Restoration, Restitution, Relationship - Exodus 22:1-31

[0:00] Good morning, everybody. I'm going to Coward Chapel Charlotte. Man, what a blessing. The Lord is so good and so faithful to move in our presence and just to draw near to us as we draw near to him. Thank you, Lord.

[0:17] We've come through the Ten Commandments. We're up to chapter 22. If you remember last week, we've kind of looked at the beginning of where God is speaking to Moses and he's he's applicating those Ten Commandments. He's expounding on them. God is expositional as well. He gave the Ten Commandments and then he spends a couple books expounding on what that means and what that looks like.

[0:36] We saw that the law, all the precepts and application points and commands of the law that follow the Ten Commandments are simply an outworking of that. They're simply the application of that. And remarkably, God last week started with the very least.

[0:51] He started with slaves, how to treat servants and slaves, and then even lower in a sense in that culture, he started with the women slaves. How do you treat your handmaid? I think the principle is if you can respect and honor the very least, then you can respect and honor anyone.

[1:07] You know, if we never put anybody down, like man's tendency is to put people down. Why? Because you can't elevate yourself. You can't lift yourself up any more than you are. We're fallen. But if I can put everybody down around me, I can feel much more elevated. I can lift myself up.

[1:22] But then what am I doing? I'm looking down on everybody. Where if I lift people up, if my goal is to lift them up, then I'm always looking up to everybody.

[1:34] So if I can take the very least and I can bring honor and respect into the very least, as Jesus did, you know, they said, you eat with publicans and sinners. You talk to sinful women. You touch the lepers. What's wrong with you?

[1:46] He's like, no, what's wrong with you? We saw this strength is never at the expense of service. You know, my wealth, my material gain, my prosperity, my whatever is never at the expense of service.

[1:59] So if my pushy ox pushes your ox, well, hey, that's sorry. That's just business. You know, sorry about that. That's just how it goes. But service is strength is never at the expense of service.

[2:12] So we prioritize serving because Jesus came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. And then lastly, we saw how the goal is always life. And you think of the law, the law brings down judgment, condemnation and death.

[2:23] Well, yes, but we're already under judgment, condemnation and death because we're fallen. The law just puts a framework around it. The law will always lead to life. The law's goal is to protect life and love.

[2:36] Now, my problem is I'm not alive. The law is, but I'm not. And so the law is good. But I'm not. But only those that are under the law come under what?

[2:47] Condemnation, death and judgment. No, we're already under that. But those who come under the law come under the effect of the law, which is what? Redemption. Redemption comes through the law. Without the law, there's no redemption.

[2:59] Redemption is by the law, but it is through Jesus Christ because he's the only one who fulfilled the law. Galatians 3.22, the scriptures concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

[3:14] We all come under sin. If only some were under sin, well, then only some could come under redemption. So today, as we continue, Moses is continuing to receive this information from the Lord, as the Lord is giving this for the sake of his people, to establish this nation of slaves, or his people of slaves, into their own nation.

[3:33] He continues on. And today we're going to see that God's heart isn't just, again, like we said, to give these rules, but it's for restoration, restitution, and ultimately relationship.

[3:44] All the way back here in the law. So what is the law? Well, the law is God's word. It's not just something that was given to Israel. It's God's word.

[3:55] It's also alive. It's spiritual, and it's good. These are the truths of scripture. We can't cut out this section because it applies to Israel. No, it's still God's word. It's also alive, spiritual, and good.

[4:08] And ultimately, it must be received by faith. Any part of God's word has to be received by faith. Remember when Jesus, after the third day, he'd come out from the tomb, the grave's empty, he's resurrected, and it says then he begins to appear to different pockets of the disciples.

[4:24] And there's two disciples heading to Emmaus, heading from Jerusalem on the road to Emmaus. And Jesus appears and begins to walk with them. And they don't know who he is, which I kind of think is funny, right?

[4:37] If you're driving your car, someone pulls up, you're like, oh, there's someone that's stoplight with me. But I don't think there was stoplights when you're kind of walking, right? You just, you kind of look, nobody's there, and nobody's there, and all of a sudden, here's this guy walking.

[4:48] Where did he come from? But anyway, Jesus shows up, and they're so deep in their conversation of what's happened, that the hope of Israel, their Messiah, had been crucified. They're so concerned with this that they don't even realize he's there.

[5:01] And he so begins to speak to them. He says, what happened? And they say, well, this is what happened. We had hope in him, but it failed. Jesus failed. And Jesus says to them, oh, you're so foolish and slow of heart to understand.

[5:15] And then he says this. He says, he began at Moses, where we are. Beginning at Moses and the prophets, Jesus expounded unto them. See, Jesus is an expositional teacher.

[5:28] He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. God's word is alive, it's spiritual, it's good, and it must be received by faith. When we come to the word of God, we're going to see Jesus.

[5:40] Especially now, on this side, in the new covenant. That's the point of this. That's why we go through this. We want to see Jesus. Let's jump into verse 1 of chapter 22. As we continue with the ox, we saw the last, we ended with the ox, and we continue with the ox.

[5:55] The ox represented man's ability to have a livelihood. It was his strength, you know, where no, where no, much strength is by the increase of the ox.

[6:07] Where no oxen are, the crib is clean. You know, you have a very clean barn, but you also don't have any fruitfulness coming from it because you have no livestock. So if a man, in verse 1, steal an ox or sheep and kill it and sell it, he shall restore five oxen for an ox and four sheep for his sheep.

[6:26] As we've said, each one of these things, as we go through it, we're going to see the Ten Commandments. So here very clearly is the first one. Thou shalt not steal. The first one for today. Exodus 20, verse 15. What does it mean not to steal?

[6:38] You know, I mean, I didn't really claim that on my taxes, but is that stealing? You know, I mean, they weren't using it anyway, so I just took it when I went to another job.

[6:50] What is it to steal? God says, well, I'm so glad you asked. Let me spend a few verses explaining that. So if a man steal an ox or sheep and kill it. So very specifically, he's stolen someone else's livestock and he's killed it or sold it.

[7:04] He no longer has it. It's no longer his where he can restore it and give it back. Well, then he shall restore fivefold or fourfold. Five for the ox and four for the sheep.

[7:16] As we said, all the principles and precepts of the law, they're simply the outworking of the Ten Commandments. Our part. What is our part? Well, our part is to have a mind that matches the mind of God's word.

[7:31] Our part is to renew our minds through God's word. So that when I come to something like verse one and I read that, where is my heart and where is my mind in relation to it? Am I opposed to it?

[7:41] Or am I walking in step with it? The law brings me back and corrects me. I mean, if I spent my week sheep rustling and I come to church, well, it's going to kind of bring me back in line with, gee, I shouldn't have done that and I should make restitution here.

