All right, if you wish to follow
along, turn to Deuteronomy chapter 19. Most of you all here especially
already know that, or at least you should. If you didn't get
my text, let me know because something went wrong because
I tried to text it to everybody. Deuteronomy chapter 19, your
homework was brief. It was just verse 14. Do not
get used to that. Deuteronomy chapter 19 verse
14. Thou shalt not remove thy neighbor's
landmark. And take note that it is landmark. It's not landmarks, although
I'm sure that every piece of property that was in the inheritance
of Israel had more than one landmark to mark out all the corners or
angles, whatever there was. But notice it is singular. Thou
shalt not remove thy neighbor's landmark, which they of old time
have set in thine inheritance. Notice how Moses is speaking
here. He's speaking as if it's already
done, and they haven't even entered into the land yet. But the inheritance
was set of old time. God purposed it even before the
world began, because God never comes up with something new.
It may be newly revealed to us, but it's never new to God, let's
go on. Which they of old time have set in thine inheritance,
which thou shalt inherit in the land that the Lord thy God giveth
thee to possess it. So the landmark and not removing
it, that's what is the command here, not removing it, was in
the inheritance. It had to do specifically for
Israel then, it had to do with that piece of land over there
in Palestine. I have a commentary, well I have
several commentaries of course, but I have a commentary in my
little, I don't want to call it my library because I've been
to some preachers, they've got a library, I've got a couple
little shelves with some books in it. But I have one commentary,
and it's actually written by many men. Different men took
different chapters or maybe different books. So I'm not for sure who
the person was that wrote this piece, but I looked up this piece
specifically. And three or four of these larger
commentaries, which are written by numerous men, here's what
this commentary said about this one verse. It talked about stones
as boundary indicators. And that's really, although that
may have been used, that's really not the meaning of the landmark
here. It was actually rope or something twisted up together.
We don't really know what it was. The Hebrew word tells us
it's something bound together like you would a rope, like you
would a hemp rope. So it wasn't necessarily a stone,
although it may well have been stones in some cases. But the
scripture is quite absent in giving us the overall picture. It tells us where different tribes
were. and then where specific individuals in those tribes may
have been. But that's not the point. After
this commentary, and it wasn't maybe two lines, two sentences,
talked about stones as boundary indicators and they were not
to be secretly moved, and this don't, secretly or otherwise,
you don't move the landmark. Even if you sell the land, you
don't move the landmark. Even if this guy in this tribe
had this piece of land and another guy in this tribe, same tribe,
had a piece of land right by it, and this man sold his piece
of land to this guy, the boundary markers still remained. You understand
what they're getting at? They talk about don't do it at
night. It don't matter whether you do it at daytime or nighttime.
So anyway, it was just two lines. But then I want to give you a
quote. Why this verse is placed in the midst of a passage dealing
with judicial practice, in other words, cities of refuge, that's
what we looked at last week, that comes before it, and witnesses,
false and true, that's what will be next, God willing. And so
they're saying, why this verse is placed in the midst of the
passage dealing with these things is difficult to say, but its
position does not obscure its teaching. And that was the end
of everything they said about Deuteronomy 19 and 14. Oh, how blind is that blindness
that misses Christ. Oh, how blind is that blindness
that misses Christ. Thousands in this world have
not missed the fact that they should live better than what
they live. Thousands upon thousands have
understood and even made great pronouncements and maybe even
some great changes in their way of life. And I am not denigrating
that. There are some ways we ought
not to live in this world. There are some ways no individuals
ought to live in this world. My wife just told me and I think
it was Pam and Linda, was it this morning? Or maybe it was
me and you and Linda was sitting there. And Penny read something on her
phone and some mother out in California that caught her and
she had slaughtered her three kids, wasn't it? One of them
was an infant. Somebody's life was messed up, folks. Somebody's
life was messed up. And all God has to do is remove
his strength just a wee little bit. And we conduct ourselves
like a wild beast. like a wild beast. How blind
is that blindness that misses Christ? Listen to me. Legal precepts
are designed. Now this law says, thou shalt
not. Don't remove a landmark. It means
don't remove a landmark. And we still practice that today
to a degree. And I will show you an illustration,
God willing, here in a moment. It's good. The commandment is
wholly just and good. But this commentary was like,
boy, that was out of the blue. Boy, that was out of the blue.
