If I had to sing, I would be
utterly terrified. I've asked Lynn before, should
I sing a special? She says no. In Matthew chapter 5, verses
25 and 26, the Lord said something very similar to what he said
in Luke chapter 12. Look with me there in Matthew
chapter 5, verse 25, in the Sermon on the Mount, he said, agree
with thine adversary quickly whilst thou art in the way with
him, lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge and
the judge deliver thee to the officer and thou be cast into
prison. Verily I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out
thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing. I've entitled
this message, Settle Out of Court. Settle Out of Court. If the Lord does not return during
our lifetime, Every one of us, with no exception, is going to
die. We may die suddenly, we may die
after a long protracted illness, but the time is coming when our
hearts will stop pumping, our lungs will stop heaving, and
all of our organs will shut down, and this thing of life as we
know it will be over. The writer to the Hebrews said
in Hebrews chapter 9 verse 27, and as it's appointed to men
once to die. And after that, the judgment. Two appointments you and I must
keep. Death. and the judgment. When God will judge us according
to our works, and it will be a completely fair and impartial
judgment. Now, the Lord gives us an illustration
about agreeing with our adversary while we're in the way or give
diligence that you may delivered from your adversary. Who's the
adversary when he says give diligence that you may be delivered from
the adversary? Who is the adversary that he
tells us to agree with, to be well disposed toward? Satan is
called in 1 Peter 5, 8, our adversary. And that's because he is the
accuser and the slanderer of the brethren. He makes accusations
to God against us night and day, the scripture says, and he can
certainly be called our adversary in that sense. But this is not
the adversary spoken of in our text. When Christ says in Matthew's
account, agree with thine adversary, he's certainly not telling us
to agree with the devil, is he? You know better than that. The
word adversary means an opponent in a lawsuit. One who brings
accusation against. Now the adversary, I'll wait. Don Fortner is really strong
about not having cell phones and everything and he said while
he was preaching he said he's gotten on people so many times
he said while I was preaching his went off. So you know I thought
you know it happens, it happens, it happens. Lynn's always afraid
it's gonna happen to her. I know she said could I turn
it off but so where was I? The word adversary means an opponent
in a lawsuit, one who brings accusation against. And the adversary
our Lord is speaking of is the law of God. That's the adversary. The law of God. He who can bring
accusation against. Could even be called the Lord
himself who is our adversary. We do not want to be brought
into judgment with him. I love what David said. He said,
enter not into judgment with thy servant. For in thy sight
shall no man living be justified. He didn't want to stand before
God in judgment. And the Lord says, don't go there. Don't go there. Settle out of
court. If we go there, we certainly
will have this take place with us. Look in verse 58 again in
our text in Luke 12. When thou goest with thine adversary
to the magistrate, as thou art in the way, give diligence, make
pains, give every effort that thou mayest be delivered from
him, lest he hail thee to the judge, and the judge deliver
thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison.
I tell thee that thou shalt not depart thence till thou hast
paid the very last mite. Now the prison is hell. There
is a place called hell. And do you know the Apostle Paul,
I think this is remarkable, do you know the Apostle Paul, you
read his writings, he thought that place so terrible he never
uses the word. He talks about condemnation and
so on, but so horrible is this place that Paul never used the
word. The Lord used the word quite
often in his earthly ministry, but Paul never did. There is
a place called hell. and we will not be released until
we've paid the very last mite, which means we'll spend eternity
there. Now, the Lord is saying you don't
want to go to that place. Before you stand before God in
judgment, before you stand before the adversary, settle out of
court. If I'm judged by God in accordance
with the life that I have lived here on earth, I will be sent
to hell. Do you believe that about yourself? I will. And this thing, this
says two things about God and says two things about us. First,
what it says about God is it says he is all powerful and able
to inflict the punishment his justice demands. And it says
he's just. You know, the punishment fits
the crime. He is just, his justice is impartial. If we stand before him in judgment,
we will get exactly what we deserve. And he has the power to inflict
the punishment that is due to the crime. Now what this says
about us, it says that we're criminals. We're sinful. We are responsible for our sin, totally responsible, and we have
complete inability to satisfy God's justice. That's why it's
eternal. Now those are the two things
that are said about God and the two things that are said about
men in this parable the Lord gives. God is all-powerful. He has the power to inflict the
punishment due to the sin we've committed. And he's absolutely
just. Whatever he does is right. His
justice is impartial. And don't you admire that about
him? I admire that, that God is absolutely just, that no sin
will be left unpunishment, and men are sinful. Men are unable
to satisfy the justice of God, and men are completely responsible
for their sin. When I sin, I can't blame anybody
else. I can't blame the sovereignty
of God. It's my fault. Now, somebody says, I don't see
how both of those things can be true. Well, they are. That's
the only way I know how to answer that, they are. I'm responsible.
