Deuteronomy chapter 16. This begins a new subject here
in verse 18, and it continues through chapter 17 for the most
part. You have to be careful when you
read your Bible. We have these divisions of chapters,
and I'm glad we do. It would be difficult if I told
you we were studying in Deuteronomy and we didn't have these chapters.
We spend a long time passing around Bibles marking where we
are. So while I appreciate the divisions in these chapters and
verses, sometimes when the chapter ends, your subject doesn't. So
you have to be careful when you study. We're picking up tonight
a completely different subject in verse 18 of chapter 16. In verse 16, of chapter 16 verse
18 and through portion of chapter 17, I tell you these words were
very searching words, very solemn and full of conviction that's
concerning for the most part the judges and the officers that
interpret laws and enforce laws, especially among the children
of Israel. But we'll look at it tonight
in general. as it pertains to nations as well as the church.
So let's look at it. Let's look at Deuteronomy chapter
16 and verses 18 through verse 20. Judges and officers shall thou
make thee in all your gates, in all your towns, all the towns
where they have these judges and officers, which the Lord
thy God giveth thee throughout thy tribes, And they shall judge
the people with just judgment. Thou shalt not rest, that is,
thou shalt not twist, pervert judgment. Thou shalt not respect
persons, neither take a gift, for a gift doeth blind the eyes
of the wise and pervert the words of the righteous. That which
is altogether just shalt thou follow. that thou mayest live
and inherit the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." Laws. In every aspect of our life,
we have rules to live by, don't we? We have laws to follow. In our homes, we have laws. Children,
obey your parents. This is the first commandment
with promise. Husbands love your wives. When God instituted the family,
husband and wife, it was one man and one woman for life. Thou shalt not put away your
wife. Thou shalt not put away your
husband. If a man or woman does so except for adultery or fornication
on the other's part, they commit adultery. So we have laws in
the family. We have laws in our workplace. We have rules in our workplace
to live by. Servants, obey your masters according
to the flesh. That is the command of God, isn't
it? We have laws and rules to live by in our society. Peter
tells us to be subject to all the ordinances of man. Obey them
that God has set over us in our country, in our nation, as long
as those laws do not void His laws. So we have laws to live
by. The church has rules, doesn't
it? The church has the law of Christ, the kingdom of Christ,
our King, that they're to live by. Listen to Hebrews chapter
13. Obey them that have the rule
over you, and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls,
that they may do it with joy and not with grief. And one of
the things I think that's going to mark the latter days, which
days that you and I seem to be coming into, brothers and sisters,
is lawlessness. Can you imagine what a society
would be like that has given itself over to lawlessness? Children,
in general, not obeying their parents. Wives and husbands not
living according to the commitment and promises that they've made.
outright rebellion in society and in the world, that is seemingly
what is going to mark the last days, lawlessness. Listen to
how Paul said it to Timothy in 1 Timothy 3. This know also that
in the last days, the latter times, perilous times shall come,
that word means dangerous times, grievous times, lawless times. For men shall be lovers of their
own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient
to parents, and that will be the rule, not the exception.
Truce breakers, truce breakers means promise breakers, covenant
breakers, vow breakers, treaty breakers. What's going to dominate
in the last days? Nations breaking their treaties
one with another. Countries, its leaders not obeying
its own laws. Children not obeying their parents.
Husband and wives not obeying the commitment that they made
one to another. And when you have a society that's
given itself over to law breaking, you have a grievous society and
you have a dangerous society to live in. God set up laws. He set up laws in this world.
Christ has set up laws in His kingdom. And when we reach the
time that there's lawlessness, we'll reach a grievous, dangerous
time in our society. The breakdown will be in the
professing church, not just in society. Paul spoke of the falling
away in the last days, didn't he? They wanted to know when
Christ was coming. And he tried to comfort them
concerning the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the physical
coming, the second coming. And he said that day shall not
come except there come a falling away first, a falling away in
the professed church, religion, falling away from the faith,
from the truth. And here's the way he said it
in 2 Timothy 4. Well, look over there with me.