Not if you see what the law really teaches. Think about it. Paul read it. 1 Corinthians,
you don't have to turn to it, but 1 Corinthians 9. and I will
read one verse that he's already read. For it is written in the
law of Moses, thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that
treadeth out the corn. Now here's that law, that's a
law given to Israel. And you were to feed that ox
his daily ration of food, whatever it was, once a day, twice a day,
whatever they did. But when he was treading out
the corn, don't put a muzzle on him, let him eat what he wants.
And still feed him what he's got to have as his daily ration,
that's what it's talking about. And that's what the law was there
for. But look, doth God care for oxen? Is that the real point? Is God just having a pity party
up there for the poor old ox? Now God does care for oxen. He
even cares for the sparrows and feeds them. But as Paul goes
on to say, or saith he it altogether for our sakes, For our sakes,
no doubt. So you see how this legal precept
was designed to show a spiritual principle. Don't muzzle the mouth
of the men who feed you spiritual things. Don't do that. And Paul
ably presented that to us this morning. So we see three things. Consider these three principles
or precepts taught here. One, do not remove thy neighbor's
landmark. It's singular. And let me jump
ahead. It's singular because everything's
got to begin somewhere. And where you begin is the most
important thing. You understand that? Everything
has to begin somewhere. There has to be a starting place.
That's what this law is talking about, that first initial starting
place, that first initial marker that says, here's where the boundary's
at. And then from that first boundary,
or that primary landmark, then other secondary landmarks are
marked out. And like I said, I'm jumping
ahead, but that primary, initial, singular landmark, when you mark
out the land, you must eventually make your way all the way back
to that landmark. Or you have a gap and total chaos,
okay? So think about that. Do not remove
thy neighbor's landmark. That's singular. The landmark
is ancient. It's ancient, isn't it? It is
set of old time. Thirdly, the landmark deals with
the inheritance of God's people. That's what we see here, correct?
That's the precept, three precepts that are given in this law. And
it says, thou shalt not remove thy neighbor's landmark, which
they of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou
shalt inherit in the land that the Lord thy God giveth thee
to possess it. Now let me compare something.
Woe to anyone who removes the landmark of the truth of the
gospel. All that God says in this word,
now this whole book, Not every passage in this book
is the gospel. There's one passage that I persuaded
is God testifying to us of the fall
of Satan. Lucifer. Mason, that ain't the
gospel. Man fell in the garden when our
daddy Adam ate of that fruit and rebelled against God. That
ain't the gospel. but I thank God for the gospel
in light of those two things. Though God never designed to
save Satan or any of the fallen angels, he designed to save a
people from their influence and their eternal doom that would
come from following their influence. Woe to those that remove the
truth of the gospel. Paul said about some people,
and you can read it in Galatians chapter two verses one through
five, I will not read those. He said there's some men out
here and they're not teaching the truth of the gospel. And
it's not by denying everything. They didn't deny that Jesus Christ
was Lord. They didn't deny that Jesus Christ was the Messiah.
But in Galatia, specifically, they were saying, that's all
true and you must believe that, but you need circumcision as
well. And Paul argues through the power
of the Spirit of God being inspired, you can't add just one thing
from the law. Either Christ is singular, one,
he's all, or he is nothing. Nothing. Nothing. And Paul said concerning these
false teachers, and I want to read that verse. I will misquote
it. Sure as I'm me. Galatians chapter two, he writes
this word. To whom we gave place by subjection,
no, not for an hour. Do you see that? No, not for
an hour. That the truth of the gospel
might continue with you. Our God is absolutely sovereign.
And he will always have his witness in this world. But let us never
think God owes us that. Let us never presume on that.
We must stand for the truth of the gospel. and woe to the man
who removes that landmark. Woe to the man or the woman that
removes from that landmark. Secondly, the gospel is one of,
it's an ancient landmark, is it not? I know there are some,
they are called dispensationalists. They call themselves dispensationalists.
And I'm sure that there are some people who hear me say certain
things would brand me as a dispensationalist, and to some extent that may be
true. I believe there were different
dispensations. But there's always only been
one gospel. Peter put it this way, 1 Peter
1, verse 18, for as much as you know that you were not redeemed
with corruptible things as silver and gold from your empty or vain
conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the
precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and
without spot, who verily, that means truly, we're not debating
this, this is to be proclaimed. who truly, verily was foreordained
before the foundation of the world. The landmark's been set,
folks. God put the landmark in the ground,
if I can put it that way. God said, here's the beginning
stone. Here's the original primary boundary
marker. It's Jesus Christ, the Ancient
of Days, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the
world, but was manifest in these last times for you. Aren't you
glad God showed you that landmark? Aren't you glad he showed you
that landmark? So there's our three comparisons,
or two, I'm sorry. Here's the third one. The gospel
deals with our inheritance. You didn't know that, right?
