All right, Matthew, Chapter five,
the title of our lesson this morning is the true meaning of
an eye for an eye. You may recall that the Lord
is teaching us here after the Beatitudes, the true meaning
of the law, giving us the true meaning of the law by explaining
to us the true meaning of several different commandments of the
law. And he's showing us that the true meaning, the purpose
of the law, the purpose that God would give the law is this. It's not so we can earn a righteousness
by keeping it. It's not so we can improve ourselves
in God's eyes by keeping it. The true meaning, the purpose
of the law is to drive us to Christ. The purpose of the law
is to show us our sinfulness, to show us we can't keep it so
that we're driven to Christ, to find in him forgiveness of
sins, to find him as our righteousness. And so far the Lord's explained
the true meaning of thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit
adultery and thou shalt not swear. Today we're going to look at
the true meaning of a very familiar phrase, a commandment, an eye
for an eye. Now I want to start out giving
you the common, just the surface teaching of this text. And then
I want us to come back and look at the true meaning of it. So
our text begins in verse 38 of Matthew chapter five. The master
says, you've heard that it has been said, an eye for an eye
and a tooth for a tooth. Now that's the law. An eye for
an eye and a tooth for a tooth. It's recorded three times in
scripture. And each time it's in scripture, this is what it's
teaching, that the judge must give an exact punishment that
fits the crime. No more, no less. The punishment
must fit the crime. And that's up to the judge to
do, to do justly. And the Lord is condemning the
Pharisees practice here. What has become common practice
for the Pharisees of private revenge. The Pharisees were taking
private revenge and things and not putting matters before the
proper authorities and their private revenge. Just, just like
you and me went just as far as it took to make them feel better.
Even if the punishment was more than what the crime deserves.
And Lord's condemning them of that, and he's warning us of
this very same thing. Now, if you think about that
for one second, you know, we're all going to find, ooh, I'm guilty
of breaking this commandment. Revenge is a dish best served
cold. I mean, it feels better. Revenge
feels better when we plotted it and planned it a long time,
and then we carried out a little extra punishment. than what is
really required. We earned a little interest.
We took a little interest on this thing of revenge. So we've all broken this commandment.
That is what feels good to the flesh, isn't it? Now that's what
the law says, an eye for an eye, exact punishment for the crime. Now here's what the Lord says.
Here's what grace says, verse 39. But I say unto you that ye
resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right
cheek, turn to him the other also. Now, this is not saying
that we can't resist what evil men would do to us. And it's
not saying we can't defend ourselves against evil. And it certainly
isn't saying a crime should not be punished. The Lord is teaching
us here a forgiving and a meek attitude. It's attitude. It's not insisting on a punishment
that's greater than the crime. It's not insisting on a punishment
that's greater than what's necessary for the public good. Crime can
still be punished, but now that can be done in meekness and forgiveness. Making sure the punishment is
not more than what the crime deserves. You know, here somebody
does something to injure us in some way. And this is what the
Lord's teaching us. Take it to the proper authorities
and leave it in their hands. Leave it in the judicial system
that we have and don't seek private revenge. To mete out more punishment
than what is really necessary. Verse 40, he says, and if any
man will sue thee at law and take away thy coat, let him have
thy cloak also. Now, the Lord here is not teaching
us that we have to be doormats, that we have to give more than
what is fair, more than what is required in a situation. What
he's saying is this, do whatever you can to avoid going to court
with an argumentative litigious person. If you do that, you're
probably going to lose. I mean, just write it down. You're
probably going to lose. Because a litigious person is
good at fighting in court. I mean, they've got a lot of
experience at it. They do it for sport. And even if you do win, you're
not going to win. You're going to end up being
miserable for the fight. So the master is teaching us,
just avoid going to court with people like that, if at all possible. One of the writers said this,
he said, it's better to be stripped naked than to go to court against
somebody like that. It's just, it's better. It'd
make you miserable. Verse 41, he says, and whosoever
so compelled thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Now this is
here is talking about governmental authority. The word it's used
here has to do with the king's messengers. The king's messengers,
those who were in the king's service, They're going from post
to post or place to place. Well, they were permitted by
law to come take your horse. If they needed your horse or
your carriage, they are permitted by law to take it for their use
in the King service. Now that is extremely annoying,
but the Lord says you submit to a cheerful. Now you don't
have to get double, give double what the law requires, but give
whatever is required cheerfully. Do it will willingly for the
sake of peace and harmony to be a good citizen. Verse 42 he
says, give to him that asketh thee from him that would borrow
of thee, turn thou not away. Now the Lord says, give to him,
him to every man, no matter who he is, Give him what he needs. Give him what you can afford
to give him. Every man. Whether he's good or bad. Whether
he's friend or foe. Whether he's deserving or undeserving.