I'm responsible for my sin, and I'm completely unable to satisfy
the justice of God. Now, the Lord says, while you're
in the way, while you've not yet died, and you're not standing
before the great white throne, settle out of court. You don't
want to be brought into judgment. Settle out of court. See that
you give diligence to be delivered from him. And that word delivered
is in the perfect passive tense. That means you understand you
can't deliver yourself and somebody must deliver you. Don't you understand
that? I mean, you might not understand
a lot, but you understand this. I can't deliver myself. I can't. And I have to have somebody to
deliver me, even the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, give diligence to
make sure you're delivered of him. Don't be fatalistic about this.
Don't be laissez-faire. Don't be indifferent. Give diligence.
Be like Bartimaeus when they said, Bartimaeus, hold your peace.
You know what the scripture says he did? He cried the more. A great deal. Have mercy on me. Give diligence. You remember that Syrophoenician
woman? What she meant with the Lord was silence. He answered
her not a word. What did she do? Did she give
up? No, she continued crying. Then he said, I'm not sent but
the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And then she came and
worshiped him saying, Lord, help me. She didn't give up. What
about that importunate widow who the Lord says, the Master
says, I'm going to give her what she wants, lest by her continual
coming she trouble me, she drive me crazy, is what he was saying.
So I'll Now give diligence, make pains that you are delivered
of him. Be like Jacob. I love the way
Jacob was in Genesis 32 where he was wrestling with the Lord.
And the Lord put him down. The Lord put his hip out of joint.
He never walked the same again after this confrontation with
the Lord. And it was the Lord who brought him down. It was
the Lord who initiated the fight. But you know what Jacob did?
He said, I will not let you go except you bless me. I must have your blessing. Now, that's what I must have.
I must have your blessing. Give diligence. Give pains to
make sure that you're delivered from him. Now, where is this
deliverance found? Well, I can answer that easily.
It's found in the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Timothy 1.15 says, I love this
verse of Scripture. I reckon I'd like to, I like
to think about it every day. Christ Jesus, this is a faithful
saying, and it's worthy of all acceptation. You know what that
means? That means everybody in this room and outside of this
room ought to hear these words as the very greatest words they've
ever heard. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. Of whom, Paul said, I am the
chief. Now how did he save those sinners?
By taking away their sins. First John chapter 3 verses 4
and 5. As a matter of fact, turn with me there. First John chapter
3. There's a couple scriptures on the look in John. Verse four, whosoever committed
sin transgresseth also the law. Now there, somebody says, what
does John mean by sin? We're talking about breaking
the law, breaking the Ten Commandments. For sin is the transgression
of the law, and you know that he was manifested to take away
our sin. just like the high priest came
in and put his head, his hands on the horns in the head of the
scapegoat. You remember that in Leviticus
chapter 16? And the scripture says, a fit man would lead it
away into a land not inhabited, is the way the scripture points
it. I've seen paintings of the scapegoat dying. It's got this
hideous look on its face when people have made these paintings
and there it is dying in this uninhabited land. And you think,
but we don't know what happened. I mean, I think that the scapegoat,
it was all symbolic. It didn't have real sin placed
upon it. It was all symbolic of what the Lord did. They put
that thing out. They never saw it again. But I know this, when
the Lord had sin placed upon him, placed in him, you know
what he did? He took it away. So that right now, Every believer
has no sin. You know, just the thought of
that makes my body relax. I feel tense, but just the thought
of that makes me relax. Every believer has no sin. You see, he was manifested to
take away our sin. And you know what he did? He
did it. And in him is no sin. And if I'm in him, I have no
sin. I stand before God, holy, unblameable,
and unreprovable. Now, that's what I want. I don't
want to stand before God in judgment. I want to set out of the court
and look to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now you say, how do you know
you're in Him? There's one way you can know if you're in Him.