Old Deuteronomy chapter 16. Put your marker there if you'd
like to. And look at 2 Timothy chapter 4. Here's the way Paul
expressed what would be in the last days. 2 Timothy chapter
4. And look here in verse 1. 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse
1. Look what he says in verse 1. 2 Timothy
4. I charge thee therefore before
God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and
the dead at His appearing and His kingdom." Preach the Word. Be instant. Be ready in season,
out of season. Reprove people if you have to
rebuke them. Exhort with all longsuffering
and doctrine. Why? Now look at verse 3. For
the time will come in these latter days when they will not endure
sound doctrine." That word, endure, not only means that they will
refuse sound doctrine, they will only not hear it and believe
it and live by it, but they'll hate it. They'll despise it. They'll despise the truth. They'll
despise any rule. They'll be saying, worse than
the Jews did, we will not have this man to rule over us. We
want to do what's right in our own eyes. We want to please ourselves. That's what we're coming to,
brothers and sisters. Lawlessness. Lawlessness. And look what they'll
do. They'll not endure sound doctrines,
but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers
having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from
the truth and shall be turned unto So it's not just lawlessness
that's going to come among the nations and the whole world in
general, but there's going to come a falling away in the church
in which people will not receive truth, but they'll hate it. They'll hate it. And in general,
whether it's in the world or in nations or communities or
families or the professing church, This is what God requires, justice. He requires justice among leaders
and among judges and among rulers. The world has a rule to live
by. You know God is going to hold
rulers accountable. Pilate said, I'm going to wash
my hands of this man and I'm going to be guiltless of him.
Well, God will be the judge of that one. And men pass laws,
and men enforce laws, but they better be careful when they do,
because they will give account to God. God has appointed a day
in which He'll judge the world in righteousness. It may be a
communist nation. It may be a nation that's ruled
by some despot, some dictator. It may be a representative nation
like we have. But God will hold leaders accountable
for how they rule people, the laws that they make, and how
they enforce them. Listen to David's last words.
Here's King David's last words upon his deathbed, and here's
what he said in 2 Samuel 23. The God of Israel said to me,
the rock of Israel spake to me. He that ruleth over men must
be just. Ruling in the fear of God. Right there where you are at
in chapter 3, and look in verse 16. All Scripture, Paul told
Timothy to preach the Word, didn't he? And he said in verse 16 of
chapter 3, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect,
complete, thoroughly furnished unto all good works, therefore
preach the word." That's the rule that the church is to live
by, and that's the word that our preachers and teachers and
pastors are to give to the church. Here's what God requires of the
leaders in the world or the church. We find it here in my text that
I read, verse Look back at it again. Look in
Deuteronomy chapter 16 and verse 18. Judges and officers, thou shalt
make thee in all thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee,
throughout thy tribes, and they shall judge the people. They
shall judge the people with just judgment. Just judgment. That's the way men are to be
ruled. Women and children are to be
ruled. And what happens to those leaders
that pervert justice? What happens to those nations
that forget God and do not rule in a just way? The wicked shall
be turned into hell and all the nations that forget God. Look at Sodom and Gomorrah. Why
did God destroy them? No justice among them. They weren't
being ruled in a just judgment. Look at all the nations, brothers
and sisters, that have risen through the years and have fallen. And why? They did not rule in
a just judgment. I bet you, if you and I knew
history well enough and we could study the history of nations,
even good nations, you could begin to pinpoint the time that
they begin to decline. And that's when they cease to
rule justly. They cease to rule justly. And
those preachers, poor things, that twist the word of God, and
have twisted it, and perverted justice, perverted the gospel,
and those people who followed them, have been and will be spewed
from the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ. I tell you, there's a
judgment, isn't there? And that's what he's teaching
right here. He's making this so clear and plain. There will
be a judgment against those leaders who do not rule in a just way,
and there will be a judgment upon those who follow them. And
it's the same way in the church, the professed church. Now look
in verse 19 of our text, Deuteronomy chapter 16, and look at verse
19. He gives us two things here that would tempt somebody, a
leader, for instance, or a judge, to pervert judgment. And I think
you'll now find some of this in our own hearts. And it's to
us as well as them. But look at these two things
that he gives. First of all, here in verse 19, Thou shalt
not rest. You shall not pervert just judgment. Thou shalt not respect persons. What would cause somebody, a
ruler or a judge, to pervert judgment? To pervert justice? To do wrong? To do somebody wrong? What would tempt them to do that?
