In the sermon titled 'The God Who Protects His People,' Scott Brown delves into the themes of justice, protection, and the nature of God's law as illustrated in Deuteronomy 19:14-21. The sermon highlights the importance of respecting ancient landmarks as a means to maintain social order, prevent envy, and uphold property rights. Brown draws connections between Old Testament laws and the teachings of Jesus, particularly focusing on the law of witnesses and its application in Jesus' ministry, such as the story of the woman caught in adultery. The sermon underscores that the laws are a reflection of God's goodness and mercy, providing not only societal order but also a deeper understanding of the gospel. By comparing the Old Testament laws to the New Testament teachings, the sermon emphasizes the continuity of God's message and the relevance of these laws in modern times. It also discusses the moral and social implications of these laws, highlighting their role in guiding human behavior, curbing envy, and promoting love for neighbors.

Deuteronomy 19 verse 14. You shall not remove your neighbor's landmark which the men of old have set in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess. One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits. By the mouth of two or three witnesses, the matter shall be established. If a false witness rises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, then both men in the controversy shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who serve in those days.

And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed if the witness is a false witness who has testified falsely against his brother, and you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother. So you shall put away the evil from among you, And those who remain shall hear and fear and hereafter they shall not again commit such evil among you. Your eyes shall not pity, life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. Amen. Deuteronomy 19, 14 through 21 again brings us the heart of God regarding his protection of his people and how he goes to great lengths to communicate how he would do that.

This text is really an illustration of a scene I saw with my own eyes yesterday, downtown Wake Forest. I had to go to my office to pick up some books in the middle of the day and there was a big fall festival happening downtown. And I saw a young man standing out in front of Shorty's with his big ol' honkin' Bible, reading the Bible to a young lady and her mother. And as I was passing by, I heard one of the young men in our church reading Romans chapter 1, right out in front of Shorty's out there. It was a fantastic scene.

So there he was with this gigantic Bible, right out in front of Shorty's with these two women. He was reading these words, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth and unrighteousness." Right out there, right out there in broad daylight, and he was reading a scripture that tells us, really, of the greatness of the mercies of God. And this is one aspect of the revelation of his goodness. These young men, several from our church, were witnessing downtown yesterday and they encountered demon possession and Eastern mysticism and good old Southern paganism as well. And there they were, really trying to proclaim the sweetness of a Savior who loves mankind.

And this scripture that they were reading is the beginning of all sweetness, of recognizing the bankruptcy of your own life, and that you're trapped in a world that hates God. But there is a Savior. There is one who died for all sinners. And so as he was reading the scripture, I was passing right by, and there I could hear the scripture being read. But this scripture is like all of scriptures, and that is that it reveals the nature of man.

It exposes our motives. It shows us our true nature. And it shows us that our natural state would lead us to wickedness. But God comes and he gives us something to restrain the madness of our hearts. And he gives us solutions.

And here in Deuteronomy 19, we find more of them, where every law is a revelation of the goodness and the mercy of God. That's why Jesus said, if you teach my law, you'll be called great in the kingdom of heaven, because not one jot or tittle will pass away, but if you don't teach my law, and he was talking about the Old Testament law, you'll be called least in the kingdom of heaven, because his laws are good. His laws are all shadows of the gospel. His laws all bear witness to his kingdom, his love, and his name. And so here as we read Deuteronomy 19, we need to always do what we have been doing, and that is to read the law with one hand in the gospel and the other.

This text is very easy to do that, because Jesus refers to this text in two different places in his ministry, in the gospel of John and in the gospel of Matthew at two different times in his ministry. And so here we find another beautiful example of the statement that we read in the book of John. Moses wrote of me. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me." So this text brings us into this same throne room, this same treasury of wisdom of God that is finally fulfilled in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now these statutes and judgments that are delivered to us, of course, are delivered to us for our benefit.

Every single one of them, even though they, most of them run cross grain, we recoil at them, we say, no, this must be for another era. We have a hard time grasping them because of our sinful nature, because our thoughts are not the thoughts of God. And so when His laws come to us, they offend us, they actually make us who we really are, sinners. They make us people who are blind and poor and who need a savior and that's their great value. Yes, they are offensive, but that doesn't mean we should quit talking of them.

We should talk of them because they actually do help us to see who we really are. We read it at the end of the first sermon of Moses in Deuteronomy, where in chapter 4, Moses is extolling the beauty and the goodness of the law that he is getting ready to give. And he's pleading for Israel. He's saying, oh, Israel, listen in four, verse one. Listen to the statutes and judgments.