[7:54] Romans tells us in chapter eight, beginning in verse four, that the righteousness of the law, that it might be fulfilled in us. That we can come in line with the law. Those of us who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit.

[8:08] Even the law is spiritual. As we said, it's God's word. Our part is to mind, to have in mind that which is for our spiritual good.

[8:29] That's our part. To build into our lives disciplines and appetites that will build that mindset and weaken the mindset of the flesh. Paul very clearly says that we have a choice.

[8:40] What is our mind? To be carnally minded is death. What am I doing in my life? That is feeding one appetite or the other. And so he says, if you steal an ox or a sheep, you must restore it.

[8:53] And here we come to our first word here regarding restoration, restitution. The word restore. Restore in the Hebrew is the word shalom or in Arabic would be salam.

[9:04] It is a derivative of shalom, which means peace. Peace. To make peace. To restore. To make whole. So for this man who has stolen the ox or the sheep, he is to make whole.

[9:15] He is to bring peace back to the situation. He's to make shalom. Galatians 5.14 says, For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even this.

[9:26] And what is it? You shall love your neighbor as yourself. All the law, the fulfillment of that. No one shall advantage himself through the disadvantage of another.

[9:38] Right? That's a basis of the law. Loving your neighbor as yourself is. You will not advantage yourself through the disadvantage of someone else. So I stole his sheep. Hey, hey, he didn't know it.

[9:50] I advantaged myself through his disadvantage. God expects every man to seek to advantage his neighbor instead of to advantage himself.

[10:00] Right? We seek our own advantage. Oh, I'm just seeking my advantage. God says, no, I want you to seek the advantage of your neighbor, even to the disadvantage of yourself.

[10:10] Oh, okay, Lord, I can understand maybe seeking the advantage of my neighbor, but to the disadvantage of myself. That it's going to cost me to advantage them.

[10:21] What is that? It's love. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend. There's a cost there. So restitution.

[10:32] It's more than just restoration. It's not just returning what was taken. All right, all right. I stole your ox and I sold it. You know what? Fine. I'll get you a new one or here's the money from that.

[10:44] No, restitution is returning the advantage back to the one who was wronged. It's returning. It's going above and beyond and not just, okay, fine. I'll make up for that. No, it's returning the advantage.

[10:56] For what point? Why? God, why are you so over the top? We're going to go through this and we're going to see he's very much about restoring the advantage. Because God's heart's relationship. God wants to give opportunity for relationship.

[11:08] That's what the law does. The law gives opportunity for love and relationship. What the law cannot do is change my heart. Right? I may not respond to the work that God is doing.

[11:22] Well, I don't want to. He wronged me. He took my, I don't care if he made it up and gave fourfold. I'm going to hold that against him forever. The law is doing all that it can to make opportunity for relationship.

[11:35] Because that's where God's heart is. God takes it very seriously when one is deprived of his means of life. If you took in this culture their livelihood, their livestock, you're depriving them of their means of life.

[11:49] God takes that very, very seriously. We live in a world that does not take that seriously. Seriously. Hey, any leg up you can get is just a benefit. God looks at that and says, no, that is actually a cost that you cannot bear to afford.

[12:05] So God's more interested in what? Well, he's not interested as much in punishment as he is in restoring. More than he is in the loss. His concern is with the restoration. David experienced this.

[12:19] Remember when David had sinned with Bathsheba and committed adultery and then she got pregnant and then he thought, you know what? I'm going to take care of the whole situation. I'll just wipe out Uriah the Hittite, her husband.

[12:32] We live in a world that does the same thing. They don't go for the husband, though. They say, well, just wipe out the kid. But that's the world's solution. We'll just remove the problem. We'll just eliminate.

[12:42] And David then, after a year in just covering this, Nathan comes to him and says, you are the man. And he just instantly repents before God. And then he writes this in Psalm 51.

[12:53] It's a wall of text. He says, wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity. Cleanse me from my sins. For I acknowledge my transgression and my sin is ever before me.

[13:04] Against you and you only have I sinned. And done this evil in your sight. That you may be justified when you speak. And be clear when you judge. David is saying, I agree with your judgment, God.

[13:15] I agree with what the law says. And the next verse should be, and David was punished for his mighty deeds. For his evil deeds. And he jumped down to verse 10. And David's heart realizes God's heart.

[13:26] He says, create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence. Take not your Holy Spirit from me. God's goal is not to push us away in our sin.

[13:38] Restore unto me that restoration. The joy of your salvation. And uphold me with your free spirit. God's goal is a relationship. And David realized that. Restitution is to restore the loss.

[13:50] And to return the advantage. Yes, the loss is restored. But the advantage as well. The law promotes love. But it can't promise love.

[14:00] It can create the framework for it. But it cannot promise. That it can make that change in the heart. If a thief be found breaking up. So now we have the thief. If at the time he's coming to steal your ox and sheep.

[14:13] And you found him. In other words, while he's breaking into your house. You know, the castle doctrine, right? Some states uphold that. And some don't. But essentially, there shall be no blood shed for him if he die.

[14:23] So he breaks in. And you know, you chuck your pitchfork across the room. And whoop. All right. He kind of took that on himself. Blood was already shed because of the choice he made.

[14:36] He chose a course that placed him under the sentence of death. That was his choice. Nobody made him do that. So he bears the responsibility of it. He breaks in. And that happens. You know, you and I, because of our choices.

[14:52] We chose a course that placed us under the sentence of death. We are already under that sentence of death. And the only blood that will be owed at our death is our own. We will pay with our sentence, with our choices, with our sin.

[15:05] The wages of sin is death. With our own blood. But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Because blood was already shed for the choice that he made, nobody else needed to shed their blood for him.

[15:20] For us, because Jesus shed his blood for the choice we made, there's no other blood that needs to be shed. I was caught in the act, breaking in and stealing whatever it was of honor and respect and love from my God.

[15:35] And instead of judgment, he said, hey, blood's already been shed for that. Let's cover that. And let's give you a new mind and a new heart. But if the sun be risen upon him, in verse 3, there shall be blood shed for him.

[15:48] I go, you know, you're in your living room. You look like, honey, someone's in the tool shed. Quick, quick, quick, quick. Give me the rifle. You know, no. You know, I had to take him out, right? No. If the sun is up, well, okay.

[16:01] Then there shall be blood shed for him. If he's caught in the act, you can't then just, you know, take him out. But if you have nothing left, or I'm sorry, he shall make restitution. And if you have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.

[16:15] So a thief, he's got nothing. He comes in, he breaks in, and you catch him. And you say, all right, we're going to just get rid of him. We're going to wipe him from society. And God says, no, no, no, no, no. I uphold the rights of all.