If you trust Him as your only righteousness before God. Now
you know whether or not you do that. Do you have any personal
righteousness or do you trust Him as your only righteousness
before God? If you do, you're in Him. The
reason you do that is because you're in Him. But settle out
of court, look to Christ only. Now, somebody says, what do you
mean by look to Christ? That means look away from yourself and look
to Him as all that God requires of you. Everything God requires
of you, and there isn't anything else he does require. You rest
in the Lord Jesus Christ. You rest, you look, you believe,
you hope, you trust. What is a illustration of trust
in Christ? Well, I think, turn with me to Ephesians chapter
one. Verse 11, in whom we also have
obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to the
purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his
own will, that we should be to the praise of his glory who first
trusted in Christ. Now, who's the first one to trust
in Christ? Wasn't me, wasn't Paul, wasn't
Moses, wasn't Adam. You know who the first one to
trust Christ was? God trusted Christ. He trusted Jesus Christ
for the salvation of his people. He looked wholly to Christ for
everything he requires of every one of his people. He first trusted
Christ. In whom also you trusted, verse
13. After that you heard the word
of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Now, I'm trusting
the same thing for my salvation that God trusts. Same thing. He blotted out, he canceled,
he separated our sins, he took them away so that they are no
more. And looking to Christ is settling
out of court. And when you settle out of court,
this is what's gonna happen to you on judgment day. Look in
1 John 4, verse 17. Herein is our love made perfect
that we may have boldness. in the day of judgment. Now that
is one of the most glorious concepts I can even think of for me to
have boldness on the day of judgment. I love that song, bold shall
I stand in that great day, for who ought to my charge can lay,
fully absolved from these I am from sin's tremendous curse and
shame. Now he speaks of having boldness
on the day of judgment, standing before God without shame. How
is that? Because as He is, verse 17, so
are we in this world right now. However He is, does Christ have
boldness before the Father? So do we. Because as He is, is
He righteous before God? So are we. Because as He is,
so are we in this world. Now, again, how can I give diligence
to be delivered of Him? By believing on the Lord Jesus
Christ. I love that passage of Scripture
in Acts 16, verse 30, where the Philippian jailer said, Sirs,
what must I do to be saved? And they gave an answer. Believe. on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved. Believe on the Lord. He's the
Lord. Therefore, He's able. I mean, He has complete control
of everything. He's able to save you. Believe
on the Lord Jesus. He's the Savior. Thou shalt call
His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. He's God's Christ. He's God's
prophet. He's God's priest. He's God's King. Therefore, able
to save you. His priesthood, He brings you
into the Father, you're accepted. He's God's prophet, He brings
you the truth. He's God's King, He's able to
cause you to do His will, because His will is always done. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Somebody
says, may I? You're commanded to. To not do so is to disobey God's
command. You, right now, and I, right
now, am commanded to trust the Lord Jesus Christ for myself,
for yourself. And your right to trust Christ
is his command for you to do it. Now, turn to Matthew chapter
11. I mean Matthew chapter 5, that
other passage of scripture, because the Lord uses the same thing
in a different setting, in a different context. This is on the Sermon
on the Mount. He says in verse 25, agree with
thine adversary quickly, Matthew 5, 25, agree with him, that one
who brings you to court. Agree with him, quickly, whilst
thou are in the way with him, lest at any time the adversary
deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the
officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee,
thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the
uttermost farthing." Now, in the context of this passage of
scripture, where the Lord said this, he was talking about murder. Murder. Now, if you polled thousand people and ask them,
what is the greatest sin? What's the worst thing you can
do? Probably most people would say murder. Murdering someone, taking their
lives. I'm sure that there might be some people that say, well,
there are other things that are worse. I realize that, but most people
would probably think murdering somebody, taking their life from
them. What a horrible sin. And probably
that is a sin that most people believe they probably have not
committed. I've never murdered anybody. I've never taken somebody's
life. On this one at any rate, I've
done some bad things, but on this one, I'm not guilty. Now that's what the Lord was
talking about. He was talking about the sin of murder. He says in
verse 21 of Matthew chapter 5, you have heard that it was said
by them of old time, thou shalt not kill and whosoever shall
kill shall be in danger of the judgment. Now, if you've never
killed anybody, you probably feel pretty good about yourself
in light of that commandment. But the Lord gives us the spirit
of the law, not just the letter of the law, but the spirit of
the law. He says in verse 22, but I say
unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause
shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his
brother, brother, Rakeh, vain fellow, shall be in danger of
the council. But whosoever shall say thou
fool, thou morally worthless wretch, shall be in danger of
hell fire. Now, the Lord gives us the spirit
of the law. Somebody says, well, I've never
killed anybody. Well, I never have either physically that I'm aware of.
