Retaliation: Justice and Mercy are Good - Matthew 5:38-42

Well, good morning. My name's Mike.

For any of those, those of you who I've not met, I'm one of the

pastors here. And if you are one of the ones I

have met and I forgot your name, I apologize.

I've I've already apologized for that a couple of times this

morning because it's something I do, but and I don't mean to,

but. Anyway, so let's get into.

Our passage today we're continuing on in this in in the

Sermon on the Mount and so today our our.

Message takes place in Matthew 5 verses 38 through 42 and we're.

Matthew 5:38–42

Talking about the the law of retribution here.

And so starting off in 38. It says you've.

Heard that it was said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a

tooth. But I say to you, do not resist

the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the

right cheeks. Turn to him the other also.

And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have

your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go

one mile, go with him 2 miles. Give to the one who begs from

you, and do not refuse the one who would.

Borrow from you. So at the beginning of our

passage, and as we've seen already in the in the Sermon on

the Mount, Jesus is addressing some things that his audience

has heard but doesn't fully understand, right?

And I think we can all probably relate to to something like

this. So let me ask you a couple of

questions here. How many of you have heard that

the average person swallows several spiders in their sleep?

Every year, a few. Hands.

A lot of hands. Wow, a lot of hands.

That's not true. OK, There is no study or data to

back that up. It's actually given it

originates as a an example of how easily people accept truth

when they see it written on the Internet from back in 1993.

Somebody, somebody shared that with us.

How many of you have heard that if you eat within 30 minutes of

swim swimming, you'll get cramps and drown, right?

A a lot of us, you know that came from the 1908 Boy Scout

handbook. That's that said that the blood

flow to your digestive tract might slow blood flow to your

arms and legs, but there was no scientific data to back that up

as fact. How about this?

How many of you have heard that police have to allow you one

phone call when you're arrested? Yeah, a lot of us have heard

that, right. Well, that's simply a plot line

in TV's and and movies to dramatize a person's struggle to

resolve their their predicament. But many of us believe that

that's some old law that we have to demand is honored, right?

The fact is you're allowed to make as many phone calls as you

as you need to arrange your bail.

How about some personal rules that we live by, right?

Like I don't get mad. I get even how many of us have

have said that or or or what goes around comes around.

We we can believe that this one. I know probably everybody.

My name is Inigo Montoya. You.

Killed my father, prepared to. Die right.

We sometimes we have these rules that we live by that, that,

that, you know, these codes or what, or what we understand even

to be law. But they need some explanation.

They need some, some better understanding.

And so I mentioned this because last week Eric reminded us that

that Jesus isn't telling his audience to just, you know,

throw out what they know from God's law in the past.

He's he's clarifying it, honing our understanding by

enlightening us to what his heart is on the matter.

So the main idea here today is that God.

Loves justice, but he also. Loves mercy and humility, and

what God wants is a heart response to him.

So that's demonstrated in the basic elements of, of true faith

in a, in a real relationship with him.

And, you know, the Mosaic law differentiated between good and

bad, and it reflected God's will in their religious and their

social lives. God has told people what is

good, in fact. I was going to make this the

main point this verse in Micah 6-8 because it seems.

So fitting, it says. He, He has told you, O man, what

is good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do?

Justice and to love kindness in the King James version it says

to. Love, mercy and to walk.

Humbly with your God. That's what's good.

So our first point today is it justice is good.

This might seem like like the opposite of the first verse.

That we read in our passage here that says, you have heard that

it was said an eye for an eye and a tooth for tooth.

But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil.

We might think that that's the opposite of of what I said, that

justice is good. So the first contextual thing

that I want to look at here is what Jesus quotes.

An eye for an eye, right? Where does he quote that from?

Well, it comes from Exodus. Chapter 21 And it also comes

Exodus 21 · chapter mention

from Leviticus 24 and it's something called lex talionis,

which is the the Latin phrase that means law of retaliation.

And here's what it says in in Exodus 21 verses 23 to 25.

Exodus 21:23–25

It says when men strive together and hit a pregnant woman so that

her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her

shall surely be fined as the woman's husband shall impose on

him and he shall pay as the judge is determined.

But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for

eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for

burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

It's law of retribution wasn't taken lightly.