Don't add or subtract to them. He says be careful to observe them. And then he says this, he says these laws will make you like no other people in the world. There never was a nation that ever had such good laws as these. That these laws make a people a wise and understanding people.

We recited this morning the dramatic difference of a people whose God is the Lord and a people whose God is their belly and who are unconverted, hence the great need for what happened yesterday in downtown Wake Forest, that people, as it says in Deuteronomy 28 verse 29, the Lord will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of heart. And you will grope at noonday as a blind man gropes in darkness and you will not prosper. In your ways you will be oppressed and plundered continually and no one will save you. That is the life without the law. That's the life without the light of the goodness of God's laws.

You grope about, you don't know what to do in this situation or that, because all you have is your own heart. And so there's this terrible devastation of mankind with apart from the law and the Lord Jesus Christ here wrote this text in Deuteronomy chapter 14 or Deuteronomy chapter 19 and of course this chapter just continues to do what all these chapters have seemed to have been doing, and that is they pulsate with a witness to the love of God. I love, I so love these laws because they show you a good God who cares for his people. God provides cities of refuge. He provides refuge for unintentional sins committed, in verses 1 through 13 in chapter 19.

And then he gives a secure land, peace and a secure land, with boundaries that are intended to be honored in verse 14. And then he gives you an advocate in Verse 15, a righteous witness to plead your case. And then he gives propitiation for sin in the final verses. So on the whole, Deuteronomy, I believe, explains at least three of the Ten Commandments. First, in the Sixth Commandment, thou shalt not kill.

God establishes laws for those who would kill unintentionally in a place of refuge. The eighth commandment, thou shalt not steal. That's verse 14, which speaks of not moving the ancient landmarks. And then the ninth commandment, thou shalt not bear false witness in verse 15 and the law of witnesses. And so in this great text, again, is an explanation of the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Jesus himself, in a couple of very tight situations, refers back to this very chapter and quotes the principles that are there in some of the very words that are here. This is why we can so easily say that Deuteronomy is the book that Jesus loved. He constantly was referring to it more than any other book of the Bible did he refer to the book of Deuteronomy. So let's get into the text now and try to unpack what's here. First of all, in verse 14, we find this principle of property rights.

You shall not remove your neighbor's landmark. It begins with a command, a negative command. There's something you should not do. Don't remove your neighbor's landmark, which the men of old have said, in your inheritance, which you will inherit in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess. So Moses is saying you're going into the land and there are landmarks that will be laid and I believe what he's saying is that you'll go into the land and then those after you will look back to them and say these are the ancient landmarks.

You go and you set the property lines according to the way that I've set them. The cities of refuge, the 48 cities for the Levites, the cities for all the sons of Israel, all marked out in the promised land. And Those would be ancient landmarks that should not be moved. Now this law here really is a foundational law in our legal system in America. This verse is the foundation really of all property rights that we use today in order to protect private property.

And this is a beautiful law because it has the effect of bringing peace between neighbors. It limits them and defines what is and what is not in their realm of jurisdiction. So it focuses men on what actually belongs to them. Now, what it does, it establishes a certain jurisdiction for a certain family. That's what it means.

And now, jurisdiction, you children, could you just listen up for a second. Do you know what jurisdiction means? When we use that word, well, it means that your family has authority over your property, but you don't have authority over somebody else's property. But there is this limitation of authority that God builds within his world according to the way that he thinks. And He's established boundary lines to help us understand that.

This also is a rule of social order. Remember the American poet Robert Frost, who said, good fences make good neighbors. I really think that statement arises out of this. Social order is maintained by this law. And it gives one person sovereignty over his property.

And it also protects the sovereignty of another over his property. And it's related to the commandment in Exodus 20, thou shall not steal. Each person has a personal responsibility. When you walk by your neighbor's property line, you may be tempted to encroach upon it. Make that grass grow over.

Make it look like the line goes a little further. Just take a little bit here, a little bit there. The Bible says that's a wicked thing, that you have usurped the authority that has not been given to you. So there are clear lines of jurisdiction, And this is one of the means that God uses to help men love their neighbors. Why would this be sort of in the context of murder?