Don't know of ever doing that. But 1 John chapter 3 verse 15
says all you have to do is hate your brother and you're a murderer. And that word hate doesn't simply
mean have a malicious hatred of and just want to hurt him.
It also means to disregard him. To disregard him. You know, when
the Lord says, if any man will come after me and hate not his
mother and father and brothers and sisters in his own life also,
he cannot be my disciple. He doesn't really mean you need
to hate him. No, disregard him in comparison
to obedience to me. That's what that means. So for
me to hate my brother, to disregard my brother, is in God's sight,
to murder. To be angry without a cause,
to be envious, to be jealous, to be resentful without a just
reason because of what he has that I do not have, or to wish
him ill is to murder him in God's sight. To say, Rekha, your thoughts
come out in your words, and you call him empty-headed and stupid. You're not judging his intellect,
you're judging his character. You feel yourself to be better
than that person. God calls this murder. When you
say, thou fool, you morally worthless wretch, is what the word means.
How many times have you not done that? How many times? You know, the Lord said, or Paul
said in Romans 2, the Lord saying what he said to Paul in Romans
2, 1, Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever you are, but
that you that judge another because you the judge, you do the same
things. And when I was thinking about
what our Lord is saying in this passage of scripture, I thought,
I'm a serial killer. I can say all I want about non-murdering,
but really, I've murdered many, many, many, many times. Maybe not with knives and guns,
but we've murdered characters by false judgment, slander, gossip,
innuendo, silence when I should be speaking, or even by my expression. Now, the Lord carries this father.
Look in verse 23. Therefore, if thou bring thy
gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother
hath aught against thee, leave there thy gift before the
altar, and go thy way. First be reconciled to thy brother,
and then come and offer thy gift. You bring a gift, and you remember
your brother has something against you. You've murdered him. You've
murdered him. You've murdered his character.
in so many different ways. You've promoted yourself at his
expense. You've wronged him. Don't think God will accept your
gift. You first be reconciled to your
brother. Do unto him as you would have
him do unto you. Don't you love that, when the
Lord says that? The Lord told us, you do unto
others as you would have them do to you. And say in the context,
verse 25, he's still speaking of this, agree with thine adversary
quickly. When you're brought before, well,
you've murdered somebody, say, yes, I have. Yes, I have. Agree. Quickly. Not slowly, not
hesitatingly, but quickly. Give full agreement, guilty as
charged. Agree with thine adversary quickly
whilst thou art in the way with him, lest at any time the adversary
deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the
officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee,
thou shalt by no means come out thence till thou hast paid the
uttermost farthing. Now that word agree doesn't simply
mean you Admit that what he's saying is true. Like Romans chapter
3 verses 19 and 20 when it says that every mouth may be stopped
and all the world stand guilty before God. Now, you're agreeing
with God's assessment of you when you do that, aren't you?
You're saying what he says is right. But the word also means
be well disposed with. Be happy with. Be happy with how a murderer
can be saved. Be happy of how a murderer's
sin can be put away so that he can stand before God without
guilt. David was a murderer, wasn't
he? And I mean, he committed real
murder. Well, if I slander somebody, I commit real murder. And the
Lord said, if you commit adultery with somebody in your heart,
you've committed adultery with them. It's the real thing. But
David did the real thing. He really killed, had Uriah killed. This is the man after God's own
heart. He had him set up and murdered. Cold-blooded, premeditated
murder. And he had people actually involved
in this. He had Joab. He sent that letter
to Joab. Uriah brings the letter back
to Joab. There it is. And he tells Joab,
you pull back. Let Uriah be there with the heat
of the battle. You pull back and let him kill
it. Joab did it. Now, I love what Greg Elmquist
said. I don't know if you picked this up when he was preaching.
When Nathan the prophet came to David the murderer and said,
thou art the man, and that's the way I've always thought of
it, you're the man, David. You know, he said, no, he said
with a broken heart. He loved David. David, you're
the man. When he gave that story about
the man who had the little lamb that he treated as a child and
he kept it at his table and it ate with his kids and then there
was a man who had many flocks and When a visitor came, he took
that man's little lamb that he loved, and he said, we'll kill
that lamb and we'll provide it for the visitor. And David, when
he heard that story, he said, as the Lord liveth, that man
will surely die. He was mad. And that's when Nathan
said, thou art the man. And he went out and wrote Psalm
32, one and two, Because not only did Nathan say, thou art
the man, and David's response was, I've sinned against the
Lord. And Nathan said, the Lord hath put away thy sin. And he went out and penned those
words, blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven. whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin, and in whose spirit there is no guile."