In fact, in Numbers 35, verse 19 regarding murder, it refers to a

Numbers 35:19

person in the family of the murder victim whose job it was

called the avenger of blood. Now this is usually the closest

male relative who was legally responsible to reclaim the lost

innocent blood. Now you know, I mean some if

you're a parent, you know that sometimes you, you know, you

kind of label your. Kids, right?

This is Susie. She's our artist and and.

Sammy over here, he's. He's the athlete.

And Gronk? Gronk is the Avenger of blood,

just like his father. But this was a very serious

thing right? Now.

Please understand that this isn't this isn't the the the

misunderstood part. This was correct and and and

accurate. And it was based off of a

genesis. Chapter 9 Verses. 5 through 6

Genesis 9 · chapter mention

that says, And for your lifeblood I will require a

reckoning. From every beast I will require

it, and from man, from his fellow man I will require a

reckoning for the life of man. Whoever sheds the blood of man

by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man.

In his own image. Now the term exact justice is is

fitting here too, and it means like fair, equal and impartial

treatment. And in Leviticus it says that

this was deliberately carried out on both Sojourner and native

alike. It was a kind of, it was across

the board. This was for everybody.

In Psalm verse chapter 37, verse 28, it says for the Lord loves

justice. He will not forsake his Saints.

They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall

be cut off. But why does God love justice?

Well, the fact is, we can't begin to understand God's love

of justice unless we first understand God's hatred for sin.

Sin is lawlessness. So why does God love justice?

Well, because in first John 3 verse 4 says everyone who makes

1 John 3:4

a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness.

Sin is lawlessness. In the first Corinthians there

are a couple of passages that tell us that that God is not a

God of confusion, that he created everything in a fitting

and orderly way, and lawlessness goes against his nature.

In Psalm 89 verse 14, it says righteousness and justice are

Psalms 89:14

the. Foundation of your throne.

Steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.

God loves. Justice so much.

That he set up a system to help us to receive and to maintain it

here on earth. So when we look at Romans 13,

verse one, it says that every person be subject to the

governing authorities for there's no authority except from

God. And those that exist have been

instituted by God. They were instituted by God and

we could see something similar that's mentioned in the book of

of Daniel in in the 2nd chapter where he says that he changes

times in seasoning seasons and he removes kings and sets up

kings. See, God doesn't have to wait up

late on election night to see who won the election, nor is he

even worried about it. He sets all of that in in place

for his good reasons. Now, since Paul had been a a

government persecutor of Christians, maybe we think that

he's only writing this about about government because he's

predisposed to be a big government guy.

But Peter, one of the apostles, honk, if you love Jesus.

I'm going to put that sign out here one day and take pictures

of it so people know Peter, who was one of the disciples.

Who watched Jesus be? Tortured and murdered and and as

well as some of the as as well as the other apostles.

Peter said something very similar in first.

1 Peter 2:13

Peter 2, verses 13 and 14. He said, Be subject for the

Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to

the Emperor as supreme or to governors, as sent by him to

punish those who do evil, and to.

Praise those who do good. If anybody would be nervous

about giving power and authority to the government, you'd think

that it would be it would be Peter at this point.

But how many times have we been led to believe culturally that

that, you know, use of force by the government is a bad thing?

We've been influenced and manipulated to be to be shocked

or or aghast or offended at the implementation of justice when

we see it in force. We've adopted this crazy idea

that that the militarization of the police is a is a bad thing,

or that the National Guard enforcing laws is a travesty.

As though watching police officers in a in a in a gun

battle with bank robbers is the epitome of the breakdown of

society. But actually that example, the

the actual breakdown of society was made in the Garden thousands

of years ago when man chose to disobey God and sin entered the

world and the bloodstream. That use of force by police or

the National Guard is an example of God's implementation of

justice on a sinful. World and here's.

How I know that in Romans? 13 We just saw verse one, but

here's how it continues. Verses 2 through 4 it says.

Therefore, whoever resists the authorities, resists what God

has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.

For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad.

Would you have No Fear of the one who is in authority?

Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for

he is God's servant for your good.

But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword

in vain, for he is the servant of God and avenger who carries.

Out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.

Now, I have to admit that in my own study and my own maturing in

the faith and spiritual growth, I struggled with this because I,

I immediately tried to, to, to argue and, and say, wait, you're

saying that you're saying that God appointed people like Saddam

Hussein. Yes, yes.

And as long as Saddam Hussein or somebody like that rules and

governs according to God's Word, people were to submit to him and

obey him because he represented justice and authority.