If he's hungry, now feed him. Have compassion. Feed him if
he's hungry. Do it willingly. Don't grudge
him. And don't expect anything in return. Don't be doing that
so you get recognition. Don't be doing it and post it
on Facebook and say, oh, look what I did. That's the attitude
of the Pharisees, isn't it? Now do this with a meek and loving,
gracious attitude. The key here is attitude. All
right. Now that is the common, ordinary
surface teaching that you will hear in almost any pulpit in
the United States of America. And if that's all you and I get
from this passage, I feel sorry for us because we missed it. If this is all we've gotten from
this text of scripture, you know what we'll do with it by nature?
We're going to take it and make ourselves more self-righteous
than ever. Now, I want us to get a blessing
from this passage of scripture. I want us to see that the true
meaning of an eye for an eye is this. The true meaning of
the commandment is trust Christ the Savior. Let's go back and
look at these verses and see if that's not what he's teaching.
Verse 38 says, You've heard that it's been said an eye for an
eye and a tooth for a tooth. Now, you know, God's law requires
an exact payment for sin. No more and not a penny less,
not a grain of salt less. Well, that's a payment we can't
make. We can't make that payment. Our
sin debt against God is infinite. It's infinite. Because our sin
is against an infinite God. That's why eternity in hell is
not long enough. Eternity in hell. Our suffering
will not pay for one sin because our debt is eternal against an
eternal God. And this is what the law requires.
Now the law requires exact payment. The law requires eternal death. And that's a payment we just
can't make. See, God cannot and he will not save a sinner until
exact payment for sin has been made in full. That's what the
law says. Then the law is telling us our
only option is to go to Christ. Isn't that what the law is telling
us? Now look back at Exodus chapter 21. Here's one of the places
where this commandment is given, Exodus chapter 21. Exodus 21 and verse 23. If any mischief follow, 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. Now that's what the law says.
The law requires an exact payment. Now let me show you how Christ
is the fulfillment of this. The father determined to have
mercy upon a people. But in order to have mercy on
those sinful people, God's justice got to be satisfied first. It's
got to be. So you know what the father did?
He made his son sin for his people. He took the mountain of the black,
awful debt of sin. Put it on his son. not just laid
it upon him, made him sin, made him guilty of that sin. And then the father took punishment,
an exact punishment that fit the crime, death, death upon
the cross. The father removed his presence
from his son so that his son suffered hell upon the cross
for his people and the punishment was taken out on Christ, our
substitute, and he paid the price in full. Not a penny more, not
a penny less. An eye for an eye, a tooth for
a tooth, hand for hand and foot for foot. When I read that, I
could not help but think about those nails driven in his hands
and in his feet. Hand for hand, foot for foot.
Our hand that we raised in rebellion against God. Our feet that we
used to run as far away from God as we can to run headlong
into rebellion. Nails were driven through his
hands and through his feet. Burning for burning. He suffered
the burning wrath of God in exact proportion to the sin laid upon
him. Wound for wound and stripe for stripe. Now that salvation,
he was wounded for our transgressions and with his stripes were healed.