Of course you knew that. Don't mean to, I didn't, that
may have sounded, it may have been condescending. I shouldn't
have said it that way. First Peter chapter one, listen
to what Peter, same Peter, look what he says. Chapter 1, verse
1, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered
throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithymia, all over the
place, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.
And we don't really know what all that means. Men have argued
about it, debated about it, but one thing I know it does not
mean, because God's book tells us it don't mean. It says that
when it come to Jacob and Esau, God chose Jacob, he rejected
Esau, and it was before they were born, and it had nothing
to do with any good or evil that they'd done. So that settles
the foreknowledge question. I don't know what all Mason it
entails, but it don't entail their birth or something they
would do after they were born. good or evil, period, that the
purpose of God according to election might stand. So be it. That's
just the way it is. Elect according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience,
and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you,
and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father
of the Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a lively hope. How? First of all, by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. We're not even
talking about regeneration here. We're talking about the foundation,
the foundation, the boundary stone, the landmark. It is the person and work of
Jesus Christ and specifically that accomplished at Calvary
and in the tomb and then raised and seated at the Father's right
hand. That's the gospel. And that's
the foundation of our lively hope. That's when I was really
born again. Now, have you heard anybody ever
say that? No, I was, I was born unregenerate, but God Almighty
guaranteed my regeneration in time because the Son of God was
raised from the dead. Look, to and inheritance. Folks, right here's the chief
cornerstone. Now, I know that's talking about
a building. We're looking at land. But Jesus Christ is who? The chief coroner. It's the most important of all
the others. That's where you start. That's
where you start. And if you're gonna have a building,
you gotta come back to that point somewhere. Now, do you not? Or
you ain't gonna have nothing but a wall. Right? You ain't gonna have nothing
but a wall. All right, now. Let's compare. Chapter 19 and
verse 14 with the preceding and the following legal precepts.
We have a city of refuge. There were six of them, why?
Because Jesus Christ must become human flesh. We have a city of
refuge. And that city of refuge is marked
out by one beginning primary boundary stone. And if anybody
lies about it, they're in trouble. Now you've seen the whole context.
Paul, it's that simple, and yet that hidden to someone who have
blinders over their eyes. They write a whole commentary,
and on this most, a most glorious verse, and all they can say is,
why this verse is placed here in this passage, we really don't
know. But at least it's teaching, it's not obscure. Well, it is
to them. It is to them. Now, let's compare
the one landmark, God's gospel. What did Paul say? If somebody
preaches any other gospel, let them go to hell. Isn't that what
he said? Let them be accursed. And the cursor, the only cursor
there could be, God. And he says, I marvel that you
so quickly removed from that landmark. I know that's not exactly
the way he says it, but that's what this is talking about. And
here you have a city of refuge, a person to flee to for refuge,
and the boundary, that city had to be marked with, Mason, a landmark
stone. Hm? Don't you remove that stone. And somebody comes around and
starts lying about it, somebody's a false witness, the judgment
will fall on their head. And Paul says that's still true
today, especially concerning the gospel. We don't persuade
men. We're here to seek to honor God
and God alone. Now, I want to give you a moderate
example of the landmark. I gave you a little A little
piece of paper that's hand-drawn. For those of you who may see
that, you probably can't even see that online. The modern example I want to
give you is this. If you have a piece of land and you're going
to sell that land, if you want everything to be above board
and legal, then you have that land surveyed and it's wrote
down in a deed, okay? And it's registered. You pay
the money to the lawyers, the survey, whatever is all done,
and it's registered at the courthouse. That's how, if you really want
it done right. If you want to make sure somebody don't try
to come back later, and they may still try to come back to
you, if you want to make sure that piece of land you're buying,
you better do this. You understand what I'm saying? Better have
it surveyed, have the deed wrote up, and have it all signed legally
by everybody that's supposed to sign off on that thing. So
think about it. Every good deed, I'm talking
about not a good deed you do, I'm talking about a deed for
a piece of property. Every good deed always has, when it starts
delineating out the exact place this piece of property is, it
always starts at one place. It don't ever say, well just
kind of right smack dab in the middle of Kelly's Tank, West
Virginia is a piece of property owned by Walter and Penny Pendleton.