[16:27] I uphold the rights of the very lowest. And even the thief under God's law has a right to life. What does that make you think of? Even the thief has a right to life.

[16:40] As Jesus hung on the cross, and next to him were two thieves. And it says they both railed on him and mocked him. And through the course of these three hours, Jesus was hanging on the cross. One of them watched and said, this guy's not like us.

[16:54] This guy who laid there, is there pounding the nails in and said, Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. And as he looks to John and says, and he looks at Mary and says, behold your son.

[17:05] And John, behold your mother. As he's hanging on the cross, he's like, he's worrying about what's going to happen to his mom. And eventually, this one thief turns and says, stop it. He says, we're here because we deserve it.

[17:17] We're here because blood should be shed for us. We chose that course, but this man has done nothing. And he turns to Jesus and he says, Lord, do I have a right to life? He says, Lord, will you remember me when you come into your kingdom?

[17:34] Too early in the message for this, guys. And Jesus said unto him, truly I say unto you, today you shall be with me in paradise. Buried here in the law is the truth that under God's law, even the thief had a right to life.

[17:53] And so when that man hung there, Jesus was like, yes, yes, I have stood in your place. But in the law here, if this man could not pay, he would be sold into servitude, as we saw last week, the indentured servant.

[18:07] But it was not a lifetime of servitude. There's a limit, six years. And then seven years, he'd go free. But during that time, it would be so he could make payment back. The law cannot help the guilty. They can't.

[18:19] It declares them guilty. Restitution is not an option. It must be enacted. The law cannot help the guilty. The one who has no capacity to restore is no longer free.

[18:31] He has no capacity to bring restoration. So he's not free. He must be sold. As Paul says in Romans 7, I'm sold under sin. I have no freedom any longer. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death?

[18:47] I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with my mind, I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. What does he mean? Yeah, the sin is present. It's still here.

[18:58] But I no longer owe that debt because I've been set free. If the thief be found, if the theft, I'm sorry, be found in his hand alive. Okay, so he's making off.

[19:09] You catch him coming out of the tool shed with your zero-turn ox. And you're like, all right, we got him. Whether it be ox or donkey or sheep, he shall restore what? Double.

[19:20] Restitution is not optional. And it is costly. It'll make you think twice. Okay, okay. He can have it back. You got me. I mean, I got down the street. No, no. Also, you have to now give double.

[19:31] Double. If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten and then shall put in his beast. So this is intentionally. This is dealing with the intent of the heart.

[19:42] If he then looks to another neighbor's field and puts in his beasts and the best of his field then will be given back to that man. Of his vineyard or of his field, he shall make restitution. So I look at my neighbor's field.

[19:53] I don't want to have my ox eat from mine. I'm going to put him next door and to my neighbor's. This is intentionally doing this. He's intentionally seeking to advantage himself, the disadvantage of another.

[20:07] God's heart's the opposite. God intentionally disadvantages himself for the advantage of others. He says, no, no, no. The law is going to guard against.

[20:18] I can't. The law can't change the heart. The law gives opportunity for the heart to respond as God would. Philippians chapter 2, beginning in verse 3 says, Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than themselves.

[20:37] Don't seek to advantage yourself at one another. Seek how you can advantage the other. Look, not every man on his own things. It goes right back to our Ten Commandments.

[20:48] Thou shall not covet, but every man on the things of others. What does that mean? Well, don't look at, like, your neighbors, like, I need that for myself. No, look at yours as how I can then use that to benefit my neighbor.

[21:01] The law returns the advantage to the disadvantaged, is what it does. So there is a loss. It is not enough just to make up the loss. The law then goes above and beyond returning the advantage to the disadvantage.

[21:12] It restores neighborly intentions. And if we allow it, it can restore a relationship. It can restore an opportunity to be rightly related to that neighbor. Dude, you stole my ox.

[21:25] I know, and I got caught. And now I've got to give you it back, and I've got to give you another one. You know what? But in that process, maybe I realize, man, I was so wrong.

[21:36] I wronged you. And I want to please take this. Please take it. And can we be friends again? Can we restore this relationship? I'm sorry. Or maybe think if you're the one getting two oxen back, buddy, I don't need to.

[21:49] I got mine back. Really, keep yours. Look at the way that could restore a relationship if we let it. But if we use the law as the Pharisees did by the time Jesus came, it was all for their own advantage and to disadvantage another.

[22:02] It was what it could do for them. Then we lose the point of the law. Jesus said in Matthew 5, 17, Think not that I've come to destroy the law or the prophets.

[22:14] I'm not come to destroy, but to fulfill. And the fulfillment of the law always fulfills the neighbor's advantage. If a fire break out, verse 6, and catch in thorns, so that stacks of corn or standing corn or the field be consumed therewith, he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.

[22:33] All right, so you're just burning some brush, and while it's not my fault, I was over here in my field, the wind blew, and it just wiped out my neighbor's standing field of grain. Well, no, it is, because the fire would not have been started if you didn't start the fire.

[22:46] And God holds us responsible for the carelessness we have. Sometimes we're very careless. Sometimes we start little fires, and we don't mean to, and it catches something so big.

[22:56] But the seemingly smallest of things, it can start such a big fire, as James tells us in chapter 3. Even so, the tongue is a little member, and boasts great things.

[23:09] Behold, how great a little matter a fire kindles. How great a matter a little fire kindles, sorry. The tongue is a fire. It's a world of iniquity.

[23:19] So is the tongue among our members, that it defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of nature and is set on fire of hell. That's dangerous. Do we still walk around thinking that? And we're holding our tongues?

[23:30] I have something in my mouth that's set on fire of hell. Thank the Lord for redemption. Such a little matter. It seems so small, and I mean, I didn't mean anything by what I said, and then, and I was just, I watched this thing recently, the documentary kind of short one on this guy who, early 2000s, so there's no social media.

[23:51] Internet's still kind of just in its infancy. He was a football player, and he was very good at his position, but he was really bad at his grades.

[24:02] He had like a one-point-something GPA. It's pretty bad. But he started telling everybody he was getting recruited, and he was getting letters from schools, and he was. He was getting all kinds of letters from schools, but they're form letters.

[24:13] Like, this is what we're sending to every senior in the country. Would you like to come to our school? Not we want you at our school. He's like, I'm getting letters from D1 schools all over the place to go be, you know, offensive line. Well, it got so big, and that little fire grew, that he ended up staging his own signing day and said, I'm going to, it was between Oregon and Southern California, and he chose Southern California.

[24:35] But it got in the newspapers, his local little towns, like some of the Midwest, and it got bigger, and then someone called up the school, the coach, and was like, hey, did you just sign this guy? He's like, I don't even know who this guy is.