The fulfillment of the commandment is Christ. Now look to him. That's
what the law says. Now look at Deuteronomy chapter
19. Here's another place that this commandment is given an
eye for an eye. Deuteronomy chapter 19. Verse 18. And the judges shall make diligent
inquisition and behold, if the witness be found a false witness
as testified falsely against his brother, then shall you do
unto him as he had thought to have done under his brother.
So shall thou put away, put the evil away from among you. Oh,
I wish our judicial system would get that. If we punish people,
give them exactly what they deserve quickly. That's how you put the
evil away from among you. And those which remain shall
hear and fear and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil
among you. And thine eye shall not pity,
but life should go for life. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth,
hand for hand, foot for foot. Now that's what the law says.
An exact payment must be made that fits the punishment, must
fit the crime exactly. Now here's how Christ is a fulfillment
of this. When Christ was made sin for
his people, the father made diligent inquisition. And he sought out
and he found every sin that was laid upon his son. Now you parents have some understanding
of this. Your child's done something wrong.
They need to be disciplined. Now we've got to discipline.
We understand that. But love for that child makes
it hurt, doesn't it? And as fleshly parents, there
are times, either out of laziness or maybe not love for the child,
but self-love, we just don't go through the rigmarole punishing
them like we ought to. The father didn't do that. He loves his son, but his justice
must be satisfied. And his eye did not pity his
son when he was made sin for his people. And the father punished
his son fully exactly for the sin that was laid upon him without
one drop of mercy. And you know why he did that?
He did it publicly. So all could see. Wrote a whole
book about it. So we know. He did that so we
might learn. There's forgiveness of our sin
in Christ. Now go to him. There's no other
way that we can be saved. There's no other way our sin
can be forgiven other than through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the sinner substitute. Now go to him. See the true meaning
of the law is look to Christ, trust Christ. I need God to deal
with me in grace, not injustice. I need that. And the only way
God can do that is in Christ. The only way God can deal with
me in grace is by punishing my sin in Christ and seeing me in
Christ my substitute. Then the true meaning of the
law is go to Christ. Seek to win Him, to be found in Him,
having His righteousness, not our righteousness. That's the
true meaning of the law. But look back in our text, Matthew
5, verse 39. The true meaning of grace? is
also look to Christ. The true meaning of grace is
not to say, oh well, everything's put away, I don't have to worry
about it, I don't have to sin all I want. No, the true meaning
of grace is also look to Christ and trust Him. Verse 39, but
I say unto you that you resist not evil, but whosoever shall
smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. Now
it is impossible for the natural man to do that. It's impossible
to be hit on the side of the face and to calmly turn and offer
the other side of your face to be hit too. That is just not
our nature. Well, they're right off the bat.
You know what I see? I see I need God to give me a new nature,
a nature that is submissive and forgiving. The only way a believer
can be submissive to that kind of treatment and not seek revenge
for it is if God has given us a new nature, a new nature that
truly believes that God is sovereign. Now, the fact that God is sovereign,
we say God is sovereign, that's not a catchphrase. That's not
just something we put on the name of our building, Sovereign
Grace Church, you know, to differentiate us from somebody else. No. Someone who's got this new nature
that believes God is sovereign knows this. God's the first cause
of everything. So I ought to submit to it. God's
in control. He's the first cause of everything. And that'll make me not seek
revenge for it. And the best example I can think
of is Joseph. After everything he went through,
when Joseph had the power to do whatever he wanted, what did
he do? He didn't seek revenge against
his brothers at all, did he? No. He said, come, let me take
care of you. Let me feed you and your little
ones. He said, I know you meant it for evil. I know that. God
meant it for good. You didn't do what you did to
me. God did. God is the first cause of that. So no revenge
is required. That doesn't come natural to
one of us in this room, does it? Then whether this is what
I see in this, I need God to give me a nature of faith because
I don't have it. Now look back at Isaiah chapter
50. The other thing I see in this, turn the other cheek also,
is this. I desperately need Christ to
do for me what I cannot do for myself. I can't willingly turn
the other cheek. I mean, it's just impossible. But He did. The Savior did. Look here, Isaiah 50 verse 5. The Lord God has opened mine
ear. This is the law of the of the bond slave. He's open. He's
digged his ear. I was not rebellious, neither
turned away back. He's the willing servant for
six. 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. Not only did the Lord Jesus Christ.
