory down to nothing. So in sin, we as thieves, like
our father Adam, robbed God. And because of this, we lost
our fellowship with God, we lost our communion with God. But this
man Jesus restored to the robbers more than we took. We wanted the coat. And He said,
no, not the coat, but also the cloak here. Here it is. Here it is. You sought for His
glory. You couldn't get it on your own.
I merited it and I gave it to you. He gave us the glory of
God. As Jesus said in the high priestly
prayer in John 17, 22, And the glory which Thou hast given Me,
I have given them. The glory we tried to steal,
Christ gave to us. We were thieves and deserved
God's wrath, but because of grace, because of His blood of His cross,
God has by Christ given us His glory in that He obeyed God and
we through Him have obeyed God as well. Number three. He was made to go a mile, and
He went to. You see, God determined to save
and elect people. And yes, Christ came willingly.
He willingly came down to be the servant of God. But because
He had set Himself in eternity to save His people, He was also
forced or compelled to go and to be a surety for His people. Remember what He said, Father,
if it be Thy will, let this cup pass from Me. Oh, he was compelled. These things were far beyond
our understanding. For Christ to take our sins,
we have no idea the depths He went to. We have no idea. You know what? He just didn't
go one mile with this. He went two. He went two. He and His obedience and offering
were twice as much as was needed. Is that what Isaiah 40 verse
2 says? Speak comfortably unto Jerusalem, and cry unto her that
her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned.
How? For she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all
her sins, twice as much. Do you know if the Lord had purposed
to save ten billion worlds, that the blood of Christ would have
been enough? Why? Because the blood of Christ is
of more value than our sin. Isn't that right? His blood is
of more value than any of our sins. And so then God says His payment
was doubly good. It was twice as good. He was
forced to go one mile, but He went two. He paid twice as much
as was necessary. That should be comforting to
our hearts. And still, number four, He gives to us without
regard of our sin, but according to His grace." Think not for a moment that any
of our blessings come to us because of our goodness. How many times
do we think that? I'm doing good. I'm really doing
good. Look what God's doing for me
because I'm doing good. No! No! Don't fall into that
trap. God is doing you good because
He would be gracious. And that's the only explanation
He'll give. Because He would be gracious. To every sinner, my friend, that
is in need of mercy, that comes asking for forgiveness,
has Christ ever turned away one? I know of not one that has ever
come to Christ empty of themselves and walked away empty. Not one. Jesus says, Whosoever cometh
to Me that the Father has given Me, I will in no wise cast out. Do we deserve that? My friends,
that's an attitude of grace, isn't it? That's an attitude
of grace. That all come in need of salvation. And to us who have come, does
He not still give us grace? Has He not still extended us
grace? Yes. So then, let us who know
Christ go and do likewise. Let us not seek vengeance, but
rather forgive. Let us not try to begrudge those
who have taken from us, seeing that God has restored to us more
than we could ever take away from Him. Let us also go willingly
to those that force us, and let us go willingly twice as long
with them. For Christ went willingly and
paid double for all our sins. Let us give freely to those who
ask us, friend or foe." Why? Because is that not what Christ
has done for you? Is this not our reasonable service? This is not a law. This is just
reasonable. Isn't it just reasonable to do
unto others as Christ has done unto us? I pray that God would
bless this to us and keep us in His grace and give us strength
to follow His footsteps. Let's stand. We'll be dismissed
in prayer. Bob, would you dismiss us in
prayer, please? Dear Father in heaven, thank you for this day. You have given us. Thank you for
the service.