[24:45] And the whole thing blew up. Just one little, little fire. But there's an awesome story in that, because then some, like D3 school, reaches out to him and says, hey, man, I know you were really stupid with this stuff, but come play for us.

[24:59] And he got his grades in order, and it was really cool. But anyway, I thought that was funny, that he just started telling his friends, talking it up, and before you know it, there's a big fire. Jesus tells us, he says, every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

[25:13] For by your words, you shall be justified, and by your words, you shall be condemned, because out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. It reveals who we are. So verse seven, now, if a man shall deliver unto his neighbor money or stuff to keep.

[25:27] So now we're moving away from the thief, and we're going to someone like, hey, bro, can you just keep this? I'm going away. I'm going to be gone for six months or whatever. I don't really feel that this can be secure at my house. Would you keep this for me in your place?

[25:39] If a man deliver unto his neighbor money or stuff to keep, and it be stolen out of the man's house, if the thief be found, same principle, let him restore double. Okay? So this is willingly received for the sake of keeping.

[25:52] It's not being forced on him. This is an arrangement between the two as we go into this. I'm arranging this between my neighbor. The thief will restore what was stolen, right? But it's double, because what else did he steal?

[26:03] Well, he totally stole that guy's reputation, right? If it's me and my friend, and, you know, Casey, can you keep this at your house? And then he's like, hey, I'm sorry. My shed was broken into, and they stole your favorite shovel.

[26:16] I'm like, man. No, I know it wasn't your fault. It's all good. And then they catch the thief. Okay, here's your shovel back. Well, he pays back double, because he's also stolen a reputation. He's also hurt a relationship.

[26:27] And it's on him to bring restoration. But if the thief is not found, then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges. That word judges is Elohim.

[26:38] See, that God is referred to as that. The Elohim means the divine ones. So in this instance, the divinely appointed ones to judge. The judges are the Elohim, those who have been divinely appointed by God to judge.

[26:50] Then the master of the house shall be brought unto the judges, the one whose house it was in. It got stolen out of. There's no thief found. Okay, so they come together, the two of them, the two neighbors, to see whether he's put his hand to his neighbor's goods.

[27:05] Then he says, for all manner of trespass, whether it be for donkey, or for oxen, for sheep, or raiment, or any manner of lost thing, which another challenges to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges.

[27:18] And whom the judges shall condemn, he shall pay double unto his neighbor. So any trespass, anything that's thought, well, you have trespassed.

[27:28] You have something that's not yours. Trespass means a transgression of sin. See that word all through the Old Testament. But it is literally that which removes peace. Sin is that which removes peace, that which removes wholeness.

[27:41] Restitution is to restore peace and wholeness. So if a neighbor says, you've removed peace, you've removed wholeness from our relationship, from my home by stealing, okay, then we go before these divinely appointed judges.

[27:55] The divinely appointed Elohim will judge the rightful ownership of all lost things. All lost things come under judgment of those who've been divinely appointed.

[28:06] Even in the law here, we see that you must trust the leading of the Spirit. Even the law has God's Spirit working through it. Can I trust that God has set up this system?

[28:19] Do I trust those who've been appointed? What are the lost things? What are the lost things that the divinely appointed judge would declare who it belongs to?

[28:30] Isaiah 53.6 puts us in that category. It says, We all, like sheep, have gone astray. We've turned everyone to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

[28:41] When we become before the divinely appointed judge, he doesn't look to me and say, you owe. He looks to his son and says he paid. He restored so that that relationship can be restored.

[28:55] Ephesians 2.13 says, Now in Christ Jesus, you who were sometimes afar off, you are a lost thing. You've been brought nigh by the blood of Christ. When we stand before the judge, we will be declared Christ's.

[29:09] We belong. So in God's economy, restitution is never just enough. All right, I took $10 here, here's $10.

[29:20] It always goes beyond for the sake of restoring love and restoring relationship. It always gives opportunity for that. Sorry, I took $10 and here's $20.

[29:31] Yeah, I'm sorry. Like, okay, you know what? Take $10 more and give me $20 back. This is a great deal. I'm going to invest in you. If a man deliver unto his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep and die or be hurt or driven away now and no man seeing it, okay.

[29:51] Well, now this is a little different. Then shall an oath of the Lord be between them. Now this is a different situation. It's been entrusted to me, but it's just, it was an unforeseen circumstance.

[30:02] It was something I could not do anything about. And there's no man that sees it. Then an oath of the Lord shall be taken between them, that he has not put his hand unto his neighbor's goods.

[30:14] So the two of them come together and he says, hey, where's my brand new, you know, I don't know, baseball bat that I lent you or I wanted you to keep for me. Well, it was stolen and it's not with me.

[30:25] Well, who took it? I don't know. And the two of them, they go to the judges and before the judges, they make an oath of the Lord and say, hey, you know what? The Lord judge, the Lord knows. This was specifically given to be guarded.

[30:38] The word keep is to guard or to have charge. So this is the expectation that I'm giving into your care to guard this for me, but then something happens to it. So there's a mutual agreement of care. But the man here, he stands before the Lord now to answer for his part because no man saw, it says, but who did see?

[30:58] Well, the Lord saw. So no man can tell, well, who took it? Who didn't take it? I don't know. But the Lord knows. So they go before the Lord and now the man who, did he steal it or didn't he?

[31:08] Nobody knows, but the Lord knows. And now he stands before the Lord accountable for that, for that loss. But God then steps in and essentially says to the one who has the loss, yeah, but okay, so he didn't steal it and I can't hold him accountable, but I still lost it.

[31:22] Now what? Well, God is essentially stepping in and saying, I will be responsible for restitution. I will take it upon myself. The Lord is the one who's being surety for this debt.

[31:34] 1 Peter chapter 2, Peter writes and says, For here even unto were you called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow his steps.

[31:48] There's a suffering, there's a loss, there's a lack of wholeness. The same thing happened to Jesus. And how did he respond when there was loss? Well, he did no sin. Neither was guile found in his mouth, who when he was reviled, he didn't go to seek his own vengeance.

[32:01] He reviled not again, and when he suffered, he threatened not, but he committed himself to him that judges righteously. You see, man is responsible for men. We are responsible for man and to man, but ultimately we're responsible for God.

[32:15] And there are some things that man cannot hold us accountable to. There are some things we can't hold people accountable to. There are some wrongs and losses that happen in our life that it's not for us to try and make up.

[32:26] Then we have to trust that the Lord is the one who is the restorer. And if it be stolen from him, oh, I'm sorry, verse 11, then shall the oath of the Lord be between them both, that he has not put his hand unto his neighbor's good.