Because men are willing to kill for more property. And there's a dramatic illustration of this that we'll get to in a minute in the Bible itself with Naboth and his vineyard. And so there's this temptation that's implied here to tamper with evidence, to take a marker and move it or to take that pipe out of the ground and put it a few feet over here because you kind of like to have just a little, just a little, how much is enough? Just a little bit more. And God knows this about the wicked heart of man.

And so he establishes a principle to help them understand how to contain their raging envy and greed and lust for more, more, more until finally someone dies as a result. This means that land surveying is an important skill. The father of our country, George Washington, you know, cut his teeth in his youth surveying land. And he was a surveyor establishing boundary markers. This is a rule of love for neighbors.

And it brings up how one relates to his neighbor. How do you love your neighbor? Here's one way you love your neighbor, is you don't mess around with his property line. And so this law, I think it takes us to so many areas. It takes us to a law book, but it also brings it right back to our own hearts.

It deals with covetousness. It deals with envy. And it deals with wanting something that God has not given you. And the Bible says that love does not envy. James says that where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and everything evil thing are there.

When one envies the property or the jurisdiction of someone else, it actually can lead to murder. And so this law here is a beautiful law to restrain the envious, covetous passions of mankind. You see how good this law is to help contain envy in the world somehow. God is so good. One might actually murder his neighbor because he is envious.

Jesus said if you're angry with your brother, you're a murderer. And so this happens in the heart. You don't have to actually go stab your neighbor to be a murderer. All you have to do is covet and envy and begin to hate him. And you are a murderer at that point.

So this command brings us really down to some of the most intimate, difficult areas. As we look around, we see inequities. God gives one thing to one man and something else to another. And it causes the raging of the human soul. Now also is here, not only does it take us to law books, not only does it take us to our own hearts, but it also takes us to a world view.

There's a whole world view here about property. By the way, this is not a communist worldview here. This is not socialism. This actually is a great contradiction to socialism because it establishes the principle of private property. And this verse absolutely blows away communism.

And so there's a moral precept. There is a worldview that's dealt with here. And we have to understand that there are differences in worldview regarding the way that we look at property. You can have the worldview of Mahatma Gandhi, who both in terms of property and in terms of punishment had not a biblical worldview at all. And so There are many issues that are raised here regarding these ancient landmarks.

Now, we see an illustration of the removal of landmarks and the importance of them in the story of Naboth. In 1 Kings 21, we find that Ahab saw that there was a vineyard that was a lot nicer than anything that he had, and he wanted it. And so he came to Naboth and proposed a sale. And Naboth wouldn't sell the land because it was his father's inheritance. In other words, it was one of these ancient landmarks.

Naboth believed that he should not move the ancient landmark and that this property should stay with him. And, but Ahab disagreed. And so he was driven by envy. He became sullen. He was one of the biggest, most self-absorbed, idolatrous babies that ever lived.

And he couldn't have the vineyard, and so he went home and he sulked. And his dear wife comforted his sulking. She inflamed his sin. She made him a bigger sulker than he was capable of on his own. And she just fanned the flames of his salking.

And so she wrote a letter to all the elders and the nobles living around in order to raise up a witness. In other words, to gain witnesses against this godly man, Naboth. And then unfortunately, the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite. And he went down to meet Ahab, who lived in Samaria at that time. And he said, because of what you've done, where the dogs lick the blood of Naboth, the dogs will lick your blood.

And that's exactly what happened. And so he died, and Elijah's words were fulfilled. But, you know, one, it's easy for one to be driven by envy like Ahab and to actually desire so much to remove an ancient landmark that he would actually commit murder in order to get it. But this law here that appears for boundary lines is really it's a law to protect love. All of God's laws are summed up in the word love and they reduce the raging of the human soul.

And so a property line is a marker for the goodness of God to deal with the sinful inclinations of man's heart. You know, maybe today if you walk the line of your property as you're taking a stroll around your house, walk your property line and think of the goodness of God. That God has given a way to deal with your own sinful inclinations, that He's given you a boundary, that he has given you what he has given you. And let it be a testimony to the goodness of God. And this, I think, also shows that not only is there a land here, but there is a promised land that God has given us an inheritance in heaven that will never fade away.

And it does seem to have some kind of boundary lines like our habitations here in this world. These boundary lines should teach us the sinfulness of our hearts, but they should also teach us of the glories of heaven, that God has gone to prepare a place for us, and that it is a dwelling place for all eternity. And so here is this amazing law about the removal of ancient landmarks. And then we come to the next law. It's a law that would protect your reputation.