One would be respect of persons. Respect in persons. God forbids
it. If you ever in Washington, D.C.,
you'll see the Supreme Court. If you stand outside the Supreme
Court, there's a woman. There's a woman, a carved woman,
I don't know what exactly you'd call it, but she has a blindfold
on. You've probably seen it on your TV sets or something outside
on the Supreme Court building. There's this woman, she has a
blindfold on. She's blindfolded, she can't
see. And what that represents is justice is blind. In other
words, she cannot see who she's judging. It may be a family member
or it may be a stranger. She don't know. She's blind.
It may be somebody rich or it may be somebody's poor. She don't
know. She's blind. And what she does,
she's blindfolded that she'll rule according to law and not
according to men's persons, you see. And that's what that blindfold
represents. Here's what Leviticus 19.15 says.
You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment. Thou shalt not respect
the person of the poor." Don't respect the poor just because
they're poor. The poor sometimes commit crimes
as well as the rich, don't they? And they can't go free without
being judged because they're poor. Don't respect the person
of the poor and don't honor the person of the mighty. But in righteousness shalt thou
judge thy neighbor." A just judgment. And that's not just Old Testament
doctrine. Listen to James in James chapter 2. He said, My
brethren, have not the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Lord of glory, with respect of persons? For if there come into
your assembly a man with a gold ring and goodly apparel, And
there come in also a poor man in vile raiment. Which one are
you going to accept? Which one are you going to treat
the best? And you have respect unto him that weareth the goodly
clothing, and say unto him, Set you here in a good place. And
you say to the poor, Stand thou there, or set under my footstool. Are you then not partial in yourselves? and you become judges of evil
thoughts, if you fulfill the royal law according to the scriptures,
you shall love your neighbor as yourself, you'll do well.
But if you have respect of persons, you commit sin, and you are judged
of the law as a transgressor. God forbids respect of persons
in the nation, among judges in this world. And yet, how often
does that happen? How many have been punished unjustly
because of who they were? And how many have escaped a just
verdict because of who they were? Respective persons. How many
preachers have refused to make the truth clear and plain because
of who was said in the congregation? They had to impress somebody. They had to court somebody's
favor. or they were afraid of somebody because of who they
were. Well, that's what God's forbidding
here. That's what He's forbidding. That's the first one. Respect
of person. And boy, look at this one in
verse 19. The latter part of verse 19.
Thou shalt not rest with judgment, because of respect of person,
neither take a gift, because a gift doeth blind the eyes of
the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous." Boy, our presidents, notice I
said presidents, not just the one we've got now, our congresses,
right on down many times to our local town councils, they love
lobbyists. And you know why they love lobbyists?
They won't tell you this. They said they'd give us information
that we need to know. They'd give you more than information,
too, don't they? They'd give you money. They'd take you out
for dinners. They'd show you favors. They'll
give you standing because they'll get your name out there. And
then when it comes time to vote, what do you do? When it comes
time to enforce laws, what do you do? The gift has blinded
your eye. They can deny it if they want
to, but God tells them not to do that. Does He not tell them
to do that? One thing that always aggravated Jo when she was a
postmaster, they wouldn't let her take anything. If somebody
brought a gift in to give her, she could be fired for taking
some little plant or something like that. Well, they went on
vacations at the expense of these lobbyists and got rich. and passed
perverted laws and wouldn't support good laws because this gift had
blinded their eyes. Don't want to lose that gift.
You say, Bruce, you're off on politics. Yes, I am. Because
this pertains to judges and rulers. And they think they're going
to escape? No. God will judge them. He that
ruleth over men must rule justly." They talk about the separation
of church and state, and I believe it. I want them to stay out of
my business, but I'm going to poke my nose in their business.