But we have a responsibility to to hold those that are in those

positions of power in our government.

We have a responsibility to hold them accountable.

Think about this. Moses went before Pharaoh and.

He called Pharaoh to. Change his ways to be more in

line with what God said. But it said that Pharaoh's heart

was hardened and Pharaoh and his people were destroyed.

Later on in the in the book of Jonah, we see where where Jonah

was, was he went to Nineveh and told the king there to repent

and and told him that he need to change his ways.

And in that story we see that the King's heart was changed and

he was he and the and the city were blessed.

So we as Christians should not avoid our role or our

responsibility in guiding our nation and our and our local

government to do things in a way that aligns with God, holding

our officials to that standard. And when and where someone like

Saddam Hussein did not rule according to God's word, he was

also to face justice to the authorities over him.

And in that particular case, that happened in December of

2006 at Camp Justice in Iraq when he was executed by hanging

and it was televised publicly. See, that was justice served.

And it was a good thing. But should we as Christians call

it good? How should a Christian view the

death penalty? Maybe that's something we want

to ask. Well, first we have to remember

that God has instituted capital punishment in His Word.

Therefore, it would be presumptuous of us to think that

we could institute a higher standard.

And guys, we can have implementation or we can't have

joy at the implementation of justice.

Here's what it says in Proverbs 21, verse 15.

Proverbs 21:15

When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but terror

to the evil doers. They ought to be afraid of

justice because it should remind them of God's justice.

So we aren't gleeful in the individual death of the evil

doer, but we can take joy that God's plan of justice was

carried out. Ezekiel chapter 33 verse 11 says

Ezekiel 33:11

God does not take pleasure at the death at the death of the

wicked. So although God does not delight

in the death of the Sinner in itself, He does delight in

glorifying His justice upon incorrigible transgressors,

seeing the exercise of of all of His attributes must please him,

or else He would not be perfectly happy.

That means His mercy and His wrath please Him.

So Jesus isn't throwing out that lex talionis law, right?

He isn't throwing it out, but he is taking time to clarify

something deeper about it. And here's here's what I mean in

Romans chapter. 12 verses 17 through 19 says, Repay no one

evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the

sight of all, if possible, so far as it depends on you, live

peaceably with all, beloved, never avenge yourselves, but

leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written.

Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.

Now these two passages, that one I just.

Read and the one I read at the very beginning from Genesis. 9

Genesis 9:5

verses 5 and and six. These aren't contradictory.

This isn't invalidating the law. Scripture never contradicts

scripture, and where we think that it does is a place for us

to know that we need a better understanding of it.

See the the Mosaic law of lex talionis of of the law of

retaliation was given within the framework of the governing

authority that God had established at the time.

Even the Avenger of Blood male relative wasn't operating as an

individual seeking his own definition of justice, but

within the prescribed framework of responsibility and

accountability that God had laid out to maintain order.

Now, in our culture, we celebrate, you know, the Marvel

comic book hero, the Punisher, because he is the poster child

for our sinful heart in how we perceive justice, right?

If you're familiar with that story, the Punisher decides

according to his own moral code, what is right and what needs

punishment and who needs punishment.

This isn't saying that we can't or shouldn't defend ourselves

either. And again, this is not a a case.

For for. Passivism.

That's what sometimes people think in Exodus 22.

Verse 2 It says, If a thief is found breaking in US and is

struck so that he dies, there shall be no blood guilt for him.

But if the sun has risen on him, there shall be blood guilt for

him. He he shall surely pay.

If he has nothing, then he shall be sold.

For the theft, so there's no blood guilt on this person for

defending themselves in the moment where where it says that

there will be guilt as if the sun rises on him, meaning some

time has passed and he went looking for the for the the

suspect to retaliate rather than to seek justice through the

system that God put in place throughout all of his ministry.

Jesus was clarifying that he was after changed hearts.

He wanted us to do the things that we do to make the choices

that we make in line with his heart, which takes us to our our

second point here today. Forgiveness and mercy are good

and as we continue on in our in our passage, it it goes on and

it and it and it says it says do not resist the one who is evil.

But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the

other also. Now this is where context really

helps us to understand the heart behind the matter being taught

this this dynamic here of of a a slap on the right cheek is

overwhelmingly understood to be a backhand slap.

If most people are are are right-handed, then the then the

the right cheek. For me to reach the right cheek

I have to do a a backhanded slap here.