[32:40] And the owner of it shall accept thereof, and he shall make it good. He shall not make it good. So he doesn't have to repay. The Lord is the one who makes it good. And if it be stolen from him, so in this instance, somebody has stolen it, he shall make restitution of the owner thereof.

[32:57] So you have two situations here. You have one where if a man deliver a donkey and an ox, and it be hurt or driven away, okay, that's an unforeseen circumstance. That's an animal. It has its own mind.

[33:08] It does its thing. It walks over a cliff. But if it be stolen, well, remember the whole point of this was for safekeeping. I'm trusting you to safeguard this. And that's the arrangement we have.

[33:18] And then you put it in a place where it's like, well, I don't ever lock my door. Sorry. And it's stolen. Well, you are the one who chose willingly to take responsibility for this. This is an accident. This is where someone has broken in and stolen.

[33:30] If loss happens, then the responsibility is on the one who's doing the keeping. The one who's chose to do the keeping is the one who is responsible now to restore. The whole point of the arrangement was for the sake of preventing loss.

[33:45] Under the new covenant, there's the exact same arrangement. The whole point of our arrangement with God is for the sake of preventing loss. The one who's doing the keeping is responsible if there's a loss.

[33:58] In John chapter six, Jesus says, and this is the father's will, which has sent me, that all which he's given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. If loss happens, the responsibility is on the one who does the keeping.

[34:14] Jesus says, I will not lose any. Now, if you had a sheep given into your care, and you knew you're responsible for it, and that if it's stolen, you're going to have to pay back double, and you come out and, I don't know, let's just use a round number like a hundred sheep, and there's only 99 there, and one is lost, what are you going to do?

[34:34] You'll be like, listen, watch these 99, I'm going to get that one. I told him I'd watch it. I told him I'd keep it. I got to go find that one. And if a man having a hundred sheep, he lose one of them, does he not leave the 99 in the wilderness and go after that which he's lost until he find it?

[34:52] And when he's found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. Listen, Jesus says, all that my father's given me, I've lost none. But there's times you may feel lost. There's times you may feel like you've wandered from the rest of the flock.

[35:05] Well, you can trust that Jesus is going to come and get you. Jesus is going to come and make sure that he's not going to lose any that have been given into his care. He's the responsible party. But if it be torn in pieces, then let him bring it forth for a witness, and he shall not make good that which was torn.

[35:23] That happens. So, you know, a wild animal gets in and it tears up the chickens, and it's like, I'm sorry, buddy. He's not responsible for that which is outside of his control.

[35:35] If a man borrow from his neighbor anything, and it be hurt or die, and the owner thereof being not with it, he shall surely make it good. So if you're borrowing livestock, and it's hurt, or it dies, and the owner is not there, well, then the person who does the borrowing has to make it good.

[35:55] The word borrow is to ask, is to be given at the request of. In other words, the initiator takes the responsibility. I have initiated this. I've come to you and said, please, can I borrow your whatever?

[36:06] I now take the responsibility. It's not like you've offered it and said, hey, I just want you, you know what? I see you've been out working hard in your field. Take my two oxen. You know what? Just go and use them.

[36:17] Don't worry about it. Well, the initiator takes the responsibility. I've come and asked of you to borrow this. But if the owner thereof be with it, and so now the owner's with it, he shall not make it good if it be a hired thing.

[36:30] It came for his hire. In other words, if I go to you and I say, hey, I see you've got a really good John Deere ox. Can you come help me in my field? Listen, I'll pay you. He's like, okay. Well, then that's the arrangement.

[36:41] That's the agreement. You've agreed X amount for the responsibility that you are now taking on yourself to go and use your equipment in this guy's field or whatever. But ownership assumes responsibility.

[36:54] The owner assumes the responsibility. When I borrow something, I'm in a sense taking on temporary ownership, and I need to treat it that way. If the owner thereof be with it, he shall not make it good.

[37:08] The guy who's essentially borrowing it or hiring him because he's been hired. As long as the owner is present, he is responsible for what is his. Think of when Jesus, he's getting ready to go back into heaven and ascend up to the Father.

[37:20] And he says to the disciples there that are gathered outside of Jerusalem, he says, you shall go to all men, teaching them to observe all things, whichever I commanded you. Go and make disciples of all men. Teach them what I've commanded you.

[37:32] And I think the disciples must be like, except Peter. He was like, yeah, we're going to do this. The rest of them are probably like, how are we going to do that? Well, don't worry.

[37:43] Because at the end of that verse, he says, I'm with you. Always. Even to the end of the world. As long as the owner is present, he's responsible for what is his. We belong to him.

[37:54] It's his responsibility because he's always present with us. Now we get into this next section. As we move through the rest of the chapter, this will be, go through this section pretty quickly, but it's the sacred and the shameful.

[38:07] How does this tie into what we just looked at, restitution? Well, we'll see. God deals with what is sacred and what is shameful. Verse 16, he says, if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.

[38:23] Okay? So some guy, you see some girl who's not engaged or whatever and he takes him to herself. He acts married before he's married. The expectation then is he's going to go and be married under the law.

[38:35] A one-night stand carries with it the weight of a lifetime. Under the law and in life. A one-night stand will carry with it the weight of a lifetime. You see, oneness to God is sacred.

[38:48] It's very sacred. And physicality outside of marriage is never a blessing to that marriage, to that relationship. But God, under the law, has a way to bring wholeness, to restore wholeness, to bring restoration, to bring peace, shalom, back into the situation.

[39:02] Paul tells us that we should flee fornication. For every sin that a man does is without the body, but he that commits fornication sins against his own body. Carries the weight of a lifetime with it.

[39:15] It removes wholeness and God is very, very interested in wholeness and oneness. So if a man is going to act married before he's married, the responsibility then is to go and live married, to be married.

[39:28] But, there are other situations. Verse 17, if her father utterly refused to give her under him, he shall pay, the one who did the wrong, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins. How sad.

[39:39] How sad, guys, for us as men that the situation, as bad as it is, it'd be better for the dad to bring her back into his house than let her marry that punk who wronged her.

[39:50] Right? To bring her back into home. Who's he going to marry her off to now? Who's going to come and want to betroth himself to this woman who has suffered loss, have been disadvantaged? How sad that the dad would have to look at the situation and go, no, honey, it'd be better for you to live your whole life in my house than to go and live with that guy.

[40:09] He's still living in his mom's basement playing video games. He's not the one for you. Men, on Father's Day, we need to raise men. We need to raise women who are willing to follow men and let them be men.

[40:24] Right? No guy's perfect, but he doesn't need to be this. The father protects what's sacred. It's his job to step in and protect what is sacred.