Why? Because their business is God's
business. And I'm telling them God's going to judge them for
the perversion that they're passing in our day, just this very day,
brothers and sisters. Some of you told me that one
federal judge ruled that our law in Indiana concerning the
marriage of homosexuals was unconstitutional. Is that not perversion? What
blinded his eyes, I wonder? You tell me we don't stand against
that stuff? We do lift up our voices against that stuff. We're
bound to lift up our voices. In love to man and in the fear
of God, we're bound to do it. And we'll tell them, there's
coming a day. You may rule like that here. And you may overrule
good people. But you'll give account to God.
God put you in that place. God sets authority where it's
at. And they'll give account to God. Now, they'll do it. That
guy that passed that ruling today, that perverted ruling, that there's
no difference between a man married a man as opposed to a man married
a woman, that's perversion. And he'll stand before God and
give account of that. You call that politics or whatever
you want to call it, that's just the truth. That's the truth.
We'd be impressed on every hand about this thing, aren't we?
It's in our families and every place else. Lord, be tolerant. I'm not tolerant of that perversion.
Homosexuality, brothers and sisters, is nothing but lust uncontrolled. Lust unsubdued. And it's one
of the steps to reprobation. Now, it's that. He that ruleth
over men must be just. But I tell you, I'll leave the
blame where it goes, too, and that's on the church of our day.
The church is about to turn its eyes in on itself, isn't it?
What's going on in the churches? The same attitude is found in
our religious leaders. Their religious gain and their
position and their carnal gifts has blinded their eyes. Do you
think the Pope would give up his position for the truth? He
wouldn't, would he? Do you think some pastor in a
large cathedral in some inner city is going to give up his
pulpit for the truth of the gospel? He's not going to do it. That
cathedral, that pulpit has blinded his eyes. Do you think some man
is going to give up a lucrative salary to believe the gospel
and lose his salary? He's not going to do it. These
gifts, these positions, blinds men's eyes. That's what he's
warning the children of Israel about here. And notice how these
instructions concern every one of us. Look in verse 19 again. Look at this. Thou shalt not rest judgment.
Thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift. Now look
at this. For a gift doeth blind the eyes of whom? The wise, not
just the ignorant, the wise. And it will pervert the words
of the righteous. You can corrupt people with gifts. You can corrupt wise people and
good people with gifts. Boy, our mountain may stand strong
today, but I tell you we better be careful now. That's what he's
teaching us. We better be careful. Let evil
desires and opportunity come together. And I'm telling you,
brothers and sisters, we're capable of perverting just judgment and
compromising the most precious truths of God's Word. Let him that thinketh he standeth
take heed lest he fall. The Lord was giving these instructions
to His favored people in the Old Testament. Of all people,
this is who He's talking to. And for good reason, they needed
them for the time to come. Because the time would come that
it proved they failed to take heed to these instructions. Listen to Isaiah chapter 59,
verse 2. This shows why they should have
taken heed to this, to these words. Your iniquities have separated
between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from
you that He will not hear. For your hands are defiled with
blood, your fingers with iniquity, your lips have spoken lies, and
your tongue hath murdered perverseness. None calls for justice. nor any
pleads for truth. They trust in vanity, they speak
lies, they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity." Now
that's where this nation finally fell to. And we know what happened
when our Lord Jesus come, don't we? Man, were they ever perverted
then. So these were good instructions. But they said, we're not like
other men, are we? Not us. We're not going to err in the
way. And somebody said, well, that
nation erred, but the church will never err. The professed
churches will never fall to a place like this. Well, listen to Revelation
chapter 3 and verse 14. To the angel of the church of
Odyssey, these things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness. I know your works. I know you. I know what you think and what
you're doing. that you are neither cold nor hot. So then, because
you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you
out of my mouth." I went to the doctor the other day, a few weeks
ago, and I had a bad elbow. It was swollen. My hand was swollen.
My arm was swollen. I had bursitis elbow, she said. She put me on some medicine.