And so this was certainly more of an insult than it was an

assault. Now, we could probably all kind

of imagine in our in our head some hoity toity, you know,

Englishman taking off a a white glove and and slapping somebody

across the face to challenge them to a duel.

Now that comes from an ancient concept of of throwing down your

gauntlets, your your armored gloves to challenge someone to

combat. And it was considered an insult

worth dying to defend because the human condition is to

respond back to an insult with something harsher, with

something worse, with violence. So some people incorrectly infer

from this that Jesus in this passage is calling for us to be

pacifists. They tend to separate the

characteristics of God that they read about in the Old Testament

from what they perceive of Jesus in the New Testament as as only

love without consequence. Now sometimes they do that

because they don't know any better, but sometimes they do it

because they think that message is softer and easier to digest.

But Jesus is God of the Old Testament.

Jeremiah 42 says the Messiah Jesus will bring justice to the

nations and in Exodus 15 three it says the Lord is a warrior.

The Lord is his name. See there's nothing pacifistic

in that. Then what does he mean when our

passage Jesus is saying if someone insults you, let them,

you don't need to retaliate. Next it says it says if anyone

would would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your

cloak as well. Now at that time, people would

own very few sets of clothes. Their their layered clothing

protected them from cold. So although a tunic was kind of

like a shirt, it would offer them, you know, some, some

dignity so that they're not naked.

A heavier cloak would comfort you in the cold of night.

So, so Jesus is saying if someone takes your dignity,

allow them to make you comfortable too.

Now you're all laughing because you know, he saw that sign out

there and he's honking. And then the last part of this

it, it says if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him 2

miles. Now this is in reference to a a

Roman law called the law of impressment that would allow a

Roman soldier to conscript a a Jew to carry their weapons and

and armor for a mile so as to allow them to arrive at the site

of battle refreshed and and ready to to fight.

And then at the end of the mile, the Jew was legally allowed to

just drop that pack and go back to their business.

But Jesus is saying, I don't want you to only do what you're

required to do and nothing more. I want you to voluntarily tire

yourself out, overextend yourself from what is reasonable

and serve someone even more. This is where we get the phrase

go the extra mile. Have you guys ever, have you

ever said, you know, kind of indignantly, you know, taken

gotten, you know, like defensive and said, well, I shouldn't have

to do that. I shouldn't have to go.

Work harder. I shouldn't have to carry more

of those. I shouldn't have to.

Whatever that goes against this, you shouldn't have to.

You don't have to. Jesus is saying that he wants

you. To want to do that that he wants

you to. Volunteer to do that.

And here's the thing, guys, that in that law of impressment, the

Roman soldier. Is not the friend.

Of the Jew. Now, this picture right here

might make some of us uncomfortable.

Probably. Few things seem as obviously

evil as as the Nazis. But think about who Paul was to

the Jews at the time of his encounter with Jesus on the

Damascus Rd. Paul was a monster and Jesus

changed him. Remember these passages here in

this sermon, in the Sermon on the Mount?

These are these are called the antithesis of Jesus.

Maybe this idea seems to be antithetical to what we what we

believe about him. But when we look at.

At these these three brief contextual ideas that Jesus is

addressing in our passage, we can readily see that he is

telling us not to retaliate. He's telling us to allow

ourselves to be offended and even downright uncomfortable in

our predicament. Says if we're required to do

something for someone, we should readily do even more for them,

even if that person is our enemy.

See these are the attributes of Jesus.

In John eight group of Pharisees bring a woman in front of Jesus,

a woman who's been caught in adultery because they want to

see if Jesus is going to follow through with the justice that

they read about in the Old Testament that requires the

woman to be stoned. But after telling the the

sinless ones among them to cast the first stone, they all leave

because none of them are sinless.

And Jesus turns to her and says, I don't condemn you, but go.

And from now on sin no more. So he demonstrates forgiveness

that these men who brought these Pharisees and scribes, they

can't understand forgiveness that doesn't come naturally to

them and it seems seems to them to contradict the law.

They don't understand Jesus merciful nature.

We can read about his nature in Psalm One O 3.

Verses 8 through 12 it says the Lord is merciful and gracious,

slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.

He will not always chide, nor will He keep his anger forever.

He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay

us according to our iniquities, For as high as the heavens are

above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who

fear Him. As far as the East.