In verse 15, one witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or sin that he commits. By the mouth of two or three witnesses, the matter will be established." So he moves really to a related area regarding witnesses. It's a very relevant subject, because we live in a culture that does not care very much for telling the truth. And this law here also brings us into very fascinating things to think about and really very comforting things. First of all, it really is the heart of our laws of due process for serious crimes in our own land.

It's been very interesting to me, as we've read through the book of Deuteronomy, to see how many of our current laws can be traced right back to the book of Deuteronomy. Because there was a day in our land where people believed that these laws should form the basis of our behavior in the world. And so this is the heart of the laws for due process for serious crimes. And the principle of this, you're innocent until you're proven guilty. That's one of the things that flows out of this.

And so one witness cannot convict. We have a system that's rigged against the single witness and so this is a law against perjuries and the embracing of multiple witnesses and that single witnesses should never be admitted to give evidence in a criminal cause. And these are serious crimes that we're talking about here. And so this law is a repetition of what Moses already communicated in Numbers 35, verse 30, where he says, whoever kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the testimony of witnesses. But one witness is not sufficient testimony against a person for the death penalty.

That's what Numbers 35.30 says. So, witnesses are required. One witness can't accused, but one witness cannot stand alone for a conviction. That's the idea. And so here he refers to that rule of law which Moses prescribed in the execution of criminals.

It relates to Deuteronomy 17, where the hand of the witnesses must be first. In other words, witnesses must come forth publicly. And then they actually take a hand in the actual execution, if that's appropriate. That's what happened in the stoning of Stephen. And the scribes and the Pharisees were witnesses against the woman who was caught in adultery.

We'll get to that in a minute. But now Christ puts it to them that according to their own law, they would dare to be executioners. Christ does this. Here, Moses does it. Christ actually incorporates this in his dealing with the woman at the well.

We see the same thing in Deuteronomy 13, in 13 verse 8, you shall not consent to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, Nor shall you spare him or conceal him, but your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people." So the witnesses come together, and the accuser must take part in the execution. How different is that from our own prison system, where people who have nothing to do with the crime actually execute someone. This is not a reflection of the way that God set it up. If we would do it right today in capital punishment, we would have the accuser throw the switch. He would have to throw the switch.

And that's the principle that's here. And then in verse 16, there's the handling of false witnesses. If a false witness arises against any man to testify him of wrongdoing. So he brings up the situation when one person stands up and says, you committed a crime, but the other guy says, I did not, that's a false witness. That's the situation that he is presenting here.

It's a common situation where one is accused, but the one who is accused says, no, I did not do it. So this law is to take into account that situation. And there's something very specific that should happen. Both men will stand before the Lord and before the priests and the judges who serve in those days. So everyone has to come forward, the accused and the accuser, no anonymous notes at all.

They both have to come together. And you don't send a letter to be read, you stand there face to face, eyeball to eyeball, and you deal with it like God has commanded you to deal with it. If you make an accusation and someone says I'm not guilty, then you have to appear with them together. That's the principle. And so there's very specific instructions about how to deal with it.

He says that you stand before those who serve in those days. We're always subject to the sovereignty of God for whoever is serving in those days. I was talking with a young man some time ago and we were talking about the death penalty and he said, I don't believe that there are any qualified witnesses that could possibly even stand and deal with biblical law to make an accusation and to bring a judgment? Because people are so corrupt today. He was just lodging this observation that the hearts of the people are corrupt.

How can they make righteous judgments? That was his point. And of course, we can all relate to that. It would be a scary thing to stand before just sort of a common swath of the American public, because they don't understand God. They don't understand the law of God.

They don't have the categories. But the truth is here, this says those who serve in those days. You're subject to the sovereignty of God. Whoever God puts there, you stand before them. You may not think they're qualified and they might not be, but you are obligated to stand before those who serve in those days.

So There's the sovereignty of God in all of this. You know what that means? That means that sometimes there's certain crimes that are not punished on this earth. If there are no witnesses of the punishment or if God ordained that the jury would rule in a wrong way, That often happens as well. The crime will be unpunished.

We recognize that there will be injustice in this world, as we have seen many times. Just a few years ago, down the street, there was a church whose church bell was stolen, somewhat this beautiful large bell, very heavy bell, and Bula Baptist Church right down the road. And the bell was stolen and for some reason this incident ratcheted up in the national media And National Public Radio was actually interviewing the deacons of Bula Baptist Church about the theft of this bell. And it was so funny to hear these Guys that live right around here, tobacco farmers, some of your favorite rednecks were on National Public Radio talking about the theft of this bell. And I'll never forget it.