Now that word, agree with your adversary, means be well disposed
with how he makes a murderer righteous. Agree with thine adversary. Be well disposed to everything
he says. And I Couldn't help but think
of Romans chapter 10, verse 9, when I was thinking about being
well disposed, Paul said, with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness. You know what that means? With my understanding,
I really believe that the righteousness of Christ is the only righteousness
I possess. But not only do I believe it,
I love it. Do you love being saved by his
righteousness? Not only do I love it, my will, I'd whole lots rather
be saved by His righteousness than my own. If I'm given a choice,
you want to be saved by Christ's righteousness or your own? That's
a no-brainer. I want to be saved by the righteousness of Jesus
Christ with the heart man believeth unto righteousness. And I was
thinking about this thing of being well disposed, well disposed,
being in agreement, rejoicing in what you're hearing. We talk
about God being sovereign. Aren't you glad He's sovereign?
Aren't you glad He's in control? I love that this morning, you
meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. Everything we believe
comes out of believing He's sovereign. I'm well disposed with what God
says about man. When God says, when the Bible
says, I'm nothing but sin, you know what? I agree with it. Not
only do I agree with it, I'm well disposed for it. In this
sense, it teaches me not to look within here for anything, but
I'm to look totally outside of myself to the Lord Jesus Christ.
I'm well disposed. I'm well disposed. I love the
fact that God elected a people because I know if he didn't elect
a people, I wouldn't be saved. It's good news to me. I love
Christ's effectual redemption for his elect. Love it. You see, if Christ died for me,
my sin's gone. And beloved, that is the only
hope that I have, that Jesus Christ made payment for my sins
and put them away. I'm well disposed toward that.
It's not just a doctrine I argue over. It's something that's glorious
to me. I'm well disposed towards His
grace being invincible and irresistible. I love it being that way because
that's the only kind of grace that will save me. I'm well disposed
toward it. I agree. You know, I agree with the Lord,
don't you? I agree with it. Agree with thine adversary quickly.
I sure love being preserved because I know if he doesn't preserve
me, I won't persevere. I am well disposed. He said agree. Be well
disposed. And this is the only way, I know
this, this is the only way a murderer can be saved because in the context,
he's talking about murder. and how I see so clearly that
I am a murderer, guilty as charged. So you know what I want to do?
I want to settle out of court. I want to agree with my adversary
quickly. I want to settle out of court.
Now how do I settle out of court? By believing on the Lord Jesus
Christ. And I wish I could, I wish I
could say this the way it ought to be said, but Beloved, you
can know right now whether or not you believe on Him. You can
know. You don't have to guess about
this. You don't have to wonder about it. When the Lord said to those two
blind men, do you believe that I'm able to do this? I love the
simplicity of their answer. Yay, Lord. Do you believe he's able to save
you? Well, that's what faith is. You're believing right now. And
that's what it is to settle out of court. Because if you and
I are brought before God in judgment, Apart from this settling out
of court and believing on Christ, we're going to be thrown into
prison and we're not coming out until we have paid the last farthing. And that means we'll be there
forever. So what may God enable me and
you right now to settle out of court and look to Christ only
as everything in our salvation? And you know what? I'm doing
it by the grace of God. Paul put it this way in 2 Timothy
1.12, I know whom I have believed and I am persuaded that he is
able to keep that which I have committed to him against that
day, that day of judgment. See, Paul settled out of court
and on the day of judgment, you know who's going to answer for
Paul? his advocate. Are these things right onto you?
John said that you sin not. Well, there's a lot that could
be said about that, isn't there? I know this. We ought not sin,
and we ought to make it our ambition to never sin again. when you do, which, by the way, is all the
time. When you do, we have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. I said this recently, but I'm
going to say it again. We don't have a crooked lawyer. We have Jesus Christ the righteous.
And this lawyer is utterly unique in that he makes all of his clients
plead guilty and causes every one of them to be justified. He's never lost a case. And you
want to talk about someone who has pool with the judge. This
is the son of the father. We have an advocate, an almighty
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. Now, the
wise and prudent thing for me and you to do right now is to
settle out of court and look to Christ only. May God enable us to do so. Let's
pray together.