[40:35] Whenever we step outside of God's order, it will always cost more than we anticipate, far more than we anticipate, as this man steps in and unfortunately wrongs and takes advantage of this girl.

[40:46] But the father's place is to protect what is sacred. Verse 18, you shall not suffer a witch to live. I wasn't gonna, but okay. Whoever lives with a beast or whoever lies with a beast shall surely be put whoever lives with a beast.

[40:59] Sorry, I got a cat, so my daughter. Whoever lives with a beast shall be put to death. Whoever lies with a beast shall surely be put to death. He that sacrifices unto any God, save unto the Lord only, he shall be utterly destroyed.

[41:12] And here we see Exodus 20, verse 3, thou shalt have no other gods before me. The father protects what is sacred. The father protects oneness. Our father in heaven desires to protect that which is sacred.

[41:25] He protects oneness. You shall not suffer a witch to live. Why? Because there's only one way to have divination. Only one way to access the divine and it's not through a witch or any other means than through the Lord.

[41:40] Whoever will lie with a beast shall be put to death. Why? Because oneness will not be defiled. God holds it very, very sacred. Neither sacrifices to any God save unto the Lord only, he shall be destroyed because there is only one God and that one God is to be worshipped in one way.

[41:55] The father protects what is sacred. He protects oneness. He protects wholeness. Verse 21, you shall not vex a stranger. The word vex means treat with violence nor oppress him.

[42:07] You won't squeeze him. For you are strangers in the land of Egypt. Listen, when you've been treated wrong, the temptation, human nature, I don't know why it is like this.

[42:21] We feel like we need to then go and do that to someone else. Why? Why? Because I can feel control. It allows me to feel in control of what's been done to me. When I've been wrong, when I've been hurt, when I've been in a place where I couldn't control it and I was abused and I was hurt, well, if I can go and perpetrate that on someone else, I feel like I've gained control over that hurt.

[42:39] I feel like now I'm the one who's in control. But our painful experiences should lead us to mercy and not to malice. He says, yes, you were treated very poorly in Egypt.

[42:51] You were oppressed. You were squeezed. You were vexed. You were treated with violence. Now don't go and do that to someone else because now you have the power to do that. Let your painful experience lead you to mercy and not malice.

[43:03] Paul writes in 2 Corinthians chapter 1, beginning in verse 3, God's desire is the pain we've experienced should be coupled with the mercy and comfort we receive from God to then turn around and go and use in someone else's life.

[43:33] Don't take advantage. Don't seek to advantage yourself. Seek to use the advantage God has given you through his mercy to then advantage someone else in their disadvantage.

[43:46] The golden rule, Jesus says in Matthew 7, 12, therefore, all things, whatever you would that men should do to you, do you even to them. And look what he says, for this is the law and the prophets.

[43:57] Here we are in the law. Jesus says, yep, that's the law and the prophets. Now, human nature is to do unto others as has been done unto me. I will do unto you as has been done unto me.

[44:10] But God flips it. He says, no, no, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Make the advantage all on their side. You shall not afflict a widow or a fatherless child.

[44:23] If you afflict them in any wise and they cry out at all unto me, I will hear their cry. Well, that's good and I'm sure the Lord will take care of them. No, this is where the judgment falls. This is where the death comes in.

[44:34] And my wrath shall wax hot and I will kill you with the sword and your wives shall be widows and your children fatherless. Essentially, God said, I'll smoke you. Afflict means to put down, to humble, to gain an advantage through oppression.

[44:52] You shall not seek to gain an advantage through oppression over those that are already oppressed. The law protects the disadvantaged from being taken advantage of.

[45:03] God's heart is to raise up the low and is never to bring them lower. We live in a world that the entire system is based upon preying upon those that you can take advantage of. Who's the ones that I can be stronger over?

[45:16] Who's the ones that I can take advantage over? I'm not going to try and go up against the big dogs. Oh no, I'm going to go against the one that I know I can take advantage over, that person. Well, sorry, I know, but you know, the law says that it's legal for me to come and to do this.

[45:32] When Nathan came to David to confront him on his sin with Bathsheba, you remember the story he told. It was of a man who had an entire flock of sheep and there was one who had this little lamb and he kept it as a pet and under the law, yes, he could go and he could take that, but he'd have to restore then another.

[45:52] But he used his power, his authority to use his position to disadvantage the one that was already low because he wouldn't disadvantage himself because he wanted the advantage all on his side. Essentially, that was then what he said to David.

[46:05] You've done the same thing, David. That's not God's heart. The law protects the disadvantage from being taken advantage of. You know, when James wrote the book of James, he didn't have the New Testament like we do.

[46:17] He was writing it. But you know as he was writing about the tongue as a little fire and you know he's coming back here to Exodus and thinking about, man, a little fire can cost you an awful lot. You know as he's writing this now in James 1, verse 27, he says, pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

[46:40] Don't take on the world's ideas. Don't seek to take advantage over the disadvantaged because the Lord upholds all that fall and he raises up all those that be bowed down.

[46:50] our response to God's word. The way we respond to what he's commanded, the way we respond to his law, it will determine our relationship to God.

[47:00] How do we relate to God is all based upon our response to his word. Do I believe this or am I going to go and take advantage of the lowly? Well, then I'm going to relate to God as he says here. Well, then I will be to you one who's a destroyer.

[47:13] I'll be one who comes to you in wrath because of how you've chosen to relate to my word. verse 25, if you lend money to any of my people that is poor by you, you shall not be to them as a usurer, no interest, neither shall you lay upon them usury.

[47:31] No advantage is to be gained through another's misfortune. You know, I don't have anything. Can I borrow from you? God expects lending to be an opportunity for blessing, not oppression.

[47:43] The system of lending was to be an opportunity to bring blessing into someone else's life, sure, brother. I mean, yeah, what do you need? You don't got a vehicle? Oh, man, I've got, I've got an extra one. Please take it. Use it. You know, but know that while it's in your care, you're responsible of it.

[47:58] You're responsible for that. But yes, please. If you shall take at all, anything that your neighbor's, your neighbor's raiment to pledge, well, you shall deliver it unto him then by the time the sun goes down.

[48:12] For this is his covering only. It is his raiment for his skin. Wherein shall he sleep? In other words, you take the coat off his back. That's all he's got. Now, he's giving it to you as a pledge. You said, hey, can I borrow whatever?

[48:25] And here, here's the only thing I have. It's my coat. Would you take it? I hope we wouldn't have to do that. I hope if the relationship is right and I'm loving my neighbor as myself and I'm looking for his advantage and he says, I really have this need.