Because this story went on, I believe, if my memory's correct, They did several shows on national public radio in the afternoons. And one of the days, I heard, one of the deacons was being interviewed. And the interviewer from NPR said, now, were there any witnesses? And he said, well, I believe there are three witnesses. There's the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

They all saw it. Sometimes they're witnesses. Sometimes they're not witnesses. And that's all under the sovereignty of God. But there's also to be careful in inquiry in verse 18.

And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed, if the witness is false, a false witness who has testified falsely against his neighbor. So There needs to be a process engaged to try, as best anyone can, to verify whether this is a true or a false witness. So there has to be time spent to deal with that. And then Jesus ends up explaining this law in an amazing situation that he found himself in. In this very dramatic scene recorded in John chapter 8.

Please turn there. Please open your Bibles to John chapter 8 and let your eyes fall on verse 1. This is that scene of the woman caught in adultery. And here Jesus is appealing to the law in Deuteronomy in order to resolve the situation that the scribes and the Pharisees had brought to him. And so we find Jesus early in the morning in the temple.

Can you picture that? Jesus, you know, very, very early goes to the temple after coming from the Mount of Olives. And the people came to him, and he sat down and began to teach them. And then in the middle of his teaching there, apparently, apparently it was early in the morning, the scribes and the Pharisees, they drag a woman before him. And you can picture this in your mind who knows how it really happened but they they weren't very nice people so we know that they they they probably were not treating this woman well and in verse 3 describes in the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and when they had sent her in the midst, they said to him, Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery in the very act.

Now Moses and the law commanded that such should be stoned. What do you say? And can you imagine the moment that all the people were able to experience there? Well, we know from the next verse what their motive was. They cared nothing about this woman.

They really cared nothing for her soul, or her marriage, or anything. They only cared about getting something to accuse him with. But then Jesus stoops on the ground, and he writes on the ground with his finger as though he did not hear." And everyone wants to know what the Lord Jesus wrote. And if you read the commentators, everybody has their opinion. Some say when he stooped down the first time he wrote the first table of the law and then when he stooped down the second time he wrote the second table of the law.

Who knows? Who knows what he wrote? But someday we will we will know. But he stoops on the ground, and then they just keep pounding him away at him to get the answer to their question. And then he raises himself up in verse 7, and he quotes the law.

He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone at her. So he's appealing to this law of Moses that the accuser casts the first stone. He's quoting Deuteronomy chapter 17 and 13, that you extend your hand first if you're the accuser in the execution for this serious crime. So he's quoting what he's already said in Deuteronomy 13 and 17, and the implication of witnesses, as he ends up getting to Deuteronomy 19 a little bit later. And Then he stoops down again after saying, he who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.

And then their consciences were convicted, and those who heard it went out one by one, beginning with the oldest, even to the last. And so there, it's interesting that the oldest go first. Probably the oldest are more aware of their sins. I'm noticing that the older I get, the more bankrupt I see myself. When I was a new believer, I didn't really understand my bankruptcy very well, but I see it more now.

And so the older went before the younger. And then Jesus was left alone with the woman standing in the midst. And he raised himself up and and the only the woman was there and he said woman where are those accusers of yours has no one condemned you and she said no one Lord and Jesus said to her neither do I condemn you go and sin no more So this is a case in the ministry of Jesus where the law of witnesses is displayed. Jesus knew that the scribes and the Pharisees had broken the law of witnesses. They had no witnesses.

There were no witnesses. They had broken the law. And so they finally all left. Because there really were, there really were no witnesses. Jesus wasn't saying adultery is just fine.

Everybody gets off free. No, that wasn't what Jesus was doing at all. He was appealing to the law of witnesses. And this woman herself knew it, that there were no accusers there and that that made a difference. And so the Jewish court was trying to convict Jesus by the use of witnesses here.

And it's interesting that as the Jewish court tried to convict Jesus on witnesses, they were caught in their own duplicity by rejecting the law of witnesses at the woman at the well. And Judas was hired to be a key witness in the Jewish court. They paid him 30 pieces of silver to identify Jesus and be a witness against him. Do you see what the Pharisees were doing? They cared nothing about the law at all, really.