Is from the West so far. Does he remove our?

Transgressions from us. That's who Jesus is.

He demonstrated it first through his entire life and and and

ministry. And if we claim to be followers

of Jesus, that's all the term Christian means.

After all, is is to be a follower of Jesus, then then we

should desire to be like him. We should work to mold our our

lives to be the examples that we see in him.

First, John chapter 2, verse 6, it says whoever says he abides

John 2:6

in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

Now, the apostle Paul puts it similarly, like like John did

there. Paul puts it similarly.

But he had something that I think might connect with many of

us here today, even more so recently than it has in the

past. Because.

Because for a lot of us, we've come to recognize that the world

outside those doors is not what we want to be.

Like. In Romans 12 verse 2, Paul says

Romans 12:2

do not be conformed to this. World but be.

Transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you

may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable

and perfect. Guys, I think, I think that

there are, there's, there's people here today that would

never have pictured themselves in a church a couple of months

ago, even a couple of weeks ago. But some of you have have come

to recognize that there is evil out there and you want something

different. You don't want to be conformed

to this world. Maybe you've experienced some in

your life. Maybe you've experienced someone

slap you on the cheek, but instead of instead of turning

the other cheek, you fired right back with a a barrage of your

own. I'm guilty of that.

Maybe you in that moment, maybe you felt a little bit of

vindication, but as you look back, you know as well as I do

that you only added to the problem and you don't want to be

part of the problem anymore. Maybe you've been in a situation

where you were able to get away with holding up only whatever

was your exact responsibility, but through a loophole, even

though there was more work or or or service or generosity needed.

You could. Move on without any further work

or difficulty on your part. And yet you look back and see

that you could have extended grace to someone that didn't

deserve it. You could have rectified the

situation. You could have.

You could have rectified it wholly by helping or doing more.

And yet part of you is is anxiously pleading.

Why don't people just be better? Maybe you've come to realize

that it. Has to start with you.

You don't want to be conformed to this world, you want to be

transformed by the renewal of your mind and your heart.

Guys, Jesus was the most poorly treated man that has ever lived.

No one ever was more disrespected and taken for

granted than Jesus. And yet He was humble and meek,

and in his last moments on the cross, he cried out to his

Father in heaven. Forgive them.

They don't know what it is that they're doing.

That's the model for us. That's how we should mold

ourselves to act like Jesus. Sure, most of you are aware of

the assassination of a young man a couple weeks ago named named

Charlie Kirk. A young man who, whether you

agreed with his views or not, stepped out to have discussions

with people and and shared his views that were based primarily

in his belief in God. He was murdered in front of his

family, his friends, and then televised to the world.

And then this last Sunday, his widow stood up in front of

hundreds of thousands of people, maybe honestly millions that

tuned in and proclaimed that she forgives the murderer because

that's the example she sees in Jesus.

Ephesians 432 tells us be kind to one another, tender hearted,

forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you.

Paul is telling us that Jesus is the yardstick that we should

measure ourselves by. We should be forgiving and

merciful like Jesus demonstrated.

It's that simple. Now I don't mean that it's

simple to do. I've struggled with forgiving

people of the atrocious things that they've that they've done.

It isn't easy. I simply mean that it's that

plainly stated. Be kind to one another,

tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave

you. You're going to have an

opportunity today to demonstrate this.

You already probably do. You're holding a grudge.

Maybe something somebody said, something something somebody

said to you. Maybe something they did to you

this morning. Maybe it was a.

Look that a kid gave you on the way to church.

I don't know. There is room for us to

demonstrate this all the time. Romans 12, verses 9 through 10.

Romans 12:9–10

Says let love be genuine, abhor what is evil, hold fast to what

is good, love one another with brotherly affection, outdo one

another. In showing honor like we can, we

can view this as a competition of goodness.

Wouldn't that be? A great community to live.

In if, if, if, if. We.

All tried to outdo each other in showing honor outdo each other

and trying to be kind in showing forgiveness and extending grace.

If we all tried to outdo each other in showing compassion,

wouldn't that be a wonderful place to live?

Now, maybe you struggle with how this applies to you, though.

And maybe you're thinking, you know, something like, well,

yeah, but I'm not like Paul was to the to the Jews.

I'm. I'm not like that Nazi in the

picture or Saddam Hussein. I'm certainly no political

assassin. Maybe you're thinking it was

easy to forgive my sins because I'm a pretty good person.