Give turn the other cheek. He gave his back to the smiters. He offered his cheeks to those
that would pluck out the hair. He offered his face to those
that would spit on him and shame him. But more than that, he gave
his whole body to be abused and to be sacrificed. And he didn't
stop there. On top of giving his body to
be sacrificed, he also made his soul an offering for sin. He
gave himself. He gave his whole self, everything
that he is, body and soul, to redeem his people from their
sin. He didn't hide from the evil.
He didn't hide from the evil of being made sin. He thought
the thought of it might kill him, but he said, not my will.
but father, thy will be done. He didn't hide from it. He didn't
hide from the evil that men would do to him for this purpose so
that he could redeem his people from their sin by his sacrifice
for them. That's the savior. I mean, that's
what grace says. That's the meaning of this, of
God's grace. Now look back at our text. Verse
40, Matthew five, And if any man will sue thee
at law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.
This is talking a whole lot more about avoiding going to court.
Any yahoo that doesn't know a thing about God can tell you that.
You're better off not going to court if you can help it. You're
better off. It's too much trouble. Anybody
can tell you that. What the Lord is teaching us
here is complete salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I
want to show you how sinful and depraved and dead our nature
is. When we read these verses, that you resist not evil, whoever
smites you on the cheek, right cheek, give him the other also.
If somebody take away your coat, give him your cloak also. When
we read those things, you know what we think about? See, this
is true. We think about me being the one
turning the other cheek. We think about me being the one
giving away my coat and my cloak also. We think about me being
the one to go the extra mile with somebody. We think about
me being the one, oh look how good I am, giving to feed the
poor and the hungry. We're so full of ourselves, we
think this is talking about us. Brethren, we are the evil and
the poor. We're the ones who are evil and
are poor. We need somebody to give to us. We need somebody to do for us.
We'll never get a blessing from any scripture until we see ourselves
as the one who are evil and are poor and who are needy and who
are dead. And it's Christ the one that's
doing the giving. It's Christ the one that's doing the providing.
It's Christ the one doing the forgiving. We'll never get any
blessing from any passage of scripture until we apply that
to it. I'm telling you, that is the first primary meaning
of every verse of scripture. So we are the ones who are so
poor, we don't have a coat or a cloak. And the Lord Jesus Christ
freely gives them to his people. You don't have to sue him at
law to get it. He freely gives it to his people. And this robe,
this coat, is a whole lot more than a robe of righteousness
that covers up our sin and our decay. You know, just put a clean
robe over top of a dirty body. You still got a dirty body. You're
still filthy. You still stink. I mean, men
might not be able to see that filth and that decay and that
disgust at first. They'll figure it out eventually.
The smell is going to leak out on you. But God will see it.
So we need a whole lot more than a robe that just covers up the
sin and decay that's there. We need it to be taken away,
don't we? The coat here the Lord talks about is the outer garment
that they wore at that time. Well, Christ gives his people
an outer garment, an outer garment of righteousness. He does give
us a legal, righteous standing before the Father. But salvation
cannot stop there. There's got to be a work done
in the heart. Salvation is not just a legal matter. Something's
got to be done in the heart. And that's where the cloak comes
in. The cloak is the inner garment. That's what they put on first
and everything else went on top over it. Well, this is Christ
giving his people a new nature, giving his people a new inner
man, a man who is righteous, who is clean, who is holy. Now when God saves us, gives
us a new birth, we still have the nature of the flesh. If the
flesh is unchanged, it'll never be anything but flesh. All it
can do is sin. But the believer also has a new
nature, a righteous nature, a nature that is righteous. You don't
have to make it righteous. You don't have to keep it righteous.