They wanted to trap Jesus with a woman caught in adultery and rejected the law of witnesses. At the same time, they hired Judas and paid him 30 pieces of silver so he would be a witness, so that he would come and be part of this on the basis of two or three witnesses. And even though Judas agreed to be hired as a false witness, later on he repented, And he brought the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. And he said, I have sinned by betraying innocent blood. That's what Judas said.

I have sinned by betraying innocent blood. And he took the 30 pieces of silver and he threw it before the scribes and the Pharisees and they didn't know what to do with the money because they had an accounting problem. They could not take in money for blood, okay? And so what they did is they went out and they bought a field. They had an accounting problem, okay?

They did not know how to allocate those funds. And they had to allocate them properly. So they bought a field instead. And Judas hanged himself there and his gut spilled out. So in all of this duplicity, to try to get around the law, to try to use the law for their own wicked ways, they found tremendous destruction in their wake as Judas himself was crushed on the rocks of their duplicity.

So here is the law of witnesses. The Lord comes and he clarifies what this law of witnesses is all about. And then, finally, there is protection from inappropriate punishment. Protection from inappropriate punishment, verses 19 through 20. Then You shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother, so you shall put away the evil from among you.

And those who remain shall hear and fear. And hereafter they shall not again commit such an evil. Your eye shall not pity. Life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. Now Moses here is using an illustration to communicate a principle of law.

And he's declaring that the punishment should fit the crime. That's what eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand is all about. He's declaring that punishments shouldn't be excessive and neither should they be underway either. And he is speaking about the issue of appropriate punishment on one end of the scale, and that is that it might be too harsh, Or on the other side of the scale, that it might be too light. Now the world philosophy, the world philosophers try to disallow punishment for serious crimes.

And That's why you have Socrates who says, one who is injured ought not to return the injury on no account can it be right to return an injury. Or Gandhi who said, an eye for an eye will make the whole world blind. Well, those are wicked propositions completely against what scripture teaches regarding the law of punishment. And there are a number of places that this law is addressed. If you go to Exodus chapter 21, there are numerous examples that are given for how to think this whole thing through.

And there are a couple things that we need to recognize when we get to any law of punishment. First of all, the human heart hates any idea of punishment. We always cry out, unfair, unless it's done to someone else, typically. And it makes us fear. It makes us fear that we might be the next victim.

And so this goes for eternal punishment in hell to any other kind of punishment. We fear it for ourselves. And this text really makes it clear that we ought to fear it, that it's a good thing to fear it. But our spirits rise up against it, and we do not want there to be a world with punishment. We want to imagine.

We just want to imagine a world where there's no punishment at all. And those who imagine it find that it's only in their imagination, Because there is real punishment in this world that God has given. Even God himself is vengeful. And in Psalm 94.1, we read, O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongs. O God, to whom vengeance belongs, Shine forth, rise up.

O judge the earth, render punishment to the proud. Lord, how long will the wicked, how long will the wicked triumph? God is a God of vengeance. And often what we find is we don't like the God of the Bible. We want to make God in our own image.

And Jeremiah 51 shows us that God does repay. In 51, 56, we read, for the Lord is the God of recompense. He will surely repay. And so what we find here in this law is both intermingled, a law of mercy and also a law of judgment. Punishment for sin is necessary.

And if we reject punishment, we're really saying that we're more merciful than God. We're like the son of a well-known Christian figure who said, I can't believe in a God who's not at least as compassionate as I am. Well, that's really sort of where we are. We want to have a God that's just as compassionate as we are, or maybe more compassionate, according to our own definition, of course, the one that we've cooked up in our own brains. But God has blessed us with this law of restraint, that there is punishment, and that there is due process and there is punishment for sin in the world.

That's a truth that's here and we cannot escape it. That God is ruler and judge and he is also punisher. In Psalm 98, 7, it says, he comes to judge the earth and the peoples with equity. And then there's a good result, people hear and fear. The statement hear and fear is all over the book of Deuteronomy.

This is the principle that the threat of judgment should drive us to reject sin because the consequences of sin are so great. Not only are there the natural consequences of sin in our own flesh, when we hate, there are things that happen to our lives. When we commit adultery, There are things that happen in every relationship we have. They're just natural judgments in sin. You can't escape them.

And yet there are eternal judgments as well that we have to take into account. Now in Matthew 5.38, please turn there, Jesus quotes this statement, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, Deuteronomy 5.38. You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.