She said, I want you every day to use two packs on me. I want you to use a cold pack,
just as cold as you can take it. Then I want you to take the
cold pack off and put a hot pack on, hot as you can stand. So
I'd get the ice out of the refrigerator, a big cold frozen pack, and put
it on my arm and pin it there until it got warm. Then I'd jerk
that off and I'd put a hottest, hot as I could stand. I don't
know why she didn't tell me to put a lukewarm pack on it. I
do know it wouldn't have to. It wouldn't have helped it. In
other words, the Lord Jesus was telling His church, you're fit
for nothing. You've lost your savor. What were they saying? What were
they thinking? Well, listen to this. Because thou sayest, I
am rich, I'm increased with goods, I have need of nothing, and you
don't know that you're wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. I counsel of thee to buy of me
gold fried in the fire, that you may be rich, white raiment
that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness do
not appear, and anoint your eyes with eyesight, that you may see." Brothers and sisters, these instructions
are not given us. to make us proud, to make us
boastful, but they're giving us to humble us. They're giving
us to awaken us and to make us watchful, to keep us coming to
the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to
help us not to pervert justice. That's what they're giving. That
which is altogether just shall They'll follow. Isn't it easy
for us to deceive ourselves? I mean, our country thinks today,
we've got a whole bunch of people in our country thinks today that
this country has never been in a better shape. And I bet if you take a survey
of religions, probably a lot of religions think, we've never
been in a better condition. We're not like those old Puritans.
No, we're not, unfortunately. We're not. Isn't it easy to deceive
ourselves? As I was studying this, I thought
about Haziel, 2 Kings 8, a man by the name of Haziel. He was
the servant of the king of Assyria. Man who knew Elijah, the great
prophet of God. And the king of Syria was sick
and he sent Ahaziel, his servant, down to talk to Elijah and said,
ask him if I'm going to live or die. And Elijah, the prophet
of God, was talking to the servant of king Ahaziel and he started
crying. He just started weeping and Ahaziel
said, my lord, why are you weeping? He said, God showed me what you're
going to do. He said, you're going to kill
the king. You're going to burn the strongholds
of the children of Israel. You're going to take your sword
and you're going to kill the young men of Israel. You're going
to kill the little babies and then you're going to rip up the
pregnant women with child. And he said, am I a dog? Do you
think I'm a dog that you're accusing me of this? You know what he
did? He went back home and killed his king and did everything the
prophet said he would do. That's how deceitful the heart
is. It can't be trusted. No, we're
not in good shape today in our nation. We're losing our nation. But listen to poor Peter. The
Lord Jesus said, all of you shall be offended in me this night.
And Peter said, Lord, though all men will be offended in me,
I'll never be offended in you. And he said, before the cock
crows, you're going to deny me three times. Brothers and sisters,
these instructions aren't given us to lead us to a ghostful position. and brag about how just we're
doing. These things are written to us
to humble us. That we may seek God for grace
to help us, not to err. We may come to the throne of
grace to obtain mercy, to obtain the Spirit of the Lord to lead
us and guide us. That we may seek in our lives
and in our hearts to honor our God and to honor man. in our lifetime. Not to pervert
justice with our neighbor and our friends, and not to pervert
justice as we seek to serve God. That's why these commandments
are written. And when we fail to do that,
to bring us to repentance, to bring us to watchfulness. God help us to do it. I don't
know. I don't know what's coming upon
us. I have no idea what's coming. But I tell you, it seems like
some dark clouds are rising, doesn't it? Not only in the world,
but in the church. Lord, start here with us and
give us grace to be faithful, to be more careful and watchful.
Paul said, I wrote unto you, brothers and sisters, how you
are to walk and to please God. And I'm praying that you'll increase
more and more. Brothers and sisters, let us
lay aside the weights and the sin. Let us lay aside the things
that's wasting our time. Let us pray God give us grace
and the desire to do it and to seek Him more. And I tell you,
you won't be sorry for doing this. Because, and I hope I'm
wrong with this. I hope I've completely misunderstood
this. But if I haven't, there's some
tough times coming for the church. So if you're not converted, if
you don't know the Lord, seek Him. Open this Bible. Say, Lord, open my heart. I want
to know Jesus Christ. I want to know my sins are all
forgiven. He can make you know that. He can make you know that
He's received you, that you're accepted in Him. If you're here
and lost, seek Him for that. And if you're here and you know
Him, then ask Him for grace. to seek Him and be more faithful
and believe His promises. For His glory we ask these things.
Wayne, would you dismiss us, dear brother?