No sir, it starts at one specific place. And every time a piece
of land is sold off of that one or anything else, all of that
must be, it starts in one place. And it's gotta come back to that
place. You remember what Jesus Christ
said? I just wanna read you the one verse. You don't have to
turn to it, I'll read it to you. And behold, I come quickly, and
my reward is with me, to give every man according to his work
as his work shall be. I am the Alpha and Omega, the
beginning and the end. The same person is? Yeah, yeah,
the beginning and the first and the last. Starts with that stone,
that landmark, that boundary marker, and everything else comes
all the way back circle. If it's proper, if the law is
satisfied, it's gonna come right back to that very landmark. You take this piece of L-shaped
land, there's your starting mark, Christ, God's landmark. You leave
out this little section over there, then you don't know who
owns what, right? If you don't go, see, from giving
to witnessing, and if you leave that part out, you got chaos. Mac, who knows, who knows? The
land may come up in a big V here somewhere, and your neighbor
may own right smack dab in the middle of your piece of land.
But I want you to notice something else. You can't start somewhere
else. The deed starts to read from
the landmark, the property line goes 100 feet north, then turns
due east and goes 20 feet due east. If you start up here with
repentance and faith, then you will be way up here somewhere.
You see what I'm saying? You got to start at God's landmark. If you miss the gospel, the truth
of the person and work of Jesus Christ. I don't care how much
you know about repentance. I don't care how much you know
about baptism. I don't care how much you know about gathering
together. I don't care how much you know about giving. I don't
care how much you know about witnessing. And you do it. If
you miss Christ, you missed it all. You got no our inheritance. And if you start at any point,
you ain't gonna have the inheritance. No, are you? You're just not. Now look at that. That's where
you gotta start. You gotta start with Christ.
Paul said the gospel is the gospel of God concerning his son. My total depravity by nature
and your total depravity by nature is not the gospel. Now it is
truth, but it's not the gospel. It's the reason we need to hear
the gospel. And the gospel starts with the person and work of Jesus
Christ. And then repentance and faith
have some meaning. Then baptism has some meaning. Then gathering together has some
meaning. Then giving has some meaning.
And I don't mean these just in a certain order, other than this
one's gotta be there first. That one's gotta be there first.
God's landmark, the one landmark, got to be there first and you
got to start there or you are not a partaker of the inheritance. But then you gather, then you
give, then you witness, but what does it all do if it's going
to be all above board and all legal? You gotta come back to
that one landmark. Listen to what Paul says. Now,
Paul the Apostle was a man, he knew that he could engage in
outward acts of the law. Now, before he was regenerated,
he thought he was actually keeping the law. Once God regenerated
him, he said, when the commandment came, sin revived, I died. Now
he was already dead. But what's he talking about?
I experienced that death. That law brought me down to my
knees. But this man had, he was of the
tribe of Benjamin, that loved son. Circumcised the eighth day. He was a Hebrew of Hebrews. He was a Pharisee and well respected
by everybody that was in his group. And he said, I count all
that, but what? Dung, dung, so that I might go
out and witness. Mm-mm, so that I might win Christ. You better start with Christ
or you're in trouble. Listen to, finally my brethren,
Philippians three. Rejoice where? In the Lord. in the Lord. To write the same
things to you, to me indeed, is not grievous, but for you
it is safe. And I know some people say, well,
all you do is pluck that same string over and over again. But
I'll tell you, just like Ross Barter used to say, I know good
preaching even when I'm doing it. And when you're preaching Christ,
it's good preaching. I'm not talking about the mode
or the, I'm talking, when you're preaching Christ, it's good preaching. Rejoice in the Lord. And it's
not, that's not, beware of dogs. Why? Because they'll move the
landmark. And they'll come right out in front of you and do it.
They won't wait till the night. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers,
beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision which
worship God in the spirit. Rejoice where? Not in a doctrine
itself. Though it is, doctrine is there,
but we rejoice in a person. We rejoice in Christ Jesus and
have no confidence. You see that? No confidence in
the flesh. And I want to say this, and when
we do, God will crush it before our eyes. And when we do, now
this is a statement of who God's people are as a whole. We have
no confidence in the flesh, but back every once in a while we
still lean back and hold on to it. But thank God he's still
merciful. He's as merciful to me today
as he was the first day he saved me out of my blindness. The first
day, because I still need his mercy today. Today. And look, verse eight, yea doubtless
I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord. My brothers and sisters, Christ
is God's one landmark. That's the message, the one landmark.
God's gospel, you know why? Because that gospel is the message
of God about his son. And if you start there, if you
start there, you'll end up there. And you will have the inheritance
intact. Isn't that a glory?