If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him too. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you, do not turn away." So here Jesus in Matthew 5, he quotes the law and then he speaks of how it's misunderstood. And that's what his whole explanation is about here. Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount speaks of the wrong application of the law, and he's correcting them.

He's correcting their understanding of the law and he gives six illustrations for how they misunderstood the law and they start with you have heard that the ancients were told or You've heard that it was said or something like that. So there are six of them. And this one stands as the second to the last that Jesus deals with. He's dealing with their misunderstanding of the law. They didn't get what this law was all about.

And so in verse 21, we read, you've heard that the ancients were told, you shall not commit murder, and whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court. So Jesus is interpreting the commandment regarding murder. And then in verse 27, he does the same thing. You have heard that it was said.

Again, that same phrase that we find here in this law regarding the eye for eye, and the tooth for tooth. Verse 27, he deals with adultery. You've heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery, but I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has committed adultery already with her in his heart. So Jesus is interpreting the law. And then in verse 31, he does it again.

And he said, and it was said, and it was said, he's referring to the law of Moses again, whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce. But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife except for the cause of unchastity, makes her commit adultery. And then in verse 33, he does the same thing, dealing with another law of Moses. Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord But I say to you make no oath at all either by heaven for it is the throne of God or by earth For it is his footstool and then in verse 38 He is taking on this fifth misunderstanding of the law. You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

But I say to you, do not resist him. And then in verse 43, he takes on the seventh, where he says, it was said of old, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies. So when Jesus quotes this, he's explaining the intent of the law. He's letting us know what it meant and also exposes the wickedness of our hearts as we try to interpret the law by missing the spirit of it, by missing the intent of it.

And so one aspect of the laws of Israel is that they were designed to control excesses. They addressed extreme situations that needed to be handled. And this law here explains the law of punishment. And it's a general principle for how this law should be understood. And the Pharisees misunderstood it.

And what the Pharisees were doing is that they were saying, this civil law back here, it applies to your personal relationships. And Jesus is saying, no, you've missed the spirit of this law completely. This law was given to judges, and the Pharisees are now turning it on to personal relationships. And Jesus says, no, It doesn't have to do with that. You don't take the eye or the foot of your brother because he does something against you.

You don't do that personally. That's not what Moses was saying at all. And so Jesus was bringing them back to the heart of the matter, that the punishment should fit the crime in the civil realm. And he was expounding on the heart of God on this matter. He's not making an argument for pacifism.

Romans 13 makes it clear that the civil government should use the sword. He wasn't canceling out Romans 13 at all. He was making it clear though that there's a way that you deal in personal relationships that's different than dealing with the civil magistrate for murder and adultery and things like that. Those are two different, there are two different ways that you deal. One is personal and the other is corporate and legal.

It has to do with the civil sphere. And So what Jesus was saying is, look, be careful that you don't become vengeful. Be careful that you don't become this kind of person that's taking the law into your own hands. He said, he's saying no, no, not at all. Your heart should be such that if someone slaps you on your right cheek, you turn the other also.

And if he wants to sue you, let him take your tune and give him your cloak also. He's talking about this whole thing in terms of the personal realm. And the Pharisees were actually misapplying it. So what Jesus was saying is be careful that you don't become vengeful. You quote an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, and you use that.

You're using that as an excuse to let your vengeance rage when in reality vengeance is mine. That's what Jesus is saying. And you know, you can, the, what Jesus does in the Sermon on the Mount is he gives the broad principles to see how they apply. And they see how often we get so wooden in our application that we forget the heart of the matter. And so Moses explains this law of punishment.

And what he's saying in the civil realm is that the punishment should fit the crime and that you should not let vengeance run and destroy the person who's accused. It should be an appropriate judgment, not an inappropriate. You shouldn't over judge, and neither should you under judge. But there should be some sense of fairness that the punishment should fit the crime. That's what Moses is saying.

And Jesus is saying, don't you dare think that that makes you have the freedom to be vengeful against your brother. That's what Jesus is saying. And so Moses says that this will cause hearing and fury. By my count, there are seven times where this principle is communicated in Deuteronomy, where we are to hear and then we are to fear so that we would not sin. Okay, let's get to some application here.

So we've just found these wonderful ways of God, how he gives the unintentional sinner a city of refuge, how he has given a law to protect, really protect mankind from the envious raging that would want someone else's property and not respect their jurisdiction. And then finally, this law of witnesses, and then the law of inappropriate judgment. God uses all these things to protect his people. So how do we make sense of this? Here are just a few things I'd like to suggest.