It is righteous. and it can never sin. Now that's
the salvation I must have. That's the savior I must have,
who gives me an outer garment, but gives me an inner garment,
an inner man of righteousness. That is the savior I must have. I can't be saved without him,
because I can't produce that nature on my own. All right,
verse 41, this is a blessing. And whosoever shall compel thee
to go a mile, go with him twain. Let me ask you a question. Did
Christ do the bare minimum? Did he just do his part in salvation
and leave it up to you to do the rest? Did he do that? Well,
if that's true, there's no hope of salvation for anybody here.
There's no hope of salvation for any son of Adam. If Christ
just did his part and left the rest up to you. But this verse
is teaching is Christ did it all. He did it all in salvation. He did all of the work of salvation
for his people. He didn't just come and go the
extra mile. He did it all. He came all the
way to where his people were. He didn't go the extra mile and
say, now you meet me, you know, I'll come a little more than
halfway and then you meet me. No, he came all the way to where
his people are. He left the throne of glory. took on him flesh and came all
the way to the cesspool of this world where we live. He came
the whole way. He came where we are. And while
he was here in the flesh, he did absolutely everything that
it took to make his people righteous. He did it all. He didn't leave
one thing left for his people to do. And he will do everything
that it takes to bring his people all the way home. He's not going
to walk an extra mile with us. He's going to carry his sheep
all the way home and we won't take a step. He did it all. That's the Savior that I need.
Isn't that the Savior you need? And then verse 42, give to him
that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee, turn
not thou away. Now again, I'll ask Basically
the same question I asked a minute ago. Did Christ die to make salvation
possible for every son of Adam? Did he? A lot of people say that.
Did he? Is that what he did? Did he die to make salvation
possible for as many people as might decide that they wanted?
Well, I can tell you from scripture, no, he did not. And aren't you
glad? Aren't you glad? Because none
of us would ever want to be saved on God's terms. Now we want to
be saved from hell. We want to be saved from punishment,
but none of us would want to be saved on God's terms with
Christ doing all the saving and us contributing nothing unless
God, the Holy Spirit makes us willing in the day of his power.
We wouldn't want to be saved on God's terms unless God made
us willing. Are you willing to be saved on
God's terms? Are you? That's not a decision you made.
That's a nature God put in you. I'm gonna get this in a message
in just a little bit. That's the nature of faith that God's
given his people, and that nature can't do anything else because
of the nature of faith. See, this here, what the Lord's
talking about is all the difference between law and grace. The law
gives exactly what we've got coming. No more, no less. What
have we got coming? Death and hell. Well, grace gives
us what Christ has got coming. Grace gives us what Christ earned
for his people. Grace gives us everything that
we need and gives it to us freely. Now you come to Christ right
now where you sit. You come to Christ in your heart
begging for mercy. I can tell you what happened
if you do. God will grant it to you. And he'll give it to
you freely with no strings attached. Jen and I were talking about
forgiveness last night. And you know what's in our nature?
Well, I'll forgive them if they ask. I'll forgive them if they
change. God forgives freely. No strings attached. You come
as you are an undeserving sinner. This is gift to him. God gives
grace to him, to any man. As long as he's undeserving,
as long as he's poor, and as long as he's the wicked, as long
as he doesn't deserve anything from God but his wrath, God gives
him grace freely without any strings You don't have to do
nothing to get it. He gives it freely. Oh, my. That's the Savior I need. That is the only Savior who can
save a wretch like me. You too. I pray, Lord, give us
grace and the faith to look to Him, because that's the true
meaning of the commandment, an eye for an eye. All right. Lord
bless you.