[48:39] I don't know whatever it is. Can I, you know, can I borrow your car? I have to run to do whatever to pay my bills and listen, I'll give you my coat. I'll go without a shirt on. It's like, no, no, dude, keep your shirt.

[48:52] It's all right. But if he does, he says, well, give it back before the sun goes down. It's his raiment. It's his covering. Wherein shall he sleep? It shall come to pass when he cries unto me that I will hear for I am gracious.

[49:05] This is the first time God declares himself gracious. He will again to Moses in Exodus 34, he'll say, the Lord descended in the cloud and stood before Moses there and proclaimed the name of the Lord and the Lord passed by before him and said, the Lord, the Lord God, merciful, gracious, longsuffering and abundant in goodness and truth.

[49:25] But right now, this is the first time God actively declares himself as I am gracious. And what is it in relation to? The first time God declares himself gracious is for the sake of covering and rest for the poor.

[49:39] He says, I'm very interested in the covering and the rest of the poor. God chooses mercy over money and grace over gain. You shall not revile the gods nor curse the ruler of your people.

[49:55] That's Elohim. Again, the divinely appointed judges. I'm reading the King James. Yours probably doesn't say God's. But it's the divinely appointed judges, the Elohim.

[50:06] Nor curse the ruler of your people. You shall not revile. It means not diminish. You shall not make low. You shall not make light of. Paul quotes this in Acts 23 when he's standing there before in Jerusalem, before the Jerusalem council and before the Roman guard.

[50:21] and it says that the priest commands him to slap him. Slap Paul when he thinks Paul's blaspheming him. Paul says, God will slap you, you whitewashed sepulcher.

[50:32] And the guy said to him, don't you know, don't you know you're reviling the priest? And the law says not to revile, not to diminish. And Paul said, whoa, I didn't know he was the priest because it says you shall not speak evil of the ruler of your people.

[50:44] God's word says our attitude towards authority is far more important than the person representing that authority. Our attitude towards the authority is far more important in God's eyes than the actual person who represents it.

[50:58] Whoever that guy was who was the chief priest at that time did not represent his position of authority well. But Paul knew, hey, God's interested in my attitude towards this authority.

[51:08] God's word says I shouldn't belittle this or revile this and so I won't. You shall not delay to offer the first fruits of your ripe fruits and of your liquors.

[51:19] This is verse 29 and 30. So of the vines, of your wine and all that you bring in which is your first fruit of your crop, the firstborn of your sons shall you give unto me.

[51:32] Likewise you shall do with the oxen and with the sheep. Seven days it shall be to the female and on the eighth day thou shalt give it to me. So seven days it stays with the mother and then the eighth day is to be sacrificed unto the Lord.

[51:44] We know in Exodus chapter 13 as God is laying out the ordinance of Passover. He uses that then to say to Israel, it shall be when the Lord shall bring you into the land of the Canaanites as he swear unto you and to your fathers and shall give it you that you shall set apart unto the Lord all that opens the matrix, all that comes out of the womb.

[52:04] Every firstling that comes out of beast which thou hast, the males shall be the Lord's. They shall be his. He's reiterating this here. It should have been an 11 day journey to the promised land.

[52:15] It's going to be 40 years but right now there's still the potential for Israel. Saying okay when you get into the land remember this. Obedience is prompt, it's present and it's prepared.

[52:29] God said your obedience needs to be prompt. Your obedience needs to be present when you're in the land when this happens and it's prepared because all beginnings belong to God. All starts, all beginnings, they all start and find their beginning in God.

[52:45] All life begins in God. All pregnancy begins in God. All birth begins. It's God who does it. It's not mother nature. It's father God who allows these things and he says all beginnings belong to God.

[52:58] No better place to start than to start with God. May God at the beginning of all your beginnings, whatever it is, relationship, business, whatever it is, put him at the beginning. He's in all of our beginnings and he completes them all.

[53:13] Philippians 1.6 says, being confident of this very thing that he which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. God's in all the beginnings. Bring him into his beginnings, your beginnings so he can be in your endings.

[53:27] But obedience is prompt, it's present and it's prepared. And lastly, verse 31, you shall be holy men unto me. You shall be those that are set apart for a purpose.

[53:40] Neither shall you eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field. You shall cast it to the dogs. He's saying here, don't partake of the unclean or that which is full of blood because if it's torn then it's not been bled correctly.

[53:52] Why? Because in the simplest of things, the way you partake of your food, God expects you to be different. And the way that we look at the most simple of things, something like food or God says, hey, Jesus would say, take no anxious thought over what you will eat and what you will drink and what you will wear.

[54:09] The very basic things we're set apart in. The most simple of things God says we're supposed to be holy. We're holy in conduct. We're holy in worship. We're holy in our relationship.

[54:21] The law set apart God's people. It set it apart as we saw from the abominable, the shameful, and the beastly that we just read through. God's law sets it apart that you're supposed to be different.

[54:32] You don't just go and take a woman and say, you know, we're married. You don't defile oneness because you have the flesh and desires and lust. You don't seek to follow some other God because it's a trendy thing to do.

[54:45] You don't give that which is appropriate only for God to something else. You have to be set apart because God's people relate to God. That's why. We relate to God.

[54:57] And so we are set apart. We are people that are set apart for that purpose. You know, we've looked at the section of restitution, restoration, restitution, and relationship.

[55:10] You know, in Christ, God restores. He restores so much to us. What we've lost, you know, what did we lose? What we lost in the garden, we lost our relationship with God. We lost that sinless nature.

[55:22] in Christ, God restores what is lost that was lost in the garden. But what does restitution do? Never just restores. God also gives that much, that which is so much more than what was lost.

[55:37] But why? Why does he do that? For the sake of relationship. I would not have known the grace of God except for Jesus. He could have restored.

[55:48] He could have come and said, you know what? There you go, right back to where you were. You're going to live forever and you're perfect and you're in the garden and everything's set. He restored, but he restitutes. Restitution.

[55:58] He makes whole. He brings peace. He gives so much more than just restoring that which we lost. But it's for the sake of relationship. It's all for the sake of relationship.

[56:10] The law here is for the sake of relationship. The restitution that a man owes to another and a responsibility to one another is because, as Jesus said, it's contained in this. Love your neighbor as yourself.

[56:21] This love. Love brings wholeness. Love restores. But what if the person won't make restitution? What if you've been wronged?

[56:33] What if you've had something taken from you? What if you've been disadvantaged and that person refuses to make restitution? They refuse to do their part. How can the relationship be restored then?

[56:46] Or what if they won't receive restitution? What if you realize, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, have wronged you. I have taken advantage of you. I came to worship the Lord to the altar and I there remembered my brotherhood all against me.