I would like for us to consider applying the law of witnesses personally, before God. We all here this morning stand before God as sinners. And We can be incensed at unpunished sins of those around us. But the truth is we have many unpunished sins. And Christ has much evidence against us, doesn't he?

How much evidence does the Lord Jesus, how many witnesses does the Lord Jesus Christ have to my sin and your sin? How many? He has many, many witnesses. Well, well, of course there are, there's the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit who have witnessed our sins. They're all the demonic angels, you know, have been a part of and have witnessed our sins as well.

Have incited them and led us and stimulated our sins. All the demonic angels have witnessed our sins. My wife, my own wife has witnessed my sins. I could be sent to hell on the witness of my own wife for my sins. Or what about all my friends?

It would even be worse. What about all the people that you know who have seen you break the law of God at one point or another? Your children are witnesses against you that you're a sinner if you have children. How many witnesses do we need to convict a sinner? There are thousands, there are millions of witnesses against me and you.

There's a weight, there's a weight of witness that cries out for our blood. The avenger of blood is after us because we have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And so there are so many witnesses against us and the Lord has said, vengeance is mine. Aren't you glad for that?

Aren't you glad that God can cut through all of the witnesses and see them in their proper light and that there was a witness, the Lord Jesus Christ, who laid his life down for our sins? I hope this passage helps us to see the enormity of the weight of our own sin and the many witnesses against us. If you're married, I know that you have enough witnesses to condemn you. And we have to understand that God's mercy is great. And this is why Paul said to the Romans, he says, or do you despise the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance.

And the riches and the goodness of God are often found in His forbearance. And there are many accusers pointing their fingers at us, for sure. But God has placed the burden for our sin upon His Son. And He, instead of destroying us, instead of stoning us, he crucifies his own son for our sins. And so the Lord Jesus said, I came not to condemn.

The Lord Jesus said that the law was given through Moses, or John 1.17 says the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. And so we should rejoice at the law of witnesses and what God has done about it for us. It really is astonishing. And then the second, I've already sort of alluded to it. Are you a witness?

Are you a witness to the sins of your wife or your husband? You're married here today, and no one has the opportunity of marriage without sin. And so what will you do? What will you do for that young lady sitting next to you, or that young man who you married so long ago? How will you act knowing that there's such a great weight of accusers against your husband, and you're standing right there with them?

Are you the accuser? Are you the accuser of your spouse? Are you the accuser of the brethren? Are you like Christ? You know, often marriages suffer at a misunderstanding of the law.

And they suffer through unrelenting judgment. A wife can't forgive her husband. A husband can't forgive her wife. That should not be. That is not a fulfillment of the law of God.

If you would fulfill the law, then you would have to find the end of the law fulfilled in Christ and His merciful rescue of sinners. And God has appointed us in marriage to have that kind of role with one another. Yes, we do have to help our spouses with their sins, that's true. But we also must forgive them of all of their sins. Is there any need for that?

Is anybody, is anybody's marriage suffering because you cannot let go? Can you let go? Would you let go? You know, if all of the laws of God are good, if all of them cause refreshment and happiness, and they do, his ways are pleasant ways, and all his paths are peace, then let go. Let go.

Don't walk. Don't take the communion cup without letting go today. And then I just, my prayer this morning was that we would be very, we would be so thrilled at the goodness of the laws of God. And we are under the care of a God who has made laws to protect us in our unintentional sins. He has given us laws to protect the rages of our souls regarding envy and property and also to respect our brothers, a law of love for our neighbors.

He has given a law of love in dealing with accusers and a law against being over harsh in our judgment. And so I want to just bring us to This amazing gift of God, His law, every one of them are wonderful. Every one of them relieve our weary souls. And I am so thankful for the law of God. And these studies here in Deuteronomy have helped me love His law even more.

There's more depth than I imagined here. God is not a shallow God. He has thousands and thousands of ways to explain his love, and he's done it here before us. And perhaps one of the most helpful to all of us is recorded in Colossians chapter 2. We read this in our family last night.

Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us, and he has taken it out of the way. Having nailed it to the cross, having disarmed principalities and powers, he made a public spectacle of them, over them, in it." Let's pray. Oh Lord, we thank you for the beauty of your law which has caused the salvation of our souls. Oh Lord Jesus Christ, you suffered for our sins. Our Father laid our sins upon you.

How undeserving we are and yet how blessed we are. Amen.