Well, that's what I want to talk about for our Third Point here

today, which is that eternally we will all experience God's

justice or mercy. Now, if you're unfamiliar with

the good news of Jesus, that's what the word gospel means.

If you're unfamiliar with the gospel, then please hear me on

this. God created the world free of

sin, but long ago in the Garden of Eden, humanity chose to

disobey God and and to sin, and that sin was passed down through

all of humanity and exists naturally within every single

one of us. We are all naturally gifted at

sinning, and I don't mean that like it's a good gift, that's

just something that we do. That means that no matter how

good you think your life is, how good of a a person that you

believe that you are, you have a sin nature that separates you

from God. That separation means that that

we are all born distant from God, that we are born enemies of

God. In fact, that's what Romans 510

says, that we are enemies of God before we were reconciled to

him. And in first Thessalonians 4

1 Thessalonians 4:6

verse 6, Paul says we ask that no one transgress and wrong his

brother in this matter because the Lord is an avenger in all

these things, as we told you before beforehand and solemnly

warned you. So what does it look like when

God Avengers transgressions against him?

Well, regarding Jesus, Scripture also says he made him who knew

no sin, that's Jesus, to be sin on our behalf so that we might

become the righteousness of God in him.

That means that Jesus took all of our sin, Everything that I've

ever done and that you've ever done, Jesus took that on.

It was imputed upon him, it was assigned to him, and God crushed

him. The whole of God's wrath poured

out on Jesus that day and and Scripture says that it was God's

delight to crush him, to bring justice for all of the sin that

he bore. But see, he only bore the sin of

those who would repent and believe.

There is still wrath and justice to be poured out on those who

deny God. For those who refuse to put

their faith and trust only in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness

of their sins, there is still an outstanding bill to pay.

And in Romans 623 it says that the wages of that sin is death,

meaning eternal death outside of God's presence in hell

eternally. But when we are reconciled back

in a right relationship with God, he says I am he who blots

out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not

remember your sins. And This is why so many

Christians are are quick to clarify that Christianity isn't

a religion, but that it's a relationship because it

correctly points out that it's our relationship with Jesus that

matters, not our in the adherence to misunderstood and

misapplied laws and rules. Hebrews 416.

It says let us then with confidence draw near to the

throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to

help in time of need. So as we close here guys, I want

to send you away with with this reminder.

Eternally we will all experience God's justice or mercy.

There is no greater decision any of us can make than whether we

believe Jesus is who he said he was.

God in the flesh who gave himself up on the cross to die a

death that was meant for us to pay for sins that he didn't

commit for people like us who didn't deserve it, and that that

is the only way any of us can avoid God's wrath and spend

eternity and glory with the God of all creation.

Like that verse in in Micah six said he has shown you old man

what is good and what the Lord requires of you.

Do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God.

You guys pray with me, Lord, the idea of justice can, can sit

uncomfortably with us on earth sometimes, Lord, we, we, we push

back against the idea of justice.

And that's because of the sin in our life, Lord, and, and, and

yet, as we understand that you have implemented government in

our, in our life, because there is to be justice, because you

are a God of order and that lawlessness is sin.

We don't, we don't want that Lord, And, and so as much as our

flesh pushes back against that idea that we want to be able to

be free to make our own choices that without consequence or we

know that that is, that that is unacceptable.

And so as we wrestle with this idea, maybe some of us are, are,

are wrestling with us a little bit more.

Lord, I know in my own study this week, this is hard for me

to, to, to, to digest because of the rebelliousness that that

exists within me naturally. So Lord, I, I just, I pray that

that like you will do in me, that you'll do a work in the, in

the rest of the people here today, Lord, that we would be

able to, to recognize our, our rebelliousness and that we would

understand your justice and, and that we can expect justice.

But also, Lord, help us to be mindful of your forgiveness,

your kindness, your mercy, and, and to be able to make a

decision in our lives which one of those it is that we want to

endure for all of eternity. Lord, as we understand, as we

wrestle with this and try to understand this, help us to, to

come to grips with that decision, to, to chase that

down. If we don't understand what that

means, help us to seek somebody out that will appropriately walk

us through understanding what submitting our our souls and our

will to you looks like. Lord, for your glory and for our

good and we, we hope that you are blessed and honored in this

message and in this final song. We say this in Jesus name, Amen.

Amen.