[56:58] And I went to make it right, but they won't receive my restitution. How can the relationship be restored? How does that work? All relationships are restored and restituted, made whole, brought to peace in Christ.

[57:15] He pays what is owed and He makes up for all disadvantages. He pays what is owed. That person they didn't restore, Jesus steps in and says, that's okay.

[57:27] I'll make up the difference. I will take that. Between me and Him, well, there's not an oath. It's not my oath. No, it's a promise Jesus made. He said, I'll make up that difference.

[57:38] We can always fulfill our part in the relationship with our neighbor. You can fulfill your part even though they don't do theirs because Jesus will make up the difference. In all relationships, Jesus fulfills the part that is owed.

[57:52] Love makes up for all that is owed. You say, well, I want to have a relationship with them, but I can't. They won't restore. And the Lord steps in and says, that's okay. I'll make up for that. Then I can do my part in the relationship.

[58:03] What? I can forgive and I can love even though they haven't repented. Even though there's no relationship with them, the relationship is made up in Christ. He makes that up.

[58:14] Or if I have wronged and I go and say, I'm sorry, can we restore this relationship? And they say, no, I don't want anything to do with you. Well, Lord, who do I give the ox to? How do I, how can I have relationship?

[58:27] Then Jesus steps in. He says, that's all right. I will receive that in their stead. I will make up that part in the relationship. Restoration gives opportunity for relationship.

[58:40] Jesus would say in Matthew 6, he says, for if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses.

[58:53] What does that mean? It means my attitude towards forgiveness in my relationship with my neighbor is going to directly affect my ability to experience forgiveness in my relationship with God.

[59:05] My attitude towards forgiveness in my relationship with my neighbor. Am I willing to forgive? Hey, hey, I stole your ox and I sold it. Sorry. But under the law, I have to restore five-fold for an ox that was stolen.

[59:20] Here. And I still go, no, I'm not going to forgive you. I don't care what you've done. I'm not going to ever forgive that, that you disadvantaged me. But I'm trying to make it up. I want to restore the advantage.

[59:31] I recognize that. Nope. Well, my attitude towards forgiveness in that relationship is going to directly affect how can I experience God's forgiveness? Because I'm not open to forgiveness.

[59:43] Because I'm not willing to receive a wrong and forgive, I'm not willing to confess wrong. Believe me, if you are not willing to forgive others for the wrong they've done you, you will have a hard time confessing the wrongs you've done.

[59:55] I guarantee you. The love of God makes restitution. Let the love of God make restitution. Whatever relationship it is, Jesus stands surety.

[60:07] He's the one who says, I'll make it up and be restored. He stands restitution. Be restored. That relationship isn't whole. Yes, it is. Yes, it is in Christ.

[60:18] You can do your part in it because he makes it up. There's a verse tucked away in Isaiah 40. And now that we've read through all this, this verse will just become so clear to you.

[60:29] He says, comfort you, comfort you, my people, saith your God. Speak you comfortably to Jerusalem and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished and her iniquity is pardoned. I'm sorry, I'm running my speech together.

[60:42] For she has received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. You could read that and you can think, yeah, she received double punishment or double trouble. No, not at all.

[60:55] It's over. She's, her iniquity is pardoned. The debt is paid. Comfort you, comfort you. The world says, get outside your comfort zone and God says, man, come into your comfort zone.

[61:06] Come into my comfort zone. It's paid. It's all over. And she's received double for her sin. God pays back double. The cross has paid all debts.

[61:19] It's restored all losses and it has made whole all disadvantages. And if you've not come into that relationship yet, if you've not known what it is to have restoration and restitution through Jesus making up every disadvantage, if you don't know that, it's yours today.

[61:37] He freely gives it. He does not withhold. He's not unwilling to make restitution and restoration. Whatever you've lost, can I gain that back? No.

[61:49] You can gain back twice as much. Four times, a hundred times more. Whatever you've lost, can you gain the garden back? We're never going to gain the garden back. We're never going to go back to that.

[62:01] But we're going to gain so much more than what we lost in Christ. He gives us so much back. Be restored, receive restitution, and enter into a relationship that's eternal.

[62:13] Maybe you've been disadvantaged. Maybe you've been taken advantage of or defiled or that which was sacred in your life. has been made ugly.

[62:26] Think, well, I can never let that go. I don't know how to forgive that person. You don't need to because Jesus made up the difference. When the debt has been paid, there's nothing left to owe.

[62:36] And as we said last week, the only thing that remains is love. Father, I thank you so much that today on Father's Day we can enter into the comfort and rest and love of our Father through His Son, Jesus Christ.

[62:51] I thank you, Lord, that we can put ourselves in that place and we can say that we've received double for all of our sins. They've been pardoned. They've been forgiven at the cross.

[63:02] When Jesus, you paid all debts, when you fulfilled all relationships, when you stood in surety for every disadvantage, and in the law we see your heart, God, that you promote life and love and you give a framework for relationship.

[63:19] And even now, Lord, even now on this side of the cross and in the new covenant, you won't twist our arms. You're not going to force us. You're willing to now give us a new heart, a heart that can respond to forgiveness, can respond to restitution.

[63:34] But even then, Lord, we must choose. Are we going to receive your law, which is your word? It's good. It's alive. It's spiritual. But am I going to receive it by faith? I pray this morning that each one of us, Lord, would receive the portion you've given us through your word.

[63:49] We'd receive it by faith. As we go out into the world, as we spend our days, Lord, celebrating fathers, maybe our relationship is not whole with our father.

[64:03] Maybe it's not been restored. There's no peace there. And I think, well, how can I do my part? Because Jesus has done his. That relationship is whole in Christ. Because Jesus stands instead for that which is lacking.

[64:16] Jesus brings wholeness. Jesus brings peace. Jesus brings restitution. He allows me to do my part in love. And he receives that love even if someone else does.

[64:27] He receives my confession. He forgives even if someone else doesn't. Thank you, Jesus. You've brought us all under this amazing grace.

[64:38] In your name we pray. Amen. You know, we don't have to wait to fly to Jesus. He desires life. I think when the disciples said to Jesus, Lord, we've given up everything to follow you.

[64:52] You know, under the law, you get fourfold, twofold. And Jesus said, well, no man who's given up wife and children and lands and homes will not receive a hundredfold in this life and the life to come.

[65:09] The law for old covenants is fourfold. New covenant under God's grace is a hundredfold. Not only does Jesus make up for every disadvantage, he doesn't want us living disadvantaged lives.

[65:21] He doesn't want us to live where we feel that there's a loss when he can make up everything. Walk in that fullness and live in it. Let him make up every relationship and every restitution in your life.

[65:34] Now the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you and give you peace.

[65:56] peace out for peace out for